ColaCopy by MollieSoft - Frequently Asked Questions
	- Updated April 25, 2025 for Version 1.1.1.0.

What is ColaCopy?
	- ColaCopy helps you copy or move subfolders between two parallel (collated) top-level folders.
	- Repetitive move/copy operations you would normally perform using two Windows Explorer instances (and many mouse clicks) can be easily accomplished with just one click using copy jobs.
	- Predefined copy jobs eliminate many of the errors that can occur when using Windows Explorer.
	- Chain copy jobs together using "autoruns" to copy subfolders to many similar locations in one easy step.
	- Think of ColaCopy as a central "control panel" you can use to manage the contents of several correlated top-level folders.
	- Removable drives are correctly identified regardless of the (variable) drive letter assigned by Windows when they are mounted.
	- The recent runs list provides a clear record of what was copied and when.

How do I install ColaCopy?
	- Go to www.molliesoft.com/ColaCopy to download the install package.  You will need administrator privileges on your machine to perform the install.

What operating systems will run ColaCopy?
	- ColaCopy runs on Windows 8.1, Windows 10 or Windows 11.
	- ColaCopy requires the .NET 9 Desktop Runtime x64 to run.  You can install it from the direct link https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/thank-you/runtime-desktop-9.0.4-windows-x64-installer, or get the most recent version of the .NET Desktop Runtime 9 installer from https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/9.0.  If this is not installed on your computer, you may see the following message when you start ColaCopy:

Click the "Download it now" link, then install it and restart ColaCopy.

	During the install process, you may also see the following message:

Click the appropriate link for your CPU type, then install .NET Desktop Runtime 9 and restart the ColaCopy installer.  (The latest .NET Desktop Runtime 9 package will always work.)

How do I run ColaCopy?
	- The install process places a shortcut to ColaCopy on your desktop.
	- Only one instance of ColaCopy can be running at any given time.  If it is already running, invoking the ColaCopy desktop shortcut will simply activate the running instance.

How can I learn more about how ColaCopy works?
	- This FAQ is the main source of information about ColaCopy.
	- While running ColaCopy, tooltips are available on most controls, including the column headings of most lists.  Hover the mouse on these areas to see the tooltips.
	- Please email support@molliesoft.com with any questions that the documentation does not address.

Copy Jobs and Copy Runs

What is a Copy Job?
	- A Copy Job consists of a top-level source folder and a top-level target folder whose subfolder layouts are "similar".  For example, the top target folder might consist of backup copies of the contents of the top source folder, or you might need to keep the contents of the target folder synchronized with the contents of the source folder.
	- When you select a subfolder from the top source folder, the closest parallel subfolder of the target will also be selected automatically.  Press the Copy button at the top left of the ColaCopy main window to copy the selected source subfolder to the correct parallel location within the top target folder.
	- Use the Move button to move the selected source subfolder to the parallel location in the top target folder.  After a move, the source subfolder will be deleted.
	- If a particular copy job should only be used to copy (and never to move) press the Edit button at the top of the main window to show the Edit Copy Job dialog.  Uncheck "Allow move" and press OK.  Now when this copy job is selected in the main window, the Move button will be disabled and only the copy operation will be possible.
	- Similarly, you can uncheck "Allow copy" to disable the Copy button if the copy job should only be used to move subfolders instead of copying them.

What is a Copy Run?
	- When you press the Copy or Move buttons for a selected copy job, you are starting a "Copy Run" to copy or move the selected source subfolder to the parallel location in the top-level target folder.
	- Copy runs are shown in the list at the bottom of the ColaCopy main window.  This shows the time the run was started, the elapsed time, whether the run is in progress or completed, whether the run was a copy or move, the relative source subfolder that was selected for the copy run, and any error encountered.  You can show/hide this list using the "Copy runs" checkbox at the top of the main window.
	- Only the last 100 copy runs are shown.
	- You can only perform one operation (copy or move) at a time for a given copy job.  While a copy run is in progress, the Copy and Move buttons will be disabled when this copy job is selected.

Autoruns

Is there an easy way to copy a subfolder to several target folders at once?
	- Yes. A copy job can run other copy jobs automatically when a copy run is completed.  These are called "autoruns" of the owner copy job.
	- For simplicity, this only works for one level of autoruns; the subsequent autoruns of an autorun are NOT run automatically.
	- Click the Autoruns button at the top of the main window to add or remove autoruns for the selected copy job.
	- When the copy job completes, each autorun will always run in copy mode (NOT move mode) automatically.  The settings "Allow copy" and "Ask to copy" for the autoruns are ignored.
	- If a copy job does not complete normally, you can choose whether to continue with its autoruns.
	- If "My Copy Job" has e.g. 2 autoruns, it will appear as "My Copy Job (2)" in the main list.
	- If a copy job has autoruns or is itself used by another job (the autorun "parent") as an autorun, you can navigate to these by right-clicking on the copy job in the main list to show a navigation menu.
	- You can temporarily turn off the autoruns for a copy job by unchecking "Run these copy jobs automatically" in the Autoruns dialog.

Which copy jobs can be autoruns?
	- Any other copy job whose top-level source folder is the same as the top source (or target) of the current copy job can be added as an autorun.  This ensures the subfolder structure of a copy job and its autoruns are similar.

Explorer Panes

How do the two explorer panes under the main list of copy jobs work?
	- For reference, an "explorer pane" looks like:

	- The left explorer pane shows folders and files in the top source folder of the current copy job.
	- The right explorer pane shows folders and files in the top target folder of the current copy job.
	- If you want more room to see what is in the folder tree, you can use the "Just show folders"  button to show/hide the folder contents list.
	- Each explorer pane consists of a folder tree on the left and a folder contents list on the right.  The folder contents list shows the files and subfolders contained in the folder that is currently selected in the folder tree.
	- Note there are vertical "splitters" between the explorer panes, and between the folder tree and folder contents list of each explorer pane.  Hover the mouse over these areas and drag to adjust the allocated space.
	- The top node of the folder tree in the left explorer pane is the top-level source folder.  The top node of the folder tree in the right explorer pane is the top-level target folder.

How does the text area (address bar) above the folder tree work?
	- For reference, the text area looks like:
	
	- As you navigate within the folder tree, the text area above it shows the currently selected folder path.
	- You can type directly in this text area to navigate quickly to a folder in the tree.
	- You can also use this text area to conveniently create new folders.  If you type a path in the text area that does not exist in the folder tree, but that does start at the correct top-level folder, you will be prompted to create this new folder.  If the path you type does not start within the top-level folder, an error message is displayed and the folder selection will revert to the currently selected folder in the tree.  You can create deeply nested subfolders (to whatever level) in one step using this method.

What are the controls at the right of the text area of the explorer pane?
	- The recently modified folders button   shows a dropdown list of folders within the folder tree that have been modified.  Click on any relative folder path in the list to go to this folder in the tree.  Only the last 20 recently modified folders are shown.
	- The Windows Explorer button  opens a new Windows Explorer at the folder currently selected in the folder tree.  You can also just double-click a folder in the tree to do the same thing.
	- The Just show folders button  will show or hide the folder contents list at the right of the folder tree.

How (and why) are the two Explorer Panes synchronized?
	- Since the primary purpose of ColaCopy is to copy/move subfolders from the top-level source folder to the top-level target folder, selecting a subfolder in either the source or target folder tree will automatically position the other folder tree at the same subfolder (if possible).
	- If the subfolder selected in one of the folder trees is not present in the other, so that perfect synchronization is impossible, the other folder tree is positioned at the first existing parent folder of the selected subfolder.

How do I navigate among the subfolders of the Explorer Panes?
	- For any collapsed subfolder in the tree, click on the "+" symbol at the left of the subfolder to expand it in the tree.
	- You can just type the name of any subfolder to go to the first subfolder that contains the typed characters.  This search is case-insensitive (since names in the files system are case-insensitive).  However, this search will only involve previously expanded nodes in the tree.
	- You can enter (or paste)  the full path of any existing subfolder into the text area above the tree, then press Enter to navigate the tree to this subfolder.
	- You can select any entry in the recently modified folders button  above the tree to quickly navigate to a recently modified folder.
	- You can double-click any folder in the folder contents list to position the folder tree at this subfolder. (Double-clicking a file in the folder contents list will just open the file.)

Is there a context (right-click) menu for a folder in the folder tree?  What's in it?
	- You can right-click on any subfolder in the tree to show its context menu:

	- You can also use the Apps (Menu) key to show this context menu for the currently selected folder.
	- "Copy/Move source to target" are convenient shortcuts that do just what the Copy or Move buttons do.  If you have disallowed Copy or Move by editing the current copy job, these will not be shown.  These menu items are only visible when you right-click a subfolder in the source folder tree, not the target folder tree.  Also, they are not visible when you right-click the top-level source folder, since Copy/Move is prohibited in this case.
	- "New folder" creates a subfolder called  "New folder", "New folder (1)", etc. under the currently selected folder.
	- "Remove folder" removes the current subfolder.  This item is not visible when you right-click the top-level source or target folder.
	- "Rename folder..." shows a small dialog allowing you to rename the current folder (also not visible at the top level).
	- "Copy path" copies the full path of the currently selected subfolder to the Windows clipboard.
	- "Explore..." opens a new Windows Explorer showing the selected subfolder.  (You can also just double-click the subfolder in the tree to do the same thing.)
	- "Properties..." shows the properties window of the selected subfolder.  This is exactly the same properties window you get when you select "Properties" for a folder in Windows Explorer.

Is there a context (right-click) menu for a folder or file in the folder contents list at the right of the tree?  What's in it?
	- You can right-click on any folder or file in the folder contents list to show its context menu (for files, you will see "Remove file" and "Rename file..." instead):

	- You can also use the Apps (Menu) key to show this context menu for the currently selected folder or file in the folder contents list.
	- "Remove folder" (or "Remove file") removes the selected folder or file.in the list.  If the folder is not empty, you will always be prompted for confirmation.
	- "Rename folder (or "Rename file...") shows a small dialog allowing you to rename the current folder or file.
	- "Copy path" copies the full path of the currently selected folder or file to the Windows clipboard.
	- "Explore..." opens a new Windows Explorer showing the selected folder or file.
	- "Properties..." shows the properties window of the current folder or file.  This is exactly the same properties window you get when you select "Properties" for a folder or file in Windows Explorer.

Why should I use ColaCopy? Why not just use Windows Explorer or a script to do all this?
	- Using Windows Explorer, you will need to navigate to the correct source/target folders every time.
	- If the source folder to be copied does not exist in the target, you will have to laboriously create every intervening parent folder in the target.
	- If additional copies should always happen after the current copy, you have to do these manually, including finding the correct folders as above.  ColaCopy autoruns can do this automatically.
	- Windows Explorer keeps no record of what you did, but ColaCopy has a recent runs list you can always consult.
	- Using a script (Cmd or PowerShell) typically limits you to a text interface.
	- A script may not automatically adjust for changing drive letters when you insert a source/target drive; to avoid this you would have to anchor the drive to a specific drive letter in Windows Disk Manager.
	- In summary, ColaCopy helps you to partially automate repetitive move/copy tasks between parallel folders.

Drive/Disk Recognition

I have a copy job whose source (or target) resides on an external drive.  How does ColaCopy know if this drive is currently mounted (available)?
	- The simplistic answer would be: it just looks for the right drive letter!  However, this is too simple in the case of removable drives since Windows can change the drive letter.
	- By default, Windows will just use the first available drive letter for removable USB drives when they are mounted.  Thus, a particular drive might be assigned to G: at one time, then H: the next time if the drive letter G: is already taken by another drive.  Windows Disk Manager does allow you to make the assigned drive letter permanent for a particular removable drive, but this may not be practical if you deal with a large number (> 26) of removable drives on a regular basis.
	- To ensure that the correct disk is mounted, ColaCopy identifies all disks by their volume serial number, or by their volume label if there is no volume serial number.
	- If you map a network location or disk folder to a new drive letter (using net use or subst from a command prompt), ColaCopy will identify this disk solely by its underlying path.
	- Of course, you can use the Windows Drive Manager to permanently assign a drive letter to a removable drive, but this may not always be desirable.

OK, so if I can't just type a drive letter to tell ColaCopy the source/target drive of a copy job, what do I do instead?
	- When adding or editing a copy job, you can specify its source or target by using the Drives button to see a list of disks or network shares you have previously used.  Use the Add buttons on the Drives dialog (shown below) to add a currently mounted disk (fixed or removable), network share, or a mapped drive.  Click on a drive then press the Select button.  After selecting the source/target drive, select the appropriate source/target folder within the drive using the Edit Copy Job Dialog.

	- When adding/editing a disk, you can specify whether it is removable, and if so, whether ColaCopy should prompt to mount the disk if the disk is unavailable.  You can also specify a friendly name to use for the disk if desired (by default ColaCopy will use the volume label).  Removable disks are represented by an icon different from that of a Fixed disk.
	- When adding/editing a network share, you can specify whether to use the appropriate network credentials to access the network share, whether ColaCopy should prompt to mount the network share, and a friendly share name if desired.
	- Add Mapped Drive allows you to add a network share that has been mapped to a drive letter via the "net use" command, or a folder that has been mapped to a drive letter via the "subst" command.
	- If no copy job is using the drive, you can remove it from the list.  If any copy job still refers to it, you cannot remove it; the resulting error message will tell you which copy job is using the drive as its source or target.
	- A drive that is not currently available (mounted) is shown with a red background.
	- Use the Refresh button to determine which drives are currently mounted.

Network Credentials

What are network credentials?
	- ColaCopy can access folders on a network share only if the share is available.  Normally, Windows manages the credentials (user name and password) required to access a network share, and you will not need to enter these into ColaCopy.
	- However, for some network shares, Windows may not permanently retain the required credentials.  In this case, you can save the credentials for the share in ColaCopy (encrypted of course), and these will be used as required to gain access to folders on that share.  This will minimize any user interaction required when using the network share within ColaCopy.
	- To manage network credentials, open the Drives dialog and press the "Network Credentials" button.

What happens if a network share is not available, or my credentials are just incorrect?
	- Windows may take a while to figure this out.  For each credential you enter in the "Network Credentials" dialog, you can specify a timeout between 1 and 60 seconds, controlling when ColaCopy will give up on this network share.  The default is 5 seconds; the longer the timeout for a share, the longer ColaCopy will "hang" waiting for the share credentials to validate, so be careful when modifying this timeout value.

How do I enter credentials?  How are they used?
	- Click the "Network Credentials" button on the Drives dialog to enter and test credentials for any network share.  You can add, remove, edit, or test any credentials you enter.
	- Enter a network path using leading "\\" just as in Windows.  Examples:
		\\192.168.1.10
		\\111.22.333.44\shared
		\\BobsComputer\Fileshare1
	- Enter the user name in the form <Domain or Machine>\<user>.  Examples:
		BobsComputer\RobertUser
		Desktop1\JohnDoe
		MarysComputer\Mary
	- Enter the password using the "Edit" dialog available from the "Network Credentials" dialog.  When you enter the password, the characters are replaced by masking characters for security.  The password is never visible in plain text on any screen of ColaCopy.
	- User passwords are stored using strong encryption in the ColaCopy config file, for security.
	- You can enter credentials for "overlapping" network paths.  For example, say you enter credentials for the network path "\\192.168.1.17" on your local network.  Say you also enter credentials for the network path "\\192.168.1.17\shared".  Then when credentials are required for a copy or move, the credentials with the longest match will always be used in preference to any with a shorter match.  That is, if a copy job has the top source folder "\\192.168.1.17\shared\MyFiles", the saved credentials for "\\192.168.1.17\shared" will be used instead of those for "\\192.168.1.17".

Splash Screen

What does the splash screen show?
	- The current ColaCopy version number.
	- Validity check for the ColaCopy (free) license.
	- The total elapsed time for initialization of the program.

The splash screen is annoying!  Can I turn it off?
	- MollieSoft is deeply sorry that you do not appreciate our beautiful splash screen!  However, to mollify the occasional customer with a distaste for splash screens, we have provided a checkbox in the "Settings" dialog that you can use to turn off the splash screen.

Miscellaneous

The source (or target) folder of one of my copy jobs resides on a removable USB drive.  Why can't I eject this drive while ColaCopy is running?
	- If the source or target of a copy job resides on a removable USB drive, you will not be able to eject the drive via the "Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media" system tray icon since ColaCopy "locks" the drive in order to monitor its file system.
	-  To safely eject such a USB drive, go to the copy jobs list in ColaCopy, right-click any source or target folder on this drive and select "Disconnect" (you will only see this context menu if the drive is actually mounted).  The drive will no longer be accessible in ColaCopy, and you can now safely eject it using the system tray menu.
	- If you have "disconnected" a removable drive in ColaCopy but have not yet ejected it, you can just "reconnect" it.  Press the Drives button at the top of the main window, then press the Edit button in the Drives dialog while this drive is selected in the list, then uncheck the "Disconnect drive" checkbox on the "Edit disk" dialog.  (You can also just check this checkbox then press OK to disconnect a drive.)  You can also just double-click the drive icon in the ColaCopy job list to go directly to the "Edit disk" dialog.
	- If a copy job uses a removable USB drive for its source or target, you may wish to always disconnect this drive whenever a copy run for this copy job has completed, so that you can then cleanly eject the drive.  If so, press the Edit button on the main window to edit the copy job, and check "Disconnect source (or target) drive after copy run ends", below the respective top source/target folders.  (This check box is only visible for removable drives.)

Can I disable the little yellow tooltip pop-up windows that appear over controls?
	- Yes; just uncheck "Enable tooltips" in the Settings dialog and press OK.

What is the History Log?
	- Every time ColaCopy is started, a new History Log file is created in the directory 
		%localappdata%\ColaCopy\Logs.
(Just paste this into a Windows Explorer navigation bar to display the contents of this directory, or press the button "Explore Logs" on the History Log window.)  The files are named using the format
		 ColaCopy.YYYYMMDD_hhmmss.log,
e.g. ColaCopy.20250402_143932.log is the file created when ColaCopy was started on 2025/04/02 at 14:39:32.  These files contain diagnostic information relevant to the operation of ColaCopy, and can be opened using Notepad.
	- To see what is being written to the History Log in real time, click the History Log button at the top of the ColaCopy main window to open the History Log window.
	- At startup, the History Log will display the current ColaCopy version and (free) license information.
	- The History Log contains a record of any copy runs performed and errors encountered.
	- The "Explore Logs" button at the top right of History Log will open a Windows Explorer and show you the logs directory containing the history log files for all past executions of ColaCopy.

What else is in %localappdata%\ColaCopy?
	- Warning!  Never modify any file in this directory or any subdirectory, or the results will be "unpredictable".
	- This directory has the file ColaCopy_License.dat which contains your (free) license information.
	- The "Config" and "BackupConfig" subfolders contains several timestamped ColaCopy.cfg files, which hold various ColaCopy program settings.
	- The "CopyJobData" subfolder contains CopyJobData.txt, which remembers the recently modified folders list for each copy job, and the list of recent copy runs.
	- The "Logs" subdirectory contains ColaCopy log files (the current log file is shown in the History Log window).

Where do I send comments or suggestions about ColaCopy?
	- Email comments or suggestions to:
		support@molliesoft.com
	 or to
		molliesoft@comcast.net