External HD and new Laptop

Hi!

I have an external multimedia drive, exported as syncthing folder, that I am taking to a new laptop.

The sync is pretty big.

What is the process to move the drive to the new laptop without having to re-sync?

I assume the data stays on the drive, in which case you don’t need to anything. Install syncthing on the new laptop, connect the drive, create a folder (with the same id), let it scan the data, add the device to other devices.

It should reconcile the fact that the data is the same and not sync anything. You can set the folder to receive/send only (depending where you are setting it) as an additional piece of mind.

I did it… and it is reporting about 50% files out of sync.

Nothing is getting deleted, but it is “updating” the files.

I am not sure what is triggering syncthing to believe that there is an update.

For some reason is only the mp4 files that it believes require update. The photos are all in sync.

It’s not actually transferring the files. I believe it’s only comparing them (because the new device has no history) and deciding that there is nothing to be done, if they are genuinely the same byte for byte.

OK, I see.