File conflicts (aka multiple primaries) - when the same file is on more than one drive in the pool

The way Drive Bender operates is it effectively merges the contents of each drive into a single volume (or mount point).

As an example, we have

Drive 1
\Folder\abc1.txt

Drive 2
\Folder\abc2.txt

Drive 3
\Folder\abc3.txt

When viewed via the mount point, we get

Pooled mount point
\Folder\abc1.txt
\Folder\abc2.txt
\Folder\abc3.txt

However, if for some reason the same file exists on two or more drives, for example

Drive 1
\Folder\abc1.txt  <-- on drive 2

Drive 2
\Folder\abc2.txt
\Folder\abc1.txt  <-- on drive 1

Drive 3
\Folder\abc3.txt

Pooled mount point
\Folder\abc1.txt  <-- displayed once
\Folder\abc2.txt
\Folder\abc3.txt
\Folder\abc1.txt  <-- displayed twice

So abc1.txt appears twice in the pool. Now it's important to note, this has nothing to do with file duplication, duplicated files are located in a subfolder of the original.

Drive Bender's file monitor is designed to catch these issues and rectify them, it does so by simply renaming one of the files using the format * (X).* where "X" is a number starting at 1. In the above example, "abc1.txt" would be renamed to "abc1 (1).txt" (Note this only applies for v1, v2 of Drive Bender simply reports the issue).

This behaviour can be changed by modifying the specific pool's configuration under the Drive Bender registry located at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Division-M\Drive Bender". You need to add/modify the value under the pool's GUID key, which is a registry key that has a GUID value such as "{F53AC296-09FB-40C9-BACA-D10DCE1BF79E}". Important - The pool's GUID value will be different for everyone, and there may be more than one value if you have multiple pools. An example would be "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Division-M\Drive Bender\{F53AC296-09FB-40C9-BACA-D10DCE1BF79E}", with {F53AC296-09FB-40C9-BACA-D10DCE1BF79E} being the pool's GUID.

In the above image, there are two pools "{12AEAC60-1862-41B4-9E3D-9839018C573D}" and "{F53AC296-09FB-40C9-BACA-D10DCE1BF79E}", we have added the value to the second pool's config. You can determine which GUID is for which pool, by looking at the "Pool Instance Name".

For more information of the registry configuration, please see - Understanding a pool's configuration in the registry – Division-M - Support

Add or change the value DWORD value "HM Action Multiple Primarys" to one of the following

0 = do nothing
1 = warning only (default setting for v2)
2 = rename file to file(x) (default setting for v1)
3 = delete
4 = shutdown pool

Reboot after changing this value.

It should be noted that the most common cause of these issues is accessing and modifying a pooled drive outside of Drive Bender.