How to synchronize an arbitrary Windows folder with a Dropbox account?

How can I do this with Dropbox:

• I want to ensure that all my files stored under C:\Users\Gerard\Images and C:\Users\Gerard\Documents are stored automatically online.
• I don't want to copy them manually into the C:\Users\Gerard\Dropbox folder, since I'm very likely to forget things.
• I don't want to use twice the space on my hard drive duplicating all files from my images folder to my dropbox.

Should I:

• Stop using C:\Users\Gerard\Images to store things, and store everything under C:\Users\Gerard\Dropbox\Images instead? Or...
• Use a tool to synchronize my C:\Users\Gerard\Images and C:\Users\Gerard\Documents files with C:\Users\Gerard\Dropbox

Solution 1:

Use MKLINK to create a directory junction between your DropBox folder and your Images and Documents folders, to fake out DropBox.

So for instance:

MKLINK /J C:\Users\Gerard\DropBox\Documents C:\Users\Gerard\Documents
MKLINK /J C:\Users\Gerard\DropBox\Images C:\Users\Gerard\Images

This creates a "fake" set of folders inside DropBox, without duplicating the data, and will upload all your photos and documents. In other words, there is an extra set of folders targeting the same location on the drive.

Whether you modify files in the "fake" or original locations, the folders will remain synchronised.