# How Do You Backup Your Files?



## Cool Ice Dude55 (Jan 7, 2014)

i was wondering how you backup your computer and phone files? Do you recommend any good software? I'm looking to start being proper meticulous with backing up my files, because right now I'm not....which is dangerous and terrible I know...

I'm not going to be using any Google products. I don't trust Google...


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## either/or (Apr 27, 2020)

I use this. It's a cloud backup thing. It's less than $10 a month. Not sure if you can use it in the UK though. It's convenient because it automatically backups everything for you in the background when your PC is on. If you modify a file, it automatically updates it and of course automatically saves any new files. I never have to manually back anything up.

https://www.carbonite.com/

For my phone I use iCloud. It's like $1 a month.


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## Catechumen (Aug 21, 2018)

*PC*

First of all, store all your PC personal data files on a *separate physical drive* , i.e not on your operating system drive (normally your C: drive) because if your hard drive fails or Windows gets corrupted you may well lose all your data as happened to me some years back.
I never trust Micros**te Windows now to recover a disk or operating system!
Get an *external usb hard drive* as well to back your critical stuff and keep it in another location in case of theft, or fire. Minimum size 1TB - quick to fill up these days.

Write stuff to CD's / DVD's well for extra backup.

*OPERATING SYSTEM BACKUP*
So you've recently got your shiny new laptop, and spent a good few weeks installing all your expensive software and hours fiddling about with the settings so it looks just as you want it. You've spent time and money downloading all the updates and addons so it all works lovely! Sounds too good to be true - it is! You do a Windows update - sorry you are _forced_ to do a windows update

and then you restart your computer and what's this blue screen of death? What do you mean I have to reinstall Windows...?










Consider doing an *image backup* of your operating system at least once a year - using e.g

software like _*Macrium Reflect*_ who have a free basic version which I can testify works
https://www.macrium.com/
Make sure you know how to use it as well

*Smartphone / CONTACTS*

It's a nightmare managing all the data we are expected to deal with - Contacts , email , passwords , change of address, bookmarks, SMS , agencies, shopping, calender, finance...

One app I use that is freeware and works between PC and Android or Sony-Ericsson phones is *MyPhoneExplorer*
from
https://www.fjsoft.at/en/downloads.php

*MyPhoneExplorer 1.8.15 released*
2020-08-31









It's can be a bit fiddly to install but you can sync data between Android and Windows and/ or export contacts as vcards including photos.

*CLOUD BACKUP*
Haven't done this yet - there is *no absolute security on the Cloud or web* as far as I am concerned, but hey, we are being forced to upload our personal data anyway by Big Brother gov. When companies say 'oh don't worry your data is secure with us we have measures in place - it's all complete Bulls**t! :frown2:
Look at how many companies and even Governments have been hacked!
Microsh*te / Apple / Android - they all have backdoors built-in anyway.
Just ask Jeff Bezos if his photos were secure or those celebs who had their iphone photos hacked! :serious:
Email / cloud accounts can get deleted if not used every so often - I lost a lot of data when onetel folded.

*PASSWORDS / LOGIN*
Don't use the same password for everything - you need a kind of system you can remember for each website - by the way why is S.A.S so fuc*ing difficult to register with? the password is more demanding than google!

*HARDCOPY / PAPER BACKUP*

I have some data on Filofax from the good old days! 0

I wouldn't rely on _Biometric / fingerprint security_ either - changing a Smartphone can find you locked out of your Bank / Credit account!

_Consider leaving Passwords / Logins with your loved ones in case something happens, e.g Covid_

Welcome to the Brave new World!

Joe - the Chinese have just launched their ICBM's - where's the Nuclear codes?
Err - I can't remember...let me think... - Kamala! :O


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## zedsonata (Dec 24, 2007)

So I've backed up since 1994. Over the years I've used a whole bunch of different media to do so.


But for right now, I have two 5tb external drives. One lives at my house the other lives at my brothers house.


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## staticradio725 (Oct 25, 2020)

I'm a Google girl, but I get why you wouldn't trust them. I don't trust Apple further than I can throw them, either. 
That being said, almost everything I have is backed up to Google Drive. But I do have other stuff on OneDrive (the Microsoft service that came with my laptop), Dropbox, and Box.com. Never had any troubles with any of those services. 
I don't distrust any storage service enough to have an external hard drive. I figure, if one of these services does crash and stuff gets lost or hacked, they're going to be in hot water with people/companies who are a whole lot more important than me and my vacation photos xD


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## Paul (Sep 26, 2005)

I do a backup every 5 years or so. I've never lost a hard drive in ~30 years, so frankly it's hard to make myself worry about something so unlikely.

The problem with backup utilities is that they're all designed for people who sleep at regular times. There are no times of day when I want my computer to start doing an intensive task like that. And I don't feel like paying for enough Dropbox space.



Catechumen said:


> and then you restart your computer and what's this blue screen of death? What do you mean I have to reinstall Windows...?


Can't you just reinstall to a new partition and copy all your files over from the old partition?

I suppose on Windows it could take you a long time to reinstall all your software since you have different sources and installer programs. The couple of times I damaged my OS over the decades it was very quick to just mark all the software for installation from Linux repositories after reinstalling to a new partition.


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

I used to like it when Windows still had a state-based system restore instead of the totally garbage and useless file restore system. Like what good is the current file restore system? It only works if I delete a file that I could restore that, well guess what if I deleted a file I meant to delete it. ****ing useless that is. They removed the feature where you could restore to an earlier state with all your installations and file settings AND files. Yeah, there are other programs like Acronis True Image but I don't feel like paying for that.

I use a 3TB external drive that is air-gapped and only connected to my computer a few times a year to copy over important files. I should back up my photos on my phone more often though. All my cloud storage is fragmented and not large enough even for photos and I'm not paying for extra space. I will say that only cloud storage can protect data against fire/flood/theft.


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## zonebox (Oct 22, 2012)

I don't backup my files very often, I usually do it when I get a new computer so every three to five years. I use the most affordable means to do so, which lately comes down to external hard drives that are on sale. In a drawer next to me, I have about three hard drives containing the contents of files I felt were important. Each was purchased after I bought a new computer specifically as a back up. Also I copy all of those files I felt were important over to my new computer, so the those hard drives are an accumulation of various pictures, journal entries, tax documents, and so on. This very crude way of backing up has been my way of doing things for a long while - I've been fortunate enough never to have had a hard drive die on me in any of my computers. 



For my phone, I typically copy all of the files to my computer when it is time to get a new one every two to three years - and they get backed up again when I get a new computer.


I've never used any backup software to do my backups, I keep my computer organized so I know what I want to save. It is just a matter of copying folders over to another storage medium. I actually have a few tape back ups from the 90s, which I would love to explore to see what may be on them - if they are even any good anymore which I doubt. I should just throw them out, considering their age and not having the jumbo tape drive to read them even if they were. I do have some floppies from the same era that still work though. I also have a few hard drives from various computers, which still run. I used to pull them out of my computers and store them in a bin.


I wouldn't suggest my haphazardly way of storing data to anyone. Backups are not very important to me. If I do have something really important to me, I will put it on a flash drive for temporary storage but that is pretty rare.


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## EmotionlessThug (Oct 4, 2011)

External hard drive for my computers and video game consoles.


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## Blue Dino (Aug 17, 2013)

Nowadays, mostly cloud (which are majority of my more important documents and files, which are small in size). Bigger files like pictures, videos, music etc, external hard drives. But with the smartphone era where pictures are mostly uploaded automatically to cloud, and with streaming era where I seldom download music and videos anymore, my external hard drives have been caked with dust.


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## andy1984 (Aug 18, 2006)

external hdd and some on googoo drive


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## Orb (Nov 5, 2012)

Mainly on a couple of external hard drives (14tb and 4tb), some cloud.


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## Cool Ice Dude55 (Jan 7, 2014)

Blue Dino said:


> Nowadays, mostly cloud (which are majority of my more important documents and files, which are small in size). Bigger files like pictures, videos, music etc, external hard drives. But with the smartphone era where pictures are mostly uploaded automatically to cloud, and with streaming era where I seldom download music and videos anymore, my external hard drives have been caked with dust.





Orb said:


> Mainly on a couple of external hard drives (14tb and 4tb), some cloud.


What clouds do you use


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## Orb (Nov 5, 2012)

Cool Ice Dude55 said:


> What clouds do you use


Just the usual free stuff - mainly Dropbox, Google Drive (just a little), OneDrive, iCloud


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## Blue Dino (Aug 17, 2013)

Cool Ice Dude55 said:


> What clouds do you use


Google Drive mainly to my essential documents.

Microsoft One drive sometimes for misc stuff out of convenience with having a Windows OS.


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## RSxo (Apr 19, 2018)

You could either use something physical (External Hard Drive), or something virtual (e.g. Google Drive). Certainly worth it when there's a risk of losing everything!


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## Cool Ice Dude55 (Jan 7, 2014)

Orb said:


> Just the usual free stuff - mainly Dropbox, Google Drive (just a little), OneDrive, iCloud


Ahhh ok, do you pay for your Dropbox by any chance? And are the clouds on automatic sync


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## Orb (Nov 5, 2012)

Cool Ice Dude55 said:


> Ahhh ok, do you pay for your Dropbox by any chance? And are the clouds on automatic sync


I think I would if I stored more in there - you get 2GB free. What phone do you use? I find it plays very well with iOS. For instance, I have the Dropbox app and a side loaded app called Cercube. This, amongst other things, lets you download videos from YouTube, and more importantly for me, convert them to audio (mainly for music mixes and such). I can just click on it, 'save to dropbox' and Bob's your uncle. I have hours upon hours of music and still got a lot of space left. Worth a try.

One drive and iCloud are on auto sync, although to be fair that can be a little annoying because they can fill up fast lol. So, probably need to play with that a bit.

Also I have to ask, whereabouts in Essex ? I grew up in Romford so know it very well.


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## rabidfoxes (Apr 17, 2016)

I do a simple manual back up once a month by copying all my data onto a USB drive. I keep a list of things I need to back up so I don't forget anything. It goes something like this: folders , desktop, key music files (mixtapes & lists), home videos, simplenote, bookmarks - both browsers, webcam pics, my website.

There are easier ways to do this. I plan on buying once of those 1TB backup drives where you just plug it in and it copies everything automatically.


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## humidity (Nov 24, 2011)

If you don't have many gigs of files, you can use free cloud drives like googles or microsofts, and even dropbox i think has some free storage. Or you can pay them to expand your cloud storage.

If you have too many gigs, or can't afford to pay big money for cloud, you can backup files to an external hard drive. I myself use software called freefilesync. It's the most feature packed free software that i've found, although I dont know if anyone made anything better since. It can copy only the files that have been modified, saving time and drive wear.


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## Famous (Sep 6, 2011)

I manually back up to a usb external drive, every couple of months.


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## WillYouStopDave (Jul 14, 2013)

I pick them up and walk backwards.


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## Canadian Brotha (Jan 23, 2009)

I back up to hard drives via laptop, only keep a few things in iCloud


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## That Random Guy (Jan 31, 2015)

Cool Ice Dude55 said:


> i was wondering how you backup your computer and phone files? Do you recommend any good software? I'm looking to start being proper meticulous with backing up my files, because right now I'm not....which is dangerous and terrible I know...
> 
> I'm not going to be using any Google products. I don't trust Google...


I also don't trust Google.

For my PC, I just use a standard back up software and let it copy stuff to an additional hard drive I have in my PC. This can also be a portable SSD or HDD, USB, etc. I think people like to recommend FreeFileSync for their local (offline) backups when it comes to software. I'm stuck using a variant that Microsoft used to offer as freeware but I will be changing soon since FreeFileSync is more trusted. Generally, people in my circles recommend following a 3-2-1 strategy where you have two local backups/copies (i.e. another storage device like portable hard drive) and one saved to the cloud (e.g. Dropbox, MEGA). Of course, this is usually pricey depending on what you use and what you risk putting up in the cloud. I usually keep my larger backups (movies, games, videos) locally and minor stuff (e.g. music and documents) in the cloud. Of course, I don't trust cloud providers so I usually have all my stuff up there secured to make it unreadable.

I don't often do backups for my phone if I'm being honest. I tend to do it the old fashioned and tiresome way by connecting directly to my PC and transferring my contacts/photos that way. Otherwise everything else gets lost if the phone ever gets replaced and or refreshed. I don't do much on my phone.


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## Cool Ice Dude55 (Jan 7, 2014)

Orb said:


> Also I have to ask, whereabouts in Essex ? I grew up in Romford so know it very well.


Oh Nice! I was in Chigwell, but I'm not there anymore... I've been to Romford!


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## Cool Ice Dude55 (Jan 7, 2014)

That Random Guy said:


> I also don't trust Google.
> 
> For my PC, I just use a standard back up software and let it copy stuff to an additional hard drive I have in my PC. This can also be a portable SSD or HDD, USB, etc. I think people like to recommend FreeFileSync for their local (offline) backups when it comes to software. I'm stuck using a variant that Microsoft used to offer as freeware but I will be changing soon since FreeFileSync is more trusted. Generally, people in my circles recommend following a 3-2-1 strategy where you have two local backups/copies (i.e. another storage device like portable hard drive) and one saved to the cloud (e.g. Dropbox, MEGA). Of course, this is usually pricey depending on what you use and what you risk putting up in the cloud. I usually keep my larger backups (movies, games, videos) locally and minor stuff (e.g. music and documents) in the cloud. Of course, I don't trust cloud providers so I usually have all my stuff up there secured to make it unreadable.
> 
> I don't often do backups for my phone if I'm being honest. I tend to do it the old fashioned and tiresome way by connecting directly to my PC and transferring my contacts/photos that way. Otherwise everything else gets lost if the phone ever gets replaced and or refreshed. I don't do much on my phone.


Omg! It's nice to know I'm not the only old fashioned one that manually transfers files from the phone to computer


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## Cool Ice Dude55 (Jan 7, 2014)

So after some deliberation, I decided to carry on backing up my files manually to a hard drive. I'm too cheapskate to pay out for a cloud.


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## extremly (Oct 25, 2012)

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## firelight (Jan 31, 2019)

Google drive. I don't have many files that I couldn't bear losing. My gaming pc has a big 2TB HD that I dump media files and such into.


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## Canadian Brotha (Jan 23, 2009)

Some old hard drives & a few files I have in iCloud


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## Ape in space (May 31, 2010)

My main back-up is to an external hard drive, which I do using SyncBack (free version). You can make back-up profiles specifying which folders you want backed up, then you just press 'run' and it backs up to the external drive.


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## Futures (Aug 27, 2005)

I use a program called "Macrium Reflect". It's not free, but considering time is money, and this thing has saved my *** more than a few times, I'd say it's money well spent.


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## WillYouStopDave (Jul 14, 2013)

The only good way I've found to do it is just to manually make about 3-4 copies of all the stuff that matters and manually update them every now and then. I did have an automated thing that did it on a schedule but I found that I lost more files that way than just doing it myself. I would always get a setting wrong or something and it would end up overwriting things or I'd get the newer copy mixed up with the older one. The settings menus on those programs are a real maze and only good for masochists.


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## Blue Dino (Aug 17, 2013)

Smaller files and document files and text files, I just back them up on cloud storage. Larger files like photos, videos and music, I use a portable external drive. But the past several years especially with p2p networks long gone and torrenting being cracked down on my a lot of internet providers, I've seldom downloaded much videos or music, as I access those via streaming. Meanwhile downloading videos seem like a waste of space since I mostly usually only watch things once and never re-watch anything nowadays.


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