Old 12-08-2019, 09:44 AM   #1
ChrisBlue
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I have been told that Google Drive is an option for backing up and that it automatically backs up anything new in a project. Is this a good option please ? Thanks
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Old 12-08-2019, 01:34 PM   #2
toleolu
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Yes it's a good option if you don't have a way of backing your stuff up locally, just give some thought to what you want to backup and when you want the backups to run.

I've always liked running my backups manually, just to make sure nothing got glitched up. And I generally only backup my data regularly. The stuff on my system drive doesn't need to be backed up that often.

I do all my backups to a USB drive though.
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Old 12-09-2019, 07:02 AM   #3
ChrisBlue
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ok thanks
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Old 12-09-2019, 08:10 AM   #4
toleolu
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One thing to watch for Chris, in your original post, you mentioned Google Drive backing up your projects automatically.

The thing with that is in order for Google Drive to do that, a service of some type has to always be running on your computer.

That may, or may not, cause performance issue for you depending on your hardware.

One final note. In addition to backing up your project files, you need to make a backup of some type of your system drive. (Typically your C: drive). The reason for that is the day will come when Windows craps out on you, or that drive just fails. When that happens, if you don't have a clone or a system image of your C: drive, you may have to wipe the drive and re-install Windows. I that case, in addition to having to reinstall all your programs and other executables, if you had any data on that drive that will be gone as well.

Disaster recovery is something every computer user needs to be aware of, and have a good plan in place to address. The old saying, "There's two kinds of computer users, those who have lost data, and those who will lose data".

Last edited by toleolu; 12-09-2019 at 08:16 AM.
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Old 12-10-2019, 06:42 AM   #5
ChrisBlue
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ok thanks, I think I need to sort out a clone of my whole system.
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Old 12-10-2019, 09:53 AM   #6
toleolu
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisBlue View Post
ok thanks, I think I need to sort out a clone of my whole system.
A good option for sure.

Another, possibly simpler option, is to create a System Image using the built in backup function in Windows 10. Here's an article on how to do that.

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-c...in-windows-10/

Thing is though, that is something you're going to want to do to a USB drive, not Google Drive.

Also, while you're going through all this, take some time to look at how your data is organized. Keeping your executables (programs etc.) on one drive, and your data (projects etc.) on a separate drive makes things a lot easier.

I do a System Image every two or three months depending on software updates, but I copy everything on my data drive at least once a month, sometimes more often if I've been working a lot.

All my data is on my D: drive and all I do is copy all the folders in the root of my D: drive and paste them into a folder on the USB drive. So on that USB drive I have one folder that is the system image, and then another folder that is my data. I then put that USB drive back in it's factory box and stash it away in a desk drawer. When I want to make a new image or a new data backup, I just delete the folder from the USB drive and either create a new image, or copy and paste the folders in my D: drive. Also, if you give the system image deal a try, don't skip the step on creating a repair disk. You only need to do that once, but once you have created that repair disk, put that away somewhere safe as well.

I've had to use those backups two or three times over the years. Worked great every time.
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