Backup your files: your vital task

If you use a computer for storing any sort of information, files or data, it's vital to ensure that these are being backed up. An unexpected event like hard drive failure, file corruption or even a virus, could wipe out all of your important files when you least expect it.

Data backup needs to be an essential part of your computer usage routine, but not everyone does it correctly, or even at all. Some may be intimidated by the apparent scale of what's required, not knowing where to start, what files to backup, where to store their backups or even which backup software to use. This article answers all of these questions and more.

Why is backing up your files so important?

Data is the lifeblood of modern organizations, and computers use drives to store your data. The constant reading and writing of data will eventually lead to drive errors or failure, due to mechanical issues or drive degradation, usually without warning. There are also other situations which may result in data loss, such as power failures, system or file corruption, viruses, ransomware, or malware attacks. It is therefore important to store a copy of your data somewhere else - as a safety net or form of redundancy.

Where should you store your backed-up data?

The choice of where to backup may depend on several factors, including the size of the backups, setup complexity, portability, security requirements, budget, on-site or offsite backup.

External hard drives - one of the most common storage mediums, external drives, are easy to setup, relatively cheap, provide multiple storage size options, are portable and are usually large enough to store a large amount of data. However, like the hard drives in your computer, they are prone to failure over time, risk being misplaced (lost) or damaged (when dropped), and may eventually run out of storage space as their size is fixed. External hard drives may also risk being stolen or destroyed in a disaster (power-surge, fire, flood, etc), or more mundame damage, like being knocked off a desk.

USB flash drives – thumb drives, or USB flash drives, are plug and play, ultra-portable, inexpensive, and reasonably durable. They are good for transporting data between locations efficiently. However they are also prone to being lost or stolen, have a low storage capacity, and certain higher-end models are more expensive. There is also the issue of durability to consider.

Disc media (CD-/DVD-Rom & Blu-Ray) – burnable disc media is a dying storage medium, although there are still some people who use them. They are cheap, portable, and can be used for offsite storage. However, they have limited storage capacity, a short shelf life and are considerably slower than hard/flash drives. They are also notoiously easy to damage.

Network Attached Storage (NAS) – a NAS device utilizes one or more storage drives to create redundancy and a larger combined storage. A NAS device is connected to the network for shared access. The storage drives used in NAS are usually sold separately so it can be costly to set up. However, NAS devices offer better data redundancy, drive failure protection in real time and performance using RAID configurations. It should be noted that some NAS manufacturers may also provide inferior software that may be buggy, which may cause issues during backup (like storing files with the wrong modification date/time stamp, for example). Some NAS are located onsite, making it vulnerable to disasters like theft, power-surge, fire and flood.

Cloud Backup – storing your data in the cloud is the most reliable backup platform. Data stored on cloud services is always accessible from any internet-connected device. Cloud storage is offsite, so it keeps your data safe from disasters. There are several cloud services available, and most cloud services provide a limited amount of online storage for free. Users can pay a recurring fee to buy more storage, but note that charges may get expensive over time. Online backup tends to be slower, especially if you have a lot of data to backup. SyncBackPro supports the following cloud services - Amazon S3™, Google Storage™, Google Drive™, Google Photos™, Microsoft Azure™, Microsoft OneDrive™, OneDrive for Business (Office 365), SharePoint™ (Office 365), Dropbox™, Box, SugarSync™, OpenStack, Backblaze™ B2, OVH™, Egnyte™, Citrix ShareFile™, pCloud™ and WebDAV.

FTP/FTPS/SFTP – like cloud storage, FTP is an offsite storage solution and may be a solid and reliable option to consider if available. While most people are moving towards cloud services, FTP still remains a viable option for some. SFTP and FTPS servers offers an additional layer of security. SFTP is supported in SyncBackPro while FTPS and FTP are supported in SyncBackPro and SyncBackSE.

SyncBack Touch – like cloud storage and FTP, SyncBack Touch is an offsite storage solution that can be used by SyncBackPro and SyncBackSE. The main advantage that Touch has over FTP is that it can perform delta-copies (when installed on Windows), meaning only the differences between files is transmitted over the network. Touch is also far simpler to install and configure than FTP and doesn't suffer from the numerous compatibility problems FTP has.

It is recommended to keep at least 2 or more backup copies of your data and that these should be updated on a regular basis. Storing these backups in different physical locations will help ensure you have at least a backup copy elsewhere should disaster strike one of your locations.

Which files should you back up?

With a backup and synchronization program like SyncBack, you can use it to back up a list of files and folders specified by you. This will allow you to backup just the important files that you need. So how to identify which files are important and where do we find them? As a rule of thumb, files created by you are the type of files you should backup. System files, Windows operating system folder, installed programs, and temporary files are files that are not required for backup.

Below is a checklist of the most common data files recommended for backup.

Disclaimer - please bear in mind this list is non-exhaustive. Every computer setup is different, so the type and amount of data to backup will vary from user to user. The locations of the data mentioned in this list are their default locations, but it may be stored in a different location in your computer if you have previously customized their storage location. Only you will know where all your files are stored. You may also have data for special programs that are not mentioned in this list so you may need to locate and include them as part of your backup routine.

1. Your User folder containing your documents, music, pictures, etc (C:\Users\Username\)

On a modern Windows PC, most of your personal files are located under C:\Users\USERNAME\, where USERNAME is your Windows user account name. This is the default directory that stores your user account’s data folders. These include your Documents, Pictures, Downloads, Desktop, Music, and Video folders. Other important subfolders include OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive folders, if you use these cloud services.

A hidden subfolder, AppData, is also stored here. This folder stores program settings and data specific to your user account. For example, SyncBackSE/Pro by default automatically backs up your profiles here (C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\2BrightSparks\SyncBack\Profiles Backup). By backing up the AppData folder, it ensures you can easily restore a program’s settings or restore your profiles from a backup.

It is recommended to backup your entire user account directory, including the hidden AppData directory. Through SyncBack, it is also possible to remove/uncheck certain subfolders from the backup selection (Modify > Simple > Choose sub-directories and files) if you decide those folders do not contain important data.

2. Internet browser bookmarks or favourites

Depending on which Internet browser you are using, the location where your bookmarks (or favourites) are stored may vary. For example, Internet Explorer may save your bookmarks under the Favourites folder in your user account folder, whereas Google's Chrome browser may save them as a bookmark file buried under \AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\ directory. Other browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Vivaldi etc also offer the Sync feature which lets you synchronize your browser’s settings (including bookmarks) across multiple devices. Please check your browser’s Help file to find out the optimum way to back up your favourites.

3. Email backup

If you are using a desktop email client setup with the IMAP protocol, chances are you won’t need to back up your emails as the original copies of your emails are stored on the email server. This means if your computer crashes, you only need to reinstall Windows and the email client, then setup your email configuration to have access to your emails again. However, if you are using the POP3 protocol to download your emails to your desktop client, then it’s important to back them up.

The location where your downloaded emails are stored will vary depending on which email application you use. Popular clients like Outlook store downloaded emails as .PST files and they are store in the user account’s AppData folder. However, it is recommended that you check your program Help for exact steps to locate them.

With SyncBackPro, it is also possible to make a backup of your emails, stored on your email server, by creating a Backup Email profile (Modify > Expert > Backup Email). The Backup Email Help section in SyncBackPro contains further details on how to setup such a profile. SyncBackPro can backup emails stored on Microsoft Exchange servers.

4. Backup the backup application and the backup tasks

If your computer crashes, it would be important to reinstall the backup application and import the backup task to run a Restore job as soon as possible. Thus, it would be a good idea to keep a copy of the backup application and the backup tasks files. You will also need to save the serial number (if your program is licensed) for easy retrieval.

5. Keep a list of all installed programs

You may also want to keep a copy of all the programs you use. This makes reinstallation easier during a disaster recovery. It would therefore be advisable to copy any new programs you download and install from the Internet to a special folder that gets backed up as part of your backup routine.

6. If you store important data in other locations besides the user account folder, those should be marked for backup as well.

Which files should not be backed up?

Folders that are not required for backup include your Windows, Program Files and Program Files (x86) (for 64-bit Window OSes) folders. Windows system files cannot be transferred to a different PC hardware and these files will be automatically setup when a new Windows OS is installed, so it’s unnecessary to make a copy of them. This applies to the Program Files folder as well, since you will need to reinstall most of your applications on a new OS.

Is cloning or disk imaging necessary?

To make an exact copy of your drive, including your Windows operating system, you must use disk imaging software. Disk imaging copies the entire disk (the parts that are used) bit-by-bit. This results in a copy that will take up a very large amount of disk space, and also take a long time to copy. Disk imaging isn't generally the best answer to backing up for a few reasons.

Your Windows operating environment is constantly changing. Programs are installed, updated, uninstalled, and settings are changed. Many important security specific applications are also regularly and automatically updated. Anyone, for example, who uses their computer to connect to the Internet should have in place Anti-Virus, Firewall, and Anti-Spyware programs that often update many times a week.

Another significant reason creating a disk image of your drive is not an advisable routine backup procedure is that all misconfigurations of your system, dormant security threats, and the vast amount of junk or temporary data that are created and stored on your system, will also be copied. Much of this junk data cannot be deleted as it is generated behind the scenes in your system. This results in a decrease in performance and speed, and can also lead to system instability. And when you restore from an image, you may even be restoring infected versions of your files.

Lastly, if you change your computer then it's almost guaranteed that you won't be able to restore from a disk image as that disk image contains all the drivers and settings for your previous computer's hardware, which is probably different.

These issues, combined with the much longer, costlier, and less convenient disk imaging process inevitably means that for the average user, disk imaging is carried out far less frequently than the kind of backup that only copies your personal data. It's important to remember that making regular backups to a different location is the key to an effective backup strategy.

People who use disk imaging often use file backup programs as well. For example, they take a snapshot of their hard disk using the disk imaging software, e. g. every week, month, or at ad-hoc times, but use the file backup program to make regular backups of their important files, e.g. scheduled every day or even hourly. When doing a restore they first restore the disk image then restore their files using the file backup program. This requires more setup and it only works if you are restoring your OS on the same PC.

Backup Frequency

How often you should back up your files may depend on how often you make changes to your files. If you change and save your documents daily, it is recommended to make a backup at least once a day. In some instances, some files (like data logs) may be updated multiple times per day, in which case a backup task configured to back up in real time is more appropriate. Some users may also use Incremental or Differential backups to capture file changes over a week, etc. Others may use Versioning to capture various file versions as their draft document is reworked throughout the day.

SyncBackSE and SyncBackPro supports the use of Incremental and/or Differential backups through the Fast Backup option. Versioning of files is also supported.

Scheduling Backups

It's very easy (and important) to have your vital files backed up without you having to remember to do so. The backup can be done automatically, every day, while you sleep. It can be done while you're on holiday or out of the office. Computers are designed to help automate tasks, so let your computer and software automate your backups.

SyncBack - The ideal solution to backing up your files

There's a simple solution to ensuring a backup copy of all your important files has been created. So that if or when an unfortunate event occurs that results in the unwanted loss of your data, it's easy to restore that data. This may be a single file that you've inadvertently deleted, or all the documents you've worked on or stored at one time or another.

SyncBackPro/SE from 2BrightSparks allow users to easily and automatically backup their files. These award-winning programs can even backup open and locked files which means your files can be backed up as you're working on them. Other highlights include: Fast Backup and Intelligent Synchronization; Extensive Cloud Support; Powerful FTP engine; Compression & Encryption; Superb Feature-Set and Customization; Generous Licensing Policy; and Extensive Help Documentation.

Conclusion

Backing up your data is an essential task that needs to be performed regularly. Setting up an automated backup task with SyncBack only takes a few minutes. Once done, you'll have peace of mind that your data is safe. Don’t wait until a disaster occurs and live to regret it when your data are lost.

 

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