Current Events > What is the best way to back up files on a PC

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I have to factory reset my laptop every few months, I have been using a USB stick. Is that still the best method?

No SD slots?

why would you have to factory reset every few months
and maybe it depeneds on what files it is

Stop watching porn on your laptop

You can set up windows to do automated backups of whatever folders you want at whatever interval you want, but it generally works best either with an internal drive or a larger external drive that stays plugged in.

OneDrive on Windows, iCloud on Mac, due to how they integrate with the OS. On Linux or if you don't like those options, any comparable solution (eg. DropBox, Google Drive) works too.

Physical devices are alright for short term one-off backups (like when reformatting), sure, but quickly become inconvenient for regular backups, and an incident like burglary or fire could easily end up destroying your backup too.

PrettyBoyFloyd posted...

No SD slotts?

Would a SD card be better than a USB drive?

s0nicfan posted...

You can set up windows to do automated backups of whatever folders you want at whatever interval you want, but it generally works best either with an internal drive or a larger external drive that stays plugged in.

Where do the backups go, are they stored online somewhere?

Trumble posted...

OneDrive on Windows, iCloud on Mac, due to how they integrate with the OS. On Linux or if you don't like those options, any comparable solution (eg. DropBox, Google Drive) works too.

Physical devices are alright for short term one-off backups (like when reformatting), sure, but quickly become inconvenient for regular backups, and an incident like burglary or fire could easily end up destroying your backup too.

Are all of those online storage? I don't have a whole lot to back up but I definitely want to keep my resumes

BignutzisBack posted...

Are all of those online storage? I don't have a whole lot to back up but I definitely want to keep my resumes

Yes. They all allow a small amount of storage for free, but IMO the 1TBish paid plans are well worth it. OneDrive's also includes a MS Office licence if you'd use that. Google Drive offer a 100GB option if you don't think you'd need 1TB, and it's very cheap (a few bucks a month).

BignutzisBack posted...

Where do the backups go, are they stored online somewhere?

Depends on how you configure the backup process. I'm sure you have the option to have it automatically back up to OneDrive which is Microsoft's cloud product, but you can also just set them to backup onto an external drive plugged into your computer and it will create a folder on that external and handle archiving and dating everything so that you can go back to any version of them if need be.

BignutzisBack posted...

Would a SD card be better than a USB drive?

Not sure.

But they're better for storage because they don't take up a heap of room.

BignutzisBack posted...

I have to factory reset my laptop every few months, I have been using a USB stick. Is that still the best method?

An external hard disk drive.