ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

How to Backup Files in Windows 10/8/7 Like a Data Center?

Updated on July 26, 2020
Paul Abayon 3 profile image

A musician/writer, a compassionate human, and over a decade of IT experience, Paul hopes to help the world recover - one article at a time.

As the technology world emerges, so should all, but not all can adjust. With too many options, most are confused about how to use them. I’m Paul, your local Tech Guy. Either you’re working from home or in the office or anywhere in the world, I'm here to help you become Technology Productive!

In this tech recipe for today, let me show you how you can easily set up an effective personal file backup system to backup files in Windows 10/8/7 like a data center either for work or for business continuity purposes. If you want to know the secret tech recipe in how to effectively make your PC run faster, click here to learn more.

Let's Start!

To obtain an effective backup system, there are 4 basic things to consider – it has to be automated, delivers fast recovery, enables failover capability, and provides mobility.

With that, the solution for you to set up an effective personal file backup system is to set up a hybrid cloud solution. It may sound scary, but it’s really simple. How to do it? Read on below.

Ingredients

  • Any HDD or SSD Hard drive (internal or external)
  • Windows Shadow Copy
  • Windows Task Manager
  • OneDrive or Dropbox or Google Drive
  • Cloud Integrated Apps

1. Choose Your Backup Resources

What is Hybrid Cloud Backup

Hybrid cloud backup is a type of storage backup solution that primarily offers failover capability as it automatically syncs 2 backup layer locations – your local storage & on the cloud.

Budget Considerations

In the storage industry, besides the brand, size does matter. If you noticed the items in computer shops, the more capacity the storage provides (SD card, USB, hard disk, etc.), the more expensive it becomes. That’s also true in the industry level storage warehouse both in data centers & in the cloud storage market. With that, I’ve arranged some tables below to guide you on what backup resources you’d most likely choose depending on your budget & size requirement. Since this article talks about personal backups, we’ll be focusing on the low budget resources below.

With that, kindly see below the price differences for Offline Backup resources.

And, below are the price differences for Online Backup resources.

Version Control & Sync Speed

As mentioned earlier, fast recovery is important when choosing a backup resource. So when selecting a product, ensure to check if version control is available, what's the retention period & what's the average sync speed. Here are the differences below.

Note: The brands suggested from the above tables are the top competitors in the market as of this year 2020.

2. Setup Your Hybrid Cloud Backup System

Setup Your Offline Backup

Now that you’ve chosen which resources you’d prefer, let’s start setting-up your personal hybrid cloud backup system.

1. Physically connect your hard drive to your computer & turn on your computer.
2. Setup Shadow copy by pressing Windows key + R key > type taskschd.msc & click OK. In Task Scheduler, click Create Task, as shown below.

3. Type your desired task name & check the "Run with highest privileges" checkbox.

4. Go to the Triggers tab (shown in step 3) > set up your desired schedule as highlighted in red below. And as highlighted in green below, you have the option to repeat the backup every hour or so. However, do consider that this will occupy storage space faster than normal. Once done, click OK.

5. Click the Actions tab (shown in step 3) > under "Program/script", type wmic > in "Add arguments", type shadowcopy call create Volume=D:\ (were D:\ is the volume letter of your hard drive; change it accordingly) > click OK twice.

To restore the folders or files, just select the folders or files in question > right-click on them > select "Restore to the previous version" > select your desired restore point > then select either “Open” to view or “Restore” to restore them.

Setup Your Online Backup

Now that you’ve set up your offline backup layer, let’s set up your online backup resources to link the two backup layers together to complete the hybrid cloud backup setup.

1. Install your desired cloud storage service (Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive) in your PC, if you haven’t done so.
2. Once installed, all you need to do next is to add your hard drive or folder location to the cloud storage services you have installed. Here’s how to do it below.

  • For Dropbox, right-click on the “Dropbox” icon on the taskbar (lower right corner) > click your avatar icon > select Preferences > Account icon > click “Unlink This Dropbox”. Open Dropbox > sign-in > select “Advanced settings” > under “Dropbox location”, click the current location & select "Other" > select your desired folder/hard drive > click “Select Folder” button > click OK.

  • For OneDrive, right-click on the “OneDrive” icon on the taskbar (lower right corner) > select Settings > Account tab > click “Unlink this PC” > click OK. Go back to OneDrive settings > Accounts tab > click “Add an account” > enter your credentials > click “Change location” > select your desired folder/hard drive > click “Select Folder” button > click OK.

  • For Google Drive, right-click on the “Backup & Sync from Google” icon on the taskbar (lower right corner) > click on the ellipsis (⋮) > select Preferences > select “My Computer” > select “Choose Folder” > select your desired folder/hard drive > click “Select Folder” button > click OK.

You’re all set! If your device or internet breaks, you’re now able to access or quickly restore your precious folders & files from any devices, anytime!

Word Of Advice

If you want to sync your entire hard drive, then you have to subscribe to a higher capacity cloud storage service. Otherwise, you may sync a centralized folder instead & take advantage of the free packages that the cloud storage services are offering.

3. Utilize Cloud Integrated Apps

I’d also like to add. Have you noticed that most software now has sign-in options like these once shown below? Those are cloud-integrated apps. If you want to access your files directly from the apps across multiple devices, I’d highly recommend you to utilize those as well. I use this feature in Microsoft Office, Chrome, or Sticky Notes & I don’t have to worry about my documents or bookmarks or notes as I’m able to access them across any of my devices.

Note: If you don’t own multiple devices, I wouldn’t recommend using this feature for security purposes.

In A Nutshell

An effective way to prevent file loss incidents & enable continuity is to set up a personal hybrid cloud backup system to backup files in Windows 10/8/7 like a data center.

This tech recipe just helped you set up your personal hybrid cloud backup system. Automated backup & recovery, failover, and mobility is just a part of the solutions to increase productivity. And in Dropbox or OneDrive or Google Drive or cloud-integrated apps, there are more solutions available including other productivity solutions out there, so I need your help.

Any Suggestions or Comments?

Write your suggestions or comments down below & let me know what you'd love to read in my future articles.

Share This Article

If you like you've read, help me spread the words by sharing this article with your friends & families in the hopes of helping the world recover - one article at a time. Thank you!

© 2020 Paul Abayon III

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)