Despite everything you do to protect your computer, there is always a risk that your files could be damaged by malicious software or a hardware failure. Because of this, the best protection is always to back up your data, to an external hard drive, shared network drive, or cloud storage. You’ll learn how to do this in this chapter.
Back Up Your Data
To access the menu which allows you to back up your data, go to Settings > Update & Security > Backup:
Click on “Add a drive” in the central section, plug in an external hard drive, and you’ll be able to back up your files by clicking on them:
Then click on “More options”, “See advanced settings”, and “Turn on”. This action will launch an initial backup of your data onto the external hard drive.
Next, go back to the “Backup” menu and click on “More options”. You’ll see that the menu has changed and that you can now choose how often your data will be backed up and which folders to save.
Personally, I choose to back up my data every day and to keep my backups for three months. I only backup my Desktop and Documents folders.
The backup created on your hard drive retains exactly the same hierarchy as on your computer, which means that you’ll find your files in exactly the same place.
Follow the video below to see the steps I take to keep my data backed up in Windows 10:
Back Up Your Data to the Cloud
Another way of backing up your data, without having to manage backups yourself, is to store it in the cloud. To do this, we can use Windows a service called “OneDrive”. OneDrive is already part of Windows 10, so you don’t have to install it. Open Windows file explorer and you’ll see OneDrive located on the left-hand side.
Using this directory is functionally the same as using your local directories. You can work as you normally would and your folders and files saved in this location will automatically be backed up safely in the background.
If any problems with your data occur, you’re now safe in the knowledge that all your documents are backed up. Remember that for any device, whether it’s a server, a computer, or any other, the best way to avoid losing your data is to back it up.
However, for best practice, try to avoid backing up things you don’t need (it all takes up space)!
Your Turn!
🎯 Today's mission at CleanFuture: Since joining CleanFuture you have been saving important documents to your computer desktop:
You would like to make sure you have a second copy of these documents in case of a hard drive failure.
⚙️ The actions you need to take:
Take a backup of these files to a second drive or a OneDrive account to ensure you have access to these important files in case of a problem with your computer.
✅ Double-check your work: You’ll know you’ve succeeded when you have a second copy of both files on an external drive or in your OneDrive account. Open them in the backup location to make sure they’ve been backed up correctly!
Let's Recap!
Using the Windows 10 “Backup” menu, in “Settings > Update & Security > Backup”, you can create restore points on an external hard drive or a shared network drive for the folders and files of your choice.
The Microsoft cloud service, OneDrive, is installed with Windows 10 and makes syncing to the cloud from your computer simple.
Backing up your important data is essential, whether it be working documents used by a company’s staff, server configuration, or a company database.
You’re now familiar with an important concept - backups. You now know how to back up your data in Windows 10 and where you can back your data up to, an important step in protecting your data from being lost. Next, we’ll look at protecting your computer from a different threat- viruses.
