Cloud backup tips
Whether you’re new to backing up your files online or an old hand, we have some handy hints to share...
Once your cloud folder is up and running, it’s tempting to adopt the ‘set it and forget it’ approach, but there are plenty of little tweaks you can — and should perform — to help improve your experience. The first tip is particularly pertinent if you’re limiting yourself to free backup plans — and that’s be selective about what you back up. Focus on your critical, irreplaceable files — documents, photos and home videos (but not other digital media you can recreate from elsewhere). This is in addition to restricting your use of shared folders as explained previously.
During your initial backup, you may find your internet connection slows to a crawl or even occasionally falls over, prompting a reboot of the router. This is often down to your cloud provider’s desktop sync tool hogging all available upload bandwidth. The trick is to configure an upload limit via its settings tool — in OneDrive for example go to Settings, choose the Network tab and tick ‘Adjust automatically’ under ‘Upload rate’. Google Drive users should visit ‘Preferences > Settings > Network Settings’ and manually set an upload rate that’s no more than 80% of your connection’s total upload speed (find this out via www.speedtest.net).
INTEGRATE WITH WINDOWS
If you want to integrate your cloud storage into your Windows user folders, the best thing to do is first create the relevant sub-folder — such as Documents, Photos and so on — inside your main cloud folder. Next, open File Explorer to This PC, right-click Documents and choose Properties, then the Location tab. Click Move and point this folder to the Documents folder you just created and click Apply, moving data when prompted. This ensures easy access to your files and a guarantee they’ll be backed up online too. Repeat for your other user folders.
Every now and then you may encounter a file conflict error — your cloud provider discovers a disparity between the version on your computer and the one in the cloud. Always act to resolve these at the earliest opportunity to prevent multiple copies of files clogging your drive space. You should see two copies of the same file appear in File Explorer — one will be clearly marked as a conflict. Compare this to the original (try a tool like WinMerge from winmerge.org if you’re struggling to spot the differences), then delete the file you don’t want to keep and, if necessary, rename the other file to the original filename.
ENCRYPT SENSITIVE DATA
While your data is encrypted prior to being uploaded to your cloud provider, question marks remain over the security of this data since, in most cases, your provider has access to your encryption keys, which could be passed on to a third party. The step-by-step guide on the page opposite reveals how to use Cryptomator to set up an encrypted vault inside your cloud folder, putting your data out of reach of anyone online who doesn’t have your Cryptomator password. You can set up multiple vaults — we recommend keeping an unencrypted copy of your files on your local hard drive in case something happens to your vault.
You’ll need to install Cryptomator alongside your cloud sync software or app on any other computer or mobile you wish to access this data on (apps for Android and iOS cost $6.99 each). When accessing from another PC, click +, followed by ‘Open existing vault’. Navigate to the synced folder and double-click ‘masterkey.cryptomator’, then enter the vault’s password.
There’s one other way you can protect your online data from hackers — look for extra security checks to prevent others being able to log on to your cloud provider’s account should your password become compromised. For OneDrive and Google Drive users, this simply means enabling a check like two-step verification or two-factor authentication (2FA) in your parent Microsoft or Google account; Dropbox users will find the option after signing into dropbox.com through their web browser, clicking their avatar and then choosing ‘Settings > Security’ tab. You can make this check easier by linking the check to a free app on your mobile, such as Google Authenticator or LastPass Authenticator.
“This ensures easy access to your files and a guarantee that they’ll be backed up online, too.”