Ask the IT Help Desk

How do I backup my files and information from my laptop?

There are various reasons to backup your files from a personal computer. Files can be lost due to viruses, hard drive issues, accidental deletion, and from theft of our equipment. It is essential to keep regular backups to ensure that you do not lose any files which are important to you. There are a many options available to you when backing up your files, ranging from external hardware storage to online storage options. A couple of these options are listed below. 

Google Drive

• Free storage space is limited to 30 GB
• More storage can be purchased if needed
• Documents, images, audio, and video files are supported
• More information can related to Google Drive can be found here.

Uploading file to Google Drive

You can "drag and drop" files directly into you Google Drive or you can use the file uploader. When using the file uploader, you upload files individually or entire folders. If you want to upload a folder, you will need to ensure that you have the latest version of Chrome. 

• Go to your Google Drive.
• On the left side, click New.
• Choose either File upload or Folder upload.
• Select the file you want to upload.
• Click Open.

*You can choose multiple files by pressing Ctl and clicking on them. You can also drag files and folders directly into your Google Drive.

External Hard Drives and USB Flash Drives

• Storage space varies depending on external hard drive capacity 
• All files are supported

Creating a backup of your files to an external hard drive or USB Flash Drive using Windows 7

• Close all programs and files.
• Click the Start menu.
• Click Computer.
• Double-click on C:
• Double-click the Users folder.
• Locate the user folder which contains the file you want to backup, right-click, and select Copy.
• Close the window.
• Make sure the external hard drive is plugged in. Note: Close the AutoPlay window if it appears.
• Click Start menu.
• Click Computer.
• Locate and right-click on your external hard drive.
• Click Paste.
•  Depending on the amount of data, this may take several minutes.

Creating a backup of your files to an external hard drive or USB Flash Drive using Windows 8

• Close all programs and files.
• Click the Start menu.
• Click Your Name.
• Hold down the Ctrl key while clicking each folder and file you want to copy.
• Right-click and select Copy.
• Close the window.
• Plug in your external hard drive. 
• After a few seconds, your external hard drive window should appear (most likely drive D:)
• If the window does not automatically appear, follow these steps:
  • Click Start menu.
  • Click Computer.
  • Locate and double-click on your external hard drive (most likely drive D:)
• Right-click in the external hard drive window and select Paste.
• A small dialog box will appear displaying time remaining. Depending on the amount of data, it may take several minutes.
• Be sure you backup file located in other places like your desktop as well. 

Ensure that your backup was successful

It is very important to make sure that yr files were successfully backed up. You can verify the backup copied your files to the external hard drive or USB flash drive by the following steps:

• Click the Start menu.
• Click My Computer.
• Double click the external hard drive or USB flash drive.
• Click through your folders in ensure that your files are all there. 

Restore your backup 

If you have had to restore your Windows software, you will want to restore the files from your backup. This is a fairly simple process with just a few short steps. 

• Close all programs and files.
• Click the Start menu.
• Click Computer.
• Locate and right-click on your external hard drive or USB flash drive.
• Right click on your user folder and click Copy. 
• Close the window.
• Click the Start menu.
• Click Computer.
• Double-click on C:
• Double-click the Users folder.
• Locate the user folder which contains the file you want to restore your files to.
• Click Paste.
•  Depending on the amount of data, this may take several minutes