Back Up with Dropbox

[@askleonotenboom]

Use Dropbox for almost real-time backup.

[@daved3494]

That was an excellent description. Really appreciated this. No background music, no um's and ah's. Thank you.

[@ericmoore6498]

Other reasons for not enabling the backup feature: 1) you accumulated many files you no longer need, and 2) private data that should first be encrypted or backed up by some other means.

[@AWiseOldWolf]

Hey, Leo: Many thanks for your excellent "how to" videos! A question, please: I use use Dropbox to "selectively snyc" a terabyte of data files to Dropbox to save hard drive space and SSD "wear and tear." ALL of my data is "selectively sync'd" in the Dropbox cloud ... but only a small bit of data is actually on my COMPUTER. So ... how do I back up and sync all of the data directly FROM Dropbox ... directly TO an external hard drive, so that I have 1 backup in the Dropbox cloud, AND 1 backup safely sitting on an external hard drive on my desk? (back in the "olden days," I just copied the data directly from my hard drive ... ONTO an external hard drive. But, now ... most of the data isn't actually ON my hard drive.) Can I simply change the Dropbox syncing location ... FROM the Dropbox folder on my computer ... TO the dropbox folder on my external hard drive ... and sync the data once in a while, WITHOUT losing or moving the data on my computer? And then simply change the Dropbox sync folder back to my computer, again, for my regular, day-to-day, continuous syncing? In other words, I don't want to MOVE the Dropbox folder AND all of the data FROM my computer TO my external hard drive, I just want to create a complete backup of all of my data ONTO my external hard drive ... that I can sync once in a while to dropbox ... AND keep the dropbox folder and selective sync on my computer, as well. For the past couple of years, I've been using Filezilla Pro to do this, but it's cumbersome and slow. And ... then I thought ... couldn't I simply change the Dropbox syncing folder to my external hard drive ... and sync it once a week or month ... and then change it back to my computer, without moving or deleting anything from my computer? Many, many, many thanks!!

[@askleonotenboom]

Sadly there's no easy solution to this. I'm in exactly the same situation as you. No, there's no easy way to download/backup all of Dropbox from online directly, and moving the dropbox folder is painful, especially if your dropbox is large (as mine is). My solution is to have at least one machine that has a large enough hard disk (external is OK), on which my entire dropbox is always downloaded and kept in sync. Backing up that machine then gets it all.

[@AWiseOldWolf]

@@askleonotenboom Hey, Leo: Many thanks for your response. My present backup solution is "pretty good," but not "best practice." SoooOOOooo ... I think I'll revert over to your solution, as I also have a lot of files, almost a terabyte, and use multiple computers. I'll connect my 4 gb external hard drive to a computer and keep it sync'd. Then I'll have "everything" in the cloud, AND on an external hard drive on my desk. I'm honestly surprised that Dropbox hasn't created their own solution to our particular circumstances. But last time I checked with them, all they had available was their built-in "Backup" feature that I don't like. Many thanks, again, and keep charging!

[@richarddurnan7635]

When I make a change to an Exel file that exists in my Dropbox and then hit "Save" it doesn't save the new version. When I retrieve the file it brings up the prior version.

[@askleonotenboom]

Make absolutely certain you're saving where you think you are.

[@jbmorrow5390]

Been happy with DB for over 6 years - multiple machines - I think you need to stress it is batch not real time. Working on a project for - I think you said all day - and then a crash - your work won't be there unless you close the app and reopen it periodically. This is how we share Quicken files. It is large (building since 1995). After a close you must wait to reopen until it has been backed up to DB (blue square = out) before reopening the app. Please correct me if I'm wrong - but when we have not done this we get "conflicted" copies in DB. I also use the added option that all deletes are kept for 1 year. Love your work & videos. Thx so much. JB

[@askleonotenboom]

It should be real time. Only thing I can see is that stopping and starting dropbox forces it to spend time rebuilding its index. But when I save a file it's uploaded immediately. (Only caveat to that is if the program holds a lock on the file - then, yes, you must exist that program in order for its files to be uploaded.)

[@jbmorrow5390]

@@askleonotenboom Sorry I was not specific enough - I'm talking that you have to stop the app you are using (not DB) to close the file so DB will back it up. Then you need to wait till DB finishes that backup before opening the file again or you can get conflicted copied. Trying to stress that working in an app that DB won't back that file up until it sees it's closed. I know of no DB periodic backups while the app is running. That's what I was trying to say.

[@askleonotenboom]

@@jbmorrow5390 Go it. It's not true for all apps, but it is indeed true for some. I should update the parent article to reflect that.

[@MichaelSmittySmithScottsdaleAz]

just purchased new pc laptop. I have a lot of videos so I backed up to an external drive off my old laptop first. Now my new laptop being windows 11 wouldn't accept all my files. That's fixed but now dropbox has my primary backup on my external drive and not my new pc That's a problem because I want them all syncing on the new pc. Can't figure out how to change from external drive to c drive

[@sylvainalain6637]

My internet connection is not great since I move. I’m now relying on Macrium Reflect 8 with the full(every month ), weekly (differential) and daily (incremental) on one big external hdd at 1 am. I image my 2 internal hdd and I also use the file and backup feature too. Everyday at noon , i use syncback pro to sync that drive to my mirror hdd. Also I have 2 other external that I plug every Sunday to sync then too from my big hdd . I miss having a decent internet connection. Everything is automatic with Macrium reflect and also syncback pro I use profile. Every month I switch a drive to my parents house too. Am I doing enough since I cannot rely on cloud for my 1 of the 321 backup solution ? I was a big fan of Dropbox with the file sync feature(files are link on my drive and not downloaded to save space). The file sync feature form Dropbox can save us from ransomware since these files are not physically on our PC right ? I think the file sync feature that I’m describing is smart sync or something similar

[@JoyfullyGrumpy]

I got new hard drives and downloaded Dropbox again. All the sudden I'm getting a notice that it wants to backup my drive, and I do not want that to happen. The directions online are not helpful for where I go to turn this off, I can't find exactly where and how to turn this feature off. I have plenty of backup space elsewhere, and bascially use Dropbox to move files here and there or share with a friend. I don't need dropbox wasting space by backing up anything automatically. I can't figure out how to turn it off. How about a video on that? Would be very helpful. (I'm windows 10)

[@askleonotenboom]

I don't have a video on that just yet, but in Dropbox Preferences there's a backup tab where you should be able to turn a bunch of things OFF.

[@vitaliiskaletskyi2163]

Thank you

[@HoundDogMech]

Questions about back up and the life expectant life of SSD's I have a WD 512MB m.2 SSD that is at 89% life. When should I consider replacement? It is after, 3.8 years, is only 46% full.

[@askleonotenboom]

I would replace based on failure, nor predictions. (Backing up, of course, so that when failure happens you'll not lose anything.)

[@wirklich_niemand]

wearing of ssds is not a linear process. it can still last years even with 50% of life. I use ssds since the very beginning and in that time I only had one gone bad. all others were just replaced / sold due to space limitations.

[@davehenderson3739]

Amazon S3 Glacier & S3 Glacier Deep Archive is much better, they charge 1dollar per terabyte.

[@GeorgeAthanasi]

I like ur videos but u have problem with the sound, ur sound so low and i need to connect my bluetooth speaker, plz fix it. My regards

[@ncrdisabled]

have you ever used norton commander i use it every day on my os/2 laptop that I am using right now .

[@virtualwhispers]

Where is Dropbox Preferences - How do you un-install Dropbox from your computer without deleting all your synced files?

[@askleonotenboom]

1) Right click on the dropbox icon in the notification area of th task bar. 2) It shouldn't delete files, if you just uninstall Dropbox, but if you're at all concerned, copy the files out of the Dropbox folder first.

[@virtualwhispers]

@@askleonotenboom Thank you so much I just found the preferences a few minutes ago

[@waffley7149]