How do put all your files safe in a cloud website backup? We explain it in this article in 3 Simple steps. We regularly make backups because unfortunately, it is still necessary. Backing up is boring, you don’t want to think about it. With this as a starting point, we are going to set up a backup to the cloud once, so that you no longer have to worry about it.
Backups at home can easily be done with hot swaps.
Table of Contents
Step 1: Use the Genie Timeline to create a Cloud Website Backup
We’re going to back up with the free version of Genie Timeline and keep the backup in OneDrive, Microsoft’s cloud service. Here you get 15 GB of free storage. This is more than enough for all your documents.
Create the My Backup folder in Windows OneDrive in Windows Explorer. The files you store in it are automatically uploaded to Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud. Download and install the Genie Timeline. You need to set two things: the location you want to back up to and the data you want to backup.
Step 2: Backup
Click Select Backup Drive, choose Select Other Destination, and point to the My Backup folder in your OneDrive.
You don’t need to know where your mail files are, and Genie Timeline already knows that! All you have to indicate in the program is that you want to backup your email. The files are found automatically. This also applies to the Office files and Pictures profile. By checking My documents, this complete folder will be included in your backup. Click My Computer if you want to choose folders yourself. Note with your selection that you stay within the storage capacity of your OneDrive.
Step 3: Recovery
Once you’ve set up Genie Timeline, you won’t have to worry about it. The program will automatically make the backup to your OneDrive and will maintain the backup automatically. OneDrive takes care of the storage in the cloud.
You can restore files from your backup via the Restore button. You can restore folders or use the search function to find a specific file. Genie Timeline’s Timeline feature comes in handy if you’re looking for an earlier version of a file. Genie Timeline excels in simplicity, and that’s exactly what we want to see with a backup program.
This way you can easily secure your cloud storage
Cloud services are popular, and that makes the demand for good security increasingly relevant. Unfortunately, a proliferation of providers, varying conditions and linked registrations make cloud services a bog. Read what you need to know to better protect your personal data and files while doing a Cloud Website Backup.
Tip 01: Cloud services
Before we start with cloud services, it is good to have a clear definition of a cloud service. The bottom line is that anything you keep on the Internet can be labeled as ‘cloud storage’. This goes beyond disk space for files. Cloud services are often complete systems in which you store information, files, backups, mail, photo albums, and much more. We also use and like Google Drive.
Most services offer a combination of all this. Little by little, we are moving everything we previously stored on the hard disk of our PC or laptop to services on the Internet. So everything to the cloud, with all the benefits and dangers that entails. Tip 01 Cloud services go beyond the storage of files on the Internet.
Tip 02: Advantages
The benefits of cloud services and a Cloud Website Backup are countless. For example, you can access your files and data from anywhere: at home on the computer and on the road on the laptop and/or mobile device. A hard drive crash has little effect on your data: mail, documents, photos, and music are stored in a cloud service and are therefore easy to access on your next computer.
This goes even further with smartphones. Android and iOS users can secure the device automatically via a Google and iCloud account, respectively. Lost phone? No problem! Restore the backup via the cloud service, and you have the contents of your old device back. Tip 02 Phone defective, stolen, or lost? Restore a backup via the cloud, and you have your old data back.
Tip 03: Risks
The risks of cloud services are best imagined on the basis of a situation outline. Imagine you copy all your files, photos, and personal emails on an external hard drive. You give the disc to a friend for safekeeping. What considerations do you make? Chances are you will consider whether the person can be trusted: proven to be honest, not curious, or at least 100% discreet.
You also want to make sure that the person does not copy and sell your disc to third parties, or lend it to anyone who requests it. With cloud services, it is impossible to make a sensible assessment here. Still, we use Gmail en masse, we work with Dropbox, and we blindly create a Microsoft account including OneDrive if Windows 8 asks for it. Tip 03 Do you trust a cloud service with all your possessions while doing a Cloud Website Backup?
Privacy and other uncertainties
To illustrate the broad nature and possible dangers of cloud services, we take the ‘free’ photo editing program, Google Picasa as an example. It contains a function to easily post your photos on the Internet and share them with friends. If all goes well, at least four-alarm bells will ring.
1: My photos leave my own computer and I am dealing with a cloud service. 2: I have no idea what the cloud service does with my photos. 3: Who has access to the photos I post on the Internet? 4: What other data is shared with the cloud service?
Information about these statements is difficult to find, and this is just one example. What should you do with it? Recognize for yourself that you are using a cloud service, you hardly know how it is put together, and you also do not know what the (commercial) interests of the provider are. General terms and conditions and legislation are difficult to understand and to adopt unilaterally. In terms of laws and regulations, you are often at the mercy of that of another country.
Useful such a function to share photos, but where what happens to your photos and what information do you share?
Tip 04: Cloud locked
Secure storage with a cloud service starts with the trust you have in the company behind the cloud service. Contrary to what they may claim, cloud services can (almost) always access your data and files. This can only be countered with encryption solutions.
Suppose you trust the cloud service, there is always the risk that your account will be hijacked and someone else will have access to everything you keep with that cloud service. This can be improved in several ways, but the weakest link remains the greatest danger. The solution is simple: start with a good foundation and know-how to recognize and tackle weak links.
Tip 04 In principle, cloud services cannot be trusted but can be used more safely.
