How do I backup all my existing files with an online backup service?

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January 19th, 2009 - Posted by Joe

The following post in our Reader Question series is an actual user submitted question. To maintain the integrity of the original question, we do not edit or change reader questions in any way.

Q: My reading of your advertisment for automatic backup of all my important files, is that it will back up all new files. What about backing up all present files currently on my computer? If this is possible, how would it be done. I would want it to copy all my files at once and not one at a time which would be very time consuming.

A: There is no need to worry about manually backing up each file since online backup services make automated backups of all your important files very simple.  When you first sign up for an online backup service like Carbonite or Mozy you will walk through the process of selecting which files you would like to securely backup.  By default, these services typically backup everything in your Documents and Settings folder which includes documents, photos, email, music and data files from applications, such as Quicken and Microsoft Money.  This first backup may take several hours, but it will run in the background of your computer when it is not in use, so you can continue to use your computer as usual.  Then, on an ongoing basis you new files or changes to old files will be backed up automatically at a frequency that you select.  These scheduled backups take much less time because the number of files you will be backing up will be much smaller.

You can learn more about online backup services by visiting our reviews and comparisons at NextAdvisor.com.