Which Online Backup Services Are Best at Backing Up Emails?

Q: I am constantly using my email for important information and documents. I would like to choose an online backup service that will allow me to backup these emails with ease as well as access them remotely anytime. Which service is best for this?

A: This is a great question because some online backup services support email backup much better than others. If you're an avid emailer this is an important factor when looking for the right online backup provider. Carbonite is a great solution for Microsoft Outlook users because it automatically backs up your Documents and Settings folder by default, and this usually includes your email files. Note that Carbonite will not backup your emails that are saved on Gmail, Yahoo! or Hotmail servers. If you need to manually add your emails to a backup, this can be easily done by finding the PST file, which contains your email, calendar and contacts, and adding it to your Carbonite backup. Going forward, all of your Outlook files will be backed up.

Carbonite will also work with Mac email programs like Mail and Entourage. If you chose the automatic backup option when you installed Carbonite, your emails will be included in the backup as long as they are less than 4 GB in size. If they are larger than that, you must manually select the files for backup. This email size rule pertains to Outlook users as well.

Mozy is another solid option for email backup, especially for Outlook users. To add Outlook to your backup, just click configure from your Mozy system tray, select "backup sets" and check the box next to email and contacts for Outlook or Outlook Express. MyPCBackup also works great for Outlook, just make sure you select the PST folder for backup and give adequate backup time because archived emails may take a while.

Once you've backed up your emails with any of these top-rated online backup services, you can access them any time, anywhere with an Internet connection when you log onto any of their respective sites. Check out our online backup comparison chart for more features.

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What Is a Good Cloud Storage/Online Backup Service for My Spouse and I to Share?

Q: Is there a cloud storage  and backup service recommended for backing up my wife and I's Macs together, sharing some folders but not others? How can we consolidate all of our photos together?

A: This is an excellent question because using one cloud storage service to backup both of your computers will save you a lot of money and is extremely convenient. A great option for you is Spideroak, one of our top online backup and cloud storage services. For $8.33/month (with the annual plan), you and your spouse can share 100 GB of storage space, with the option to purchase more space at any time. With Spideroak, both of you can choose to backup whatever files you need, and once they are safely stored in the cloud either of you can access the account anywhere with an Internet connection.

You can then choose to sync whatever folders you want together. That way, both of you can have access to the files you need to keep updated between the two of you. Spideroak lets you sync two or more folders together, so if you make a change in one folder, that change will show up in the other folder no matter which computer it is on. Even the tiniest change like switching the order of files in a folder will be recognized and show up in the corresponding folder, keeping both of you super organized. This is also a great way to consolidate all of your photos —  just sync photo folders from each of your computers together, and voila! Now both of you have an extensive and constantly updated photo library to browse, not to mention your photos will never be lost since you backed them up safely in the cloud.

Want to do your own comparison? Click here to see all of our cloud storage and online backup reviews.

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How Many Files can I Backup with MyPCBackup?

Q: When backing up my computer with MyPCBackup, how large and how many files can be uploaded at once? I have a picture directory with 10,000 files or so. Can I upload this directory all at once?

A: Thanks for your question! The biggest perk of MyPCBackup is that you get unlimited storage space for one computer. Thus, no matter how many files you have, photos in your case, you can back them all up with your one basic subscription. You can definitely backup your directory all at once, but this might take a while. The upload time isn't a big deal though since you can continue using your computer while your files are safely being stored.

Another service that lets you backup an unlimited amount of files for one computer is the top rated Carbonite. To compare all of our online backup services, click here!

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Is Dropbox HIPAA Compliant?

Q: Is Dropbox HIPAA Compliant?

A:  HIPAA, The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is meant to address the security and privacy of health data. Because the electronic transfer of health data is much more efficient and effective, HIPAA requirements strive to create safe standards for these practices.

Unfortunately, according to the Dropbox Help page, they currently do not have this certification.

However, there are a handful of online backup services that are HIPAA compliant. Carbonite and Mozy,  two of our highest-rated online backup services, both comply with HIPAA standards. Read more about HIPAA compliant online backup services here.

Want more online backup options? Click here to compare them all.

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Which Online Backup Services are HIPAA Compliant?

Q: Which online backup services are HIPAA compliant?

Source: BHM

A: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)  not only protects health insurance coverage for workers and their families, but is also meant to address the security and privacy of health data. Because the electronic transfer of health data is much more efficient and effective, HIPAA requirements strive to create safe standards for these practices.

There are a handful of online backup services that are HIPAA compliant. Carbonite and Mozy,  two of our highest-rated online backup services, both comply with HIPAA standards.

Another service that really stands out is IBackup. Though it isn't exactly at the top of our list, businesses, particularly those in the legal, health, or financial fields, will want to give IBackup serious consideration. IBackup's business-level services help businesses backup their MS SQL server databases and Exchange servers. Of course, they also boast support for HIPAA and a number of other compliance issues relating to business. The service, like various other online backup providers, also lets you set your own private encryption key, for all plans.

Always make sure that the online backup service you choose follows all of the regulations necessary to support your business, and always feel free to call their customer support!

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Will Carbonite Backup a Flash Drive Connected to Your Computer?

Q: Will Carbonite backup a flash drive that is connected to your computer?

Source: Creative Commons, Skadoit

A: Unfortunately, the current version of Carbonite only backs up files that reside on permanent hard drives in your computer. This means that you cannot backup external hard drives or flash drives. However, if you ever need to back up a file that is on your flash, simply move that file onto your computer.

MyPCBackup, another one of our highly rated online backup services, backs up external drives and flash drives at no additional cost. Just make sure it is connected to your computer when the backup runs and you are good to go! Mozy also does it for free but specifies that it only backs up drives that are "fixed", meaning that flash drives will not be backed up.

In general, the best way to confirm the backup of your flash drive's files is to manually copy them onto your computer. Then when you do your next backup, those files are bound to be saved!

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Does Carbonite Save My Backed Up Files if My Service Lapsed?

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Does Carbonite Only Back Up Your Files Once a Year?

Q: Does Carbonite only back up your files once a year or does it do it periodically?

A: Excellent question! When you first install Carbonite on your computer, it will give you the choice to back up all of your Documents/Settings and User files or to select which files you would like to back up. If you want more than just your Documents/Settings and User files backed up (which do not include emails), we would suggest choosing the option that lets you select which files to back up. You can always add files to back up at any time once Carbonite is installed.

Once you choose which files you want to back up, Carbonite will do a one-time all-inclusive back up of all of those files, transferring all your encrypted files over a secure network. After all of your files are on the Carbonite servers, the system will continue to back up any new versions of those files if you make any changes to them. The software uses Volume Shadowcopy Service, which keeps a copy of files that you have open so that they can easily be backed up once they are modified. And the best part is that all of Carbonite’s back up services run quietly in the background, so that you never have to worry about back ups interrupting your work. If you want to know more about Carbonite, read our review here.

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I Just Got Another PC, How Can I Get all my Files and Emails from Carbonite?

Q: I Just Got Another PC, How Can I Get all my Files and Emails from Carbonite?

A: Congratulations on your new computer! If you have Carbonite 4.0, there is a restore option that allows you to put all of your files in the right place on your new system.

From your new PC, go to the Carbonite website and log into your account. Here you will see a list of all the computers under your account, as well as all of the files. If you want to restore every file onto your new system, click Restore for the specific backup you want to transfer. From the pop-up box, click Complete Restore. Note that if you used Outlook on your retired PC and kept it connected to "documents and settings", your emails will be restored as well.

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How secure is Carbonite online backup?

Q: How secure is Carbonite? I am very concerned about a companies' ability to keep my data safe and secure if I am going to store my data off-site in this way. I don't see this mentioned here or discussed in comparison to other companies.

A: Carbonite, like most other top-ranked online backup companies, has an elaborate system for keeping your data safe. First, Carbonite encrypts all of your files on your own computer before copying them over to their servers through a secure SSL connection, which further encrypts and secures your information. Carbonite also utilized RAID 6, which is a complicated program of organizing your data to better protect. The Carbonite File System, where your data is stored, has further encryption and security features to help keep your data safe. Carbonite employees also do not have access to your information, adding an extra layer of security.

Most of the other top online backup companies use similar encryption techniques to protect your data, so you should be safe regardless of which of the top online backup companies you choose. If you want more information about any of those companies, please visit our Online Backup review page.

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