It is important to ensure your important work is backed up and stored in a seperate location from the original copy. You should ensure your data is backed up before any upgrade, feature update or reinstall of your computer.
If you use a University desktop PC, most of your data is saved in locations that are backed up to the University network. If you use a University laptop, most of your data is not backed up to University systems so it is good practice to set up one of the backup options listed below.
Location | University PC | University laptop |
Documents folder | ✓ | ✖ |
Desktop | ✓ | ✖ |
Downloads folder | ✓ | ✖ |
N: drive | ✓ | ✓ |
Backup options
There are several options available when backing up your data:
Google Google Drive for Desktop allows you to continually back up specific folders on your device to your Google Drive account. IT also allows you access to your Google Drive files from windows file explorer.
- For University Windows users, visit Start > Microsoft Endpoint Manager > Software Centre. For Mac users, visit the Backup & Sync page to download the Mac desktop app.
- Select the Google Drive for Desktop application.
- Click Install to begin the installation.
- Launch the application from the Start menu > Google Drive for Desktop, click the Let's get started button.
- Sign-in with your University staff account.
- Select the folders you wish to back up and choose Next. For full instructions on back up options see the article on Backup & Sync.
- Google Backup & Sync will also sync all files from My Drive to your computer. If you only wish to sync some folders, you can change the options to only sync certain folders. Click Start to begin the sync.
- Google Drive will sync when it detects any change to the files and folders on your device, you can check the sync has completed by checking the sync status from the Google Drive for Desktop item in the Taskbar.
- Your files will be able to be viewed on your computer from the Google Drive folder in Windows Explorer or from the link your Desktop which has been created during installation.
- Your files will be able to be viewed online from My Drive
- If you have backed up any system folders you can find your back up online from My Drive under the Computers section.
The N: drive is available on all staff laptops and desktops. It is a mapped network drive that you can use like a local drive and it is backed up regularly by Information Services. Previous versions of your N drive can be restored if you delete or change something by mistake.
Locally installed applications
If you or anyone else has installed any applications on your computer from the Internet, USB stick or CD/DVD, this software may need to be reinstalled after an upgrade, feature update or reinstall. This means you should keep a copy of the original installer.
Bookmarks
Depending on the web browser you use, you may need to manually backup your bookmarks if you are having your machine upgraded.
Sign-in to your web browser to ensure your bookmarks are synced.
You can create a Firefox account to sync your bookmarks, if you do not wish to do this you can import and export bookmarks.
Import or export your favourites using an HTML file.
For help regarding this article contact IT Support.