How to Backup Your Computer – Zendesk

Summary

How to back up your most important data by using Chrome Accounts and Google Backup & Sync or Google Drive File Stream.

Your computer should be backed up BEFORE an issue occurs. The steps below are simple, proactive ways to make sure your most important data stays backed up in the event of an issue.

If your computer contains personal data, please back it up to a personal storage device or service.

NOTE: Time Machine (Apple's Backup Utility) is not supported by ZenIT, and the Migration Assistant Utility (to restore a Time Machine backup to a computer) is blocked on ZenIT computers.

You will not be able to restore data backed up with Time Machine to a ZenIT computer.

Sections in this Article

Why should I back up my files?

From time to time the only way our IT Team can fix an issue is to erase the computer and revert it back to its original configuration. This means that any information not already stored in the cloud will need to be backed up, and applications that you installed will need to be reinstalled. Below, we detail how to ensure your data is backed up correctly to ensure you don't lose anything important.

If you are not sure if your data is backed up properly, please feel free to reach out to your local IT Team. We will be happy to check this with you.

Chrome Accounts

If you are signed in, Chrome automatically backs up All bookmarks, extensions, history and passwords. This will be indicated by your first name in the top right hand corner in Chrome:

Google Backup & Sync / Drive File Stream

Google Backup & Sync / File Stream are automatic backup services that sync your information securely with your Google Drive. It's incredibly easy to keep your documents, desktop, downloads, photos and other files backed up by configuring a few settings in the app.

First, install Google Backup & Sync or Google Drive File Stream. They are available from Google here.

What's the Difference?

Google Drive File Stream is a simple tool that syncs your Google Drive to your computer.

With Google File Stream, you can:

Quickly access your Google Drive, including Team Drive, files in Finder/Explorer
Browse and organize Google Drive files without downloading all of them to your computer.
Choose which files or folders you'd like to make available offline
Open files in common apps like Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop.

Backup & Sync is much more comprehensive and allows for hands-off syncing of designated folders on your computer AND syncs your Google Drive. For this reason, we'll walk you through setting up Backup & Sync.

NOTE: The setup process will prompt you to sign in: Please choose "Sign in with browser" at the bottom of the screen.

The Backup & Sync icon will show in your Menu Bar at the top of your screen like this:

Drop down the Backup & Sync menu, choose the "..." button, then choose Preferences.

There are 3 preference panes along the left-hand side:

My MacBook Pro

Check all the folders you would like to have backed up.

If there are other folders that are important to you that don't show in the list, click Choose Folder and add them.

Don't upload your photos and videos to Google Photos. You can back up your pictures folder separately by making sure it's in the list of files/folders.

Google Drive

You can allow your Google Drive items to be synced directly on your computer instead of navigating to the Google Drive website, if you'd like.

Check Sync my Drive to this computer, then check Sync everything in My Drive

You can locate your Google Drive files in the Finder Sidebar

Settings

Please ensure that this is signed into your @zenit.com email address.

You are presented with 3 Settings options:

Show Warning when you remove items from a shared folder

Checking this box will cause a pop-over alert every time you change a file. This can be useful, but can also be interruptive and annoying. We recommend leaving it un-checked.

Open Backup and Sync on system startup

Checking this box will allow the app to run automatically as soon as you sign into your computer. This will always keep your files in sync.
You can disable this feature, but remember to open the Backup & Sync app periodically to allow it to make a backup.
Disabling this feature will disable the automatic backups.

Show file sync status icons and right click menu

This adds a small icon to each file on your computer to indicate whether or not it has been backed up and is a handy visual reminder of which files are currently backed up.

Deleting a file

When a file is deleted, Backup & Sync will want to confirm that you meant to delete it.

Drop down the Backup & Sync menu, then choose REMOVE to permanently delete the item.

Manual Bookmarks Backup

Occasionally, Chrome is unable to sync your data automatically. If it says 'Person 1' or there is an exclamation mark where your name should be shown, this means you're not backed up. If this is the case, you can manually back up your bookmark with the steps below:

Choose the Bookmarks menu, then select Bookmark Manager.

Click the 3 dots in the upper-right

Then choose Export Bookmarks

Save the bookmarks as an HTML Text file on your desktop and email it to yourself or sync it to your Google Drive for safe-keeping.

Google Drive

At ZenIT, everyone has unlimited online storage available through Google Drive.

If you would prefer to manually drag-and-drop your important files to your Google Drive, you can reference this article from Google to accomplish that.