Automatically Backup Data to Network Drive for Free

Why Backup Data to Network Drive?

A network drive is a storage device on a local area network (LAN) within a business or home. Within a business, the network drive is usually located on a server or a network-attached storage (NAS) device.

As a matter of fact, to prevent your data from data loss, it’s better to backup data to network drive. A shared folder or drive on the network can be a convenient place to save your backup as they don't require you to have storage space on your computer if your computer is on a network, and easier to access these data via network. Now, we will show you how to backup data to network drive with multiple ways.

Automatically Backup Files to a Network Drive

Can Windows backup to a network drive? Yes. It’s easy to backup to a network drive with Windows built-in tool - Windows Backup and Restore in Windows 7/8/10, here is guide to backup to network drive:

1. Click Start -> input Backup and Restore in Windows Search box, and click Backup and Restore and hit enter.

2. Click Set up backup if you never backed up. Or if you backed up before and the destination is not a network drive, click Change Settings to setup Windows backup to network drive.

Tips:
☛You cannot save backups to network location if you’re running Windows 7 Home Basic or other systems instead of Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise.
☛If you create a system image backup to network, and Windows only keep the latest version of the system image.

3. Press Save on network... button.

4. Click Browse to add a network location to save the backups, and input the network credentials, and Click OK. Then, click Next.

5. Opt Let me choose, and click Next.

6. Check the files or folders, even the system image to backup. And click Next.

7. To automatically backup to network drive, you could Change Schedule to set up a proper time to backup on a regular basis.

8. Click Save settings and run the backup.

Sometimes, you may encounter Windows 10 backup to network drive fails error, please map the network drive first, and then start the backup process.

Easier Way to Backup Data to Network Drive

As the professional Windows backup software - AOMEI Backupper Standard is easy to use for most common users. It’s a piece of cake for AOMEI Backupper Standard to backup data to network drive, external hard drive (USB flash drive, CD/DVD), clouds, etc. The supported Windows operating system includes Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10. Now, we will guide you through the steps to automatic backup Windows 10 to network drive easily with AOMEI Backupper. Please download it first to have a try. 

1. Launch AOMEI Backupper Standard after installing. Click Backup -> System Backup.

Step 2: Click Select a network location -> Add Network Location, enter Display Name and Network Path to add the network drive or NAS as target partition.

Step 3: Click Schedule to automatically backup Windows 10 to network drive on the specified time.

Step 4: Press Start Backup>> button to backup Windows to network drive.

Wait for a just few minutes, you will get the Windows 10 backup image file, suffix with .adi, in network drive. And you could automatically backup files to an external hard drive in Windows 7/8/10.

Besides, AOMEI Backupper Standard is capable of cloning HDD to SSD, syncing files, restoring images to the original location if required. You could upgrade to AOMEI Backupper Professional to enjoy more features, real-time file sync, migrate Windows 7/8/10 to SSD without reinstalling Windows operating system. If you are looking for Windows Server backup software, just try AOMEI Backupper Server.

Final Words

These two methods are powerful for you to backup data to network drive, please backup on a regular basis to protect data. Compared with Windows Backup and Restore, AOMEI Backupper is more flexible to use, gives you more backup options to meet the different demands, and more options to manage your backup image.