2 Effective Ways to Backup Hard Drive to Dropbox

Need Help: Continually Backup Hard Drive to Dropbox

“Our company has several consultants who do graphics/video work for us. The problem is that all of their work is on their own external hard drives (due to space limitations on their laptops). I would be happy if Dropbox could constantly sync with them. But, as far as I know, this is not supported. Or rather, it can cause problems if the external drive suddenly disconnects. The problem is that our company needs constant access to all these files. We use Office 365, so Dropbox is well integrated. Any suggestions for a solution? My goals are (1) to always have their work backed up in the cloud and (2) to have constant access to their source files.”

Benefits of Backing Up Hard Drive to Dropbox

In the past, hard drives were favored by many users as one of the most commonly used physical storage devices because of their stability and large capacity. But over time, users have come to realize the drawbacks of hard drives. For example, you want to carry your data around with you so you can use it when you need it. Some users who use external hard drives may also suffer from accidental loss or theft.

So many users turn to cloud storage to get rid of the limitations of storing data on hard drives. With cloud storage, you can easily access your data from any device. And because your data is stored remotely, it is less likely to be stolen or lost due to other disasters. On top of that, most cloud storage services offer automatic backup of your files. If you have more files to back up, you can also consider upgrading your cloud storage capacity.

Guide: Dropbox Hard Drive Backup - 3 Free Ways

Next, you'll learn three ways how to back up your hard drive to Dropbox. Choose the one that works best for you according to your own needs.

Method 1. Backup Hard Drive to Dropbox with Its Desktop App

The first method is to sync your files to Dropbox using Dropbox's desktop application. Although this is the most common method used by users, it is not suitable for uploading large amounts of data and is time-consuming and tedious. You can refer to the following steps to backup hard drive to Dropbox.

1. Download the Dropbox desktop app and launching the DropboxInstaller.exe.
2. In the Set Up Dropbox window, sign in with email and password or use other options.

3. Click Allow if you are asked to authorize this app to access your files. Click Next on the next screen. If you want to change Dropbox location or selectively sync folders to your local computer, click Advanced settings and set it up.

4. Then you need to choose how to sync your files. There are two options here - Make files local or Make files online-only. Select the one that meets your needs and click Continue.

5. Then you can select the folder on the computer you want to back up to Dropbox. You can select a folder other than the default by clicking Add folders. Then click Set up to continue.

6. Click Try Plus for free or Continue with Basic (if you don't want to). When you are asked to confirm the option you selected, click Yes. Note that Basic accounts only have 2 GB of free space.

7. Click Next and Go to Dropbox after setting your files up.

✨ Tip: If you did not set up important folders on your computer during the installation process, don't worry, you can still follow the steps below.

1. Click the Dropbox icon at the taskbar.
2. Select the drop-down arrow next to your account and select Preferences.
3. Click the Backups tab and Set up in the This PC section.

4. Set up the folder you want to backup on the hard drive to Dropbox.

🎈 Note: If you want to back up files outside of your Dropbox folder, you can copy and paste them into your Dropbox folder. Then it will automatically sync your files to dropbox.com.

Method 2. Backup Hard Drive to Dropbox with Third-Party Software

The second one is to use free and reliable third-party backup software - AOMEI Backupper Standard. It has features such as Backup, Clone, Sync, Tools, etc. It supports all Windows operating systems such as Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, XP, Vista.

AOMEI Backupper is more convenient than using Dropbox Desktop App to set up backups. You can use it to directly select the whole hard drive instead of individual files or folders. You can also use it to backup your system to Dropbox. So when you encounter any system problems, you can use the system backup in Dropbox to restore your computer to a normal state with the help of AOMEI Backupper.

Here I will show you how to use this free software to backup hard drive to Dropbox, using Disk Backup as an example. First, download it on your computer. If you are a Server user, you can try AOMEI Backupper Server.

1. Launch this freeware. Under the Backup tab, select the Disk Backup option.

2. Then click Add Disk to select the hard drive you want to backup to Dropbox.

3. Click the second box below to select your Dropbox path to store the disk image. Dropbox folder is located in C:\Users\UserName\Dropbox by default.

4. Click Start Backup to carry out disk backup and wait until the operation is complete.

✨ Tips: You can enjoy the following features if you upgrade to higher versions such as AOMEI Backupper Professional.
◎ Backup encryption: You can set password for the backup task to avoid any unwanted access.
◎ Differential backup: Backup only changed data on the disk. It's based on the last full backup, and you can restore disk image even if any of the intermediate backups gets corrupted.
◎ Automatic cleanup: Create retention policies by auntity, by time, and by frequency to automatically delete old backups. This saves space in your backup destination.
◎ Dissimilar hardware restore: Restore Windows operating system to different hardware without boot errors.

Summary

Backing up hard drive to Dropbox is one of the safest ways to protect your data because not only does it keep your data away from computer failure, but other risks can lead to data loss, such as theft, fire, etc. In addition, you can access your files from anywhere without having to carry your drive with you.

Both methods mentioned in the article can help you with this operation, but the second one is more convenient and allows you to directly select the entire disk you want to back up instead of going through the folders one by one.