Data & Backup Training
Backing Up Your Work
Files get lost to deleted-by-accident, a dead hard drive, a stolen laptop, or ransomware. The fix isn't luck — it's saving your work where it's protected. Here's where your files really live and how to keep them safe. Tap any rule for the full how-to.
The one idea that matters most
Sync is not a backup. OneDrive, Google Drive, and Dropbox mirror your files — so if a file is deleted, overwritten, or scrambled by ransomware, that change syncs everywhere too. A real backup keeps separate, older copies you can roll back to. You want both: your files in a synced/shared location and a proper backup running behind the scenes (that second part is what we manage for you).
Know where your files actually live.
Why: “It's on my computer” and “it's in a protected folder” are very different things. Knowing which folder a file is in tells you whether it's being backed up or sitting somewhere it could vanish with the machine.
How to see where a file really is
- Open the file, then go to File → Save As (or Save a Copy) — the location at the top shows the real folder path.
- Or, in File Explorer, click the file once and look at the address bar at the top.
What the location usually tells you
- A network / server drive (like S:\ or \\Server\Shared) or your OneDrive / cloud folder — generally protected and backed up.
- Your local Desktop, Documents, or C:\ with no cloud icon — this may live only on that one computer. Risky for anything important.
Save your work to the backed-up location, not just the local desktop.
Why: Backups protect the approved folders. A file saved only to the local desktop or a random folder may not be covered at all — so if that PC dies, it's gone.
- Save work into your company's shared drive or cloud folder — the place your team agreed on. If you're not sure which that is, ask your supervisor or us.
- When you download an attachment or export a report, don't leave it in Downloads; move it to the proper folder.
Save often while you work.
Why: A backup from last night can't save the two hours of work you hadn't saved yet when the program crashed. Frequent saves protect the work-in-progress.
- Press Ctrl + S often — after any chunk of work worth not redoing. Make it a reflex.
- Turn on AutoSave where it's offered (Microsoft 365 apps have a toggle in the top-left), but still save manually at good stopping points.
Check that sync is actually working.
Why: Sync quietly stops sometimes — a full drive, a paused app, a sign-in that expired. If you don't notice, you can work for days thinking your files are safe when they aren't leaving the machine.
- Look for the sync icon (the OneDrive cloud, for example) near the clock. A green check means up to date; a spinning or red/warning icon means something needs attention.
- Make sure the drive isn't full — a “storage almost full” warning can silently stop backups and syncing.
- If the icon shows an error you don't understand, don't ignore it — report it.
Make sure you can actually get a file back.
Why: A backup only counts if it restores. Plenty of businesses discover too late that their “backup” was empty or broken. The time to find out is now, not during an emergency.
- Managed clients can browse and restore their own backed-up files from the Computer Heaven customer portal — a safe, non-destructive way to pull back an older version.
- Not sure your backups are good? Ask us to confirm — we routinely verify restores so you don't have to wonder.
Keep more than one copy, in more than one place.
Why: Any single place can fail — a drive dies, a building floods, a laptop is stolen. Spreading copies across different places means no single disaster takes everything.
The simple version the pros use: keep a few copies of important data, on different kinds of storage, with at least one copy off-site (another building or the cloud). For managed clients, we set this up and run it for you — local protection plus a secure off-site copy.
Don't keep the only copy of anything on your local desktop or C: drive.
Why: If that one computer's hard drive fails, is lost, or is stolen, a file that lived only there is simply gone — there's nothing to restore from.
- The Desktop feels convenient, but it's one of the riskiest places to keep the sole copy of important work.
- Get important files into the shared/cloud/backed-up location, and use the Desktop for shortcuts and scratch work only.
Don't rely on a USB stick or external drive as your only backup.
Why: USB sticks and portable drives are easily lost, stolen, or simply die — often with no warning. A single external drive is a copy, not a safety net.
- By all means use one as an extra copy, but never as the only one.
- If a drive holds anything sensitive, it should be encrypted — ask us how.
Don't assume “it's in the cloud, so it's safe.”
Why: Cloud sync copies your changes everywhere — including the bad ones. Delete a file, or let ransomware scramble it, and that gets mirrored to the cloud too. Sync protects you from a dead computer, not from mistakes or attacks.
- Treat OneDrive/Google Drive/Dropbox as a shared, synced place to work — not as your backup.
- The real backup (separate, older copies you can roll back to) is the part we run behind the scenes.
Don't delete or move files to “free up space” without checking.
Why: What looks like clutter may be a shared file someone else relies on, or the only copy of something important. Moving files can also break links and shortcuts others use.
- If you're low on space, don't start deleting — ask us. We'll clear space safely or add more.
- Never empty shared folders or the Recycle Bin on a shared PC to tidy up without checking first.
Don't pause, sign out of, or disable your backup/sync tools.
Why: Pausing sync “to speed things up” is the classic way people end up unprotected for weeks without realizing it. The same goes for closing a backup agent that seems to be “using resources.”
- Leave sync and backup running. If something is genuinely slowing you down, tell us — we'll tune it properly.
- If you paused sync for a moment, remember to turn it back on. Better yet, don't pause it at all.
Don't ignore backup errors or “storage full” warnings.
Why: These warnings are the early sign a backup has quietly stopped working. Clicking them away doesn't fix the problem — it just hides it until the day you actually need the backup.
- Don't dismiss repeated backup or storage warnings — a screenshot and a quick message to us lets us fix the cause.
- “Storage full” on a server or cloud account can stop everyone's protection — report it promptly.
Don't try to recover lost files with random tools — stop and call us first.
Why: After a file is deleted or a drive fails, every extra bit written to that disk can overwrite the very data you're trying to get back. “Recovery” programs from the internet often make things worse (and some are malware).
- The moment you realize something important is lost, stop using that computer/drive for anything else.
- Don't install recovery tools or keep saving to the same drive — call us. The sooner we start, the more we can usually get back.
Lost a file, or think a backup failed?
Don't panic, and don't keep working on that drive — fast, calm action gives the best chance of a full recovery.
- Stop saving or installing anything on the affected computer or drive.
- Managed clients: try the customer portal to browse and restore an earlier copy — it's safe and won't overwrite anything.
- Still stuck? Open a ticket or call Computer Heaven right away and tell us what happened and when.