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Google Drive for Desktop - Backup App Data?

  • 09-12-2021 8:36pm
    #1
    cormie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,844 ✭✭✭✭


    Hey folks,

    I was hoping to be able to backup my App Data folder with Google Drive for Desktop, but it's not really working well. The issues is that the main folder I want to backup within App Data > Roaming, is an email client that's constantly having it's data changed so GDFD keeps backing it up. If I actually close the email client and leave it backing up, it eventually syncs it all without any issues, but because I have the email client opened all day, it means it's going to be backing it up all day, unless I manually unselect the folder before opening the client each time but this is hardly a solution.

    The other thing I was thinking might work is some kind of script that could copy the App Data folder to another folder in GDFD and it would backup from there as opposed to selecting the actual App Data folder in GDFD.

    I currently have a plan with CrashPlan but I was thinking just to pay for a higher storage limit with Google since I'm already using GDFD and want to continue to use it so I was hoping it might be possible to just use GDFD, even though I know they backup the system in different ways, I think Crashplan creates a system image to get everything back to exactly how it was in the event of a compromise, but I think I'd still be ok just having the main files backed up with Google and it would save me over €120 a year in subs to Crashplan!

    If anyone has come up with a solution to something similar, I'd appreciate any advice! :)



Comments

  • #2
    smuggler.ie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,257 ✭✭✭smuggler.ie


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058222148/google-drive-for-desktop-backup-app-data

    Script to backup specified folder was discussed some time ago here: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058162310/simple-backup-software-or-script , see if modded a bit might suite you to some degree.

    Backing up folder with data "locked" in other app(s) is prone for failure/corruption unless VSS in play, OneDrive does not even sync folder with pst in it, loaded in outlook or not. This where "proper" backup solutions come in.

    You G or MS mail data is already "in the cloud" - why bother with backup? Sure, you can make copy of it and then back it up extra...

    just my view

    history of boards 2021




  • #3
    cormie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,844 ✭✭✭✭cormie


    Hey thanks a lot for the reply! Yeah, all my accounts in the email client are IMAP synching with Gmail already, but I only set that up a few years ago and was just using POP before that and had everything stored locally and I just like the idea of having another copy (even if it would also be on Google). Actually, besides the mail itself, the way I have the accounts set up in the email client was really complicated and took hours to do initially, and I don't want to lose any of those settings even if I was able to get all the emails back, it would be a big pain to put it back tot he way it is now :/

    I'm not sure what VSS is, but yeah, it seems GDFD is throwing back some errors now I'm trying to backup the app data folder, there's usually only 2 errors a "lock" file in my Crashplan folder (the other backup software I use) and then a "parent lock" file in from the email client folder.

    I had a look at that previous post and see the script you pasted. The OP's request sounds very similar to what I'm after, but I've no experience with scripts so not sure where to start or if it would do what I'm after. Since the folder is over 20GB, it would also probably be best to delete the older one once the backup is complete. Then I'm also thinking, if it's just the settings etc I'm worried about losing, maybe it's something I can just do manually any time I make any changes in the client such as new extensions or updates or changing anything other than it just synching with IMAP.



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