Backup and recovery
Laptops need backing up too
The laptop was stolen from a car. The proposal due Friday was saved on its desktop.
1 min readExplainer
The short version
If people save to the desktop or a local folder, their laptop may hold work that exists nowhere else.
Where the risk is
Most businesses keep shared files on a server or in SharePoint, where they are backed up. But laptops collect work that never makes it there:
- Files saved to the desktop, Documents or Downloads folders.
- Email archives and notes stored locally.
- Drafts that someone meant to move “later.”
When a laptop is lost, stolen, dropped or encrypted by ransomware, that work goes with it. Laptops leave the office every day, so they are the computers most likely to go missing.
Two ways to cover it
- Point the usual folders at OneDrive. Microsoft 365 can redirect the Desktop, Documents and Pictures folders to OneDrive, so files there are stored in the cloud automatically. People keep working the same way.
- Back up the laptop itself. A workstation backup captures everything on the machine, including programs and settings, and can rebuild it if needed.
Remember
OneDrive syncing is not a full backup. If a file is deleted or encrypted, the change syncs too. Version history helps for a while; a separate backup covers longer periods. Use both where the work matters.
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