Google Drive is an online file storage service provided by Google allowing you to save your files and access them from any device anywhere with internet connection. Anyone can sign a free account with 15GB of only storage space. With this free 15GB cloud storage, you can save all kinds of files including backup files.
Like any other online backup service, backing up PC to Google drive has many advantages over backing up to external hard drive. For instance, you do not need to prepare additional hard drive as the backup drive, and internet connection is all needed. More importantly, even if the computer hardware fails, you can also access the backup files on another device.
For PC backup, you should download the desktop application of Google Drive and define a synchronization folder on your local drive first. Then you can use free backup software to set up an auto backup to Google Drive folder. Follow the steps below to configure the synchronization folder:
1. Go to Google Drive official site, and sign in with your Google Drive (Gmail) account.
2. Download and install the Google Drive for desktop application.
3. Set up the Drive for desktop app. By default, the application will create a folder in C:\Users\Username\Google Drive to do file synchronization between your PC and Google Drive. You can also change to other locations.
To backup PC to Google Drive, you can simply copy the files you need to the Google Drive sync folder. However, it would be a tedious job to copy a number of files from different locations. If you want a secure and more convenient backup solution, then you can use freeware Qiling Disk Master Standard.
It allows you to create one-time or scheduled/automatic file sync. What’s more, it supports various storage devices. You can use it to sync PC folders to external hard drive, USB flash drive, SD card, NAS or cloud storage, and vice versa.
1. Download and run this free backup software on your computer.
2. Click "Sync" > "Basic Sync".
3. On the next page, click “Add Folder” to select the folders that you want to backup.
4. Expand the drop-down menu of the second bar and click "Select a cloud drive". Then choose "Google Drive" in the pop-up window to specify the Google Drive folder as the destination location to save files.
5. Click “Schedule Sync” to set up a schedule to run this sync task automatically and repeatedly if you want to have auto backup to Google Drive. When the settings are done, click “Proceed” to launch the process.
After the sync task is created, the PC folders will be automatically synced to your Google Drive in a very short while.
If you want to backup Windows 10 to Google Drive, you can click "Backup" > "System Backup". Then, select the Google Drive folder as the destination path to save the system image.
Besides backing up PC to Google Drive, you can also sync two external hard drives with Qiling Disk Master. By the way, if you want to use more advanced features like Differential Backup, Dissimilar Hardware Restore and System Clone, you can upgrade to Qiling Disk Master Professional edition.