With how much of our school work takes place digitally (if not ALL schoolwork), we must have file backups in place to ensure none of our hard work is lost. Before you go out and buy an expensive hard drive to back up your files, did you know there is also a way to virtually backup your files? Using the cloud, if anything were to happen to our computer, we still have a copy of all our files within the cloud servers. Among these cloud services is Microsoft OneDrive, which happens to be provided to FSU students. FSU offers a whopping 5 TB of encrypted cloud storage space, so you are set to store a lot of files. Other features of OneDrive, as listed by FSU Information Technology Services, is the ability to recall earlier versions of a document (especially helpful if recovering from a malicious attack), work collaboratively with other OneDrive users, and access documents from your phone.
To get started, navigate to:
https://onedrive.live.com/about/en-us/signin/
OneDrive will prompt you with a Microsoft sign-in, where you can use your “my.fsu.edu” email address as if you were signing into myFSU. You will also be required to complete the Duo two-factor authentication process, as you are signing in from a new place. In this example, I will be showcasing what OneDrive looks like from the Windows side, but the process remains similar on Mac.
After you are logged in, hit “Sync” from the top ribbon.
You should then get a notification asking you if you would like to launch the OneDrive application. If you are on Windows 10, OneDrive should already be installed. macOS users will have to download the individual app or access OneDrive through a browser. If you do not already have OneDrive installed, click the link towards the bottom of the page to get the latest version of OneDrive.
Once you have OneDrive on your computer, open the app and click “Help & Settings” and then “Settings.”
From within the OneDrive settings, make sure you are on the “Account” tab, and from there you can choose which folders you would like to include in the backup. Be sure to back up any folders with school assignments or projects in them, as it ensures you have a way to get your files back if something happens to your computer. One tip I have, regarding the initial backup, is to wait for the night or weekend when you are not using the computer for anything. In my case, I have found the number of network resources this initial backup uses make it hard to use the computer for other things at the same time.
Also be sure to check the Apple Appstore, or Google Play for Android users, to be able to access your OneDrive on the go. The mobile app also adds some additional features, such as turning your phone camera into a document scanner.
I hope you all now feel more confident backing up your files with the cloud! Also, share this post with friends so that students do not pay a ton of money for cloud storage solutions when they already have one provided by the school. If you are a student doing research, you will be happy to know that OneDrive satisfies the IRB requirements. You can also check out the FSU ITS page on OneDrive for more troubleshooting tips:
Thank you and GO NOLES!
Author: Westen Dorweiler
FSU Transfers Helping Transfers 