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Backing up internal hard drives

Hello All,

Hopefully I can get some help with this situation that I am having.

I have a custom built PC with the following Hard drive configuration:

NVME 1 (500 GB): Boot drive (Has the OS installed, Adobe apps, etc)

NVME 2 (1 TB): Storage drive (I use this one for games, Adobe cache folders, current work files, etc)

HDD 1 (2TB): This is used for my finished work. Once I am done with a project I move all the files from my "NVME 2" drive to here to keep the space open.

Now, the problem I am running into is I cannot backup the HDD 1 drive to Dropbox. I see no options what so ever and I cannot find anything online. The only thing I have found is for external hard drives.

Anybody run into this issue and figured it out?

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Rich

@Tommy_D wrote:
Anybody run into this issue and figured it out?

There are no options to back up internal drives. Dropbox isn't a real backup service. It's a file sync service that happens to have a "backup" (and I use that term loosely) option for certain system folders and external drives. It's not a full-featured backup service.

2022pk

I have noticed that when I plug in an EXTERNAL hard drive dropbox asks me to back up the drive, which is great.

My question is if it does the same or how can I make it possible to do the same, when there is a second INTERNAL hard drive.

the dropbox folder is in the first INTERNAL hard drive.

I restate the question.

setup

C:internal hard drive where the OS is installed and the dropbox folder exists

D : second INTERNAL hard drive . How can I back up this secodn hard drive, without installin the dropbox folder in this drive.

If I remove this internal folder , put it in a case, and plug it in as a USΒ external drive, then dropbox will ask me to backup it. But I dont want to remove it from the internal positions and put it in a case

Nancy

Hi @2022pk, hope you’re doing well!

I’ve moved your post here, since it seemed related to the topic discussed in this thread.

If you’ve got any further questions though, let me know.

jrpentland78

I'm having the same problem, but my second internal drive is starting to fail, and all my music is on there and the replacement drive is coming on Monday, but I don't have a replicator and don't have anything else to back this up to in the mean time. The drive has been disappearing for some reason but has been back and I thought I'd be at least able to back it up while I had a chance. Don't offer PC back-up services if you're not going to back-up the whole PC....

Rich

@jrpentland78 wrote:
Don't offer PC back-up services if you're not going to back-up the whole PC....

They don't offer PC backup services and they don't advertise that they do. What they offer is the backup of select system folders and external drives. That doesn't mean you can't use Dropbox to backup your failing drive. You just need to do it manually by copying the files from your drive into the Dropbox folder on your main drive.

jrpentland78

Then, what would a feature that is itself called "Dropbox Backup" meant to do? Especially with not-so-random words like "Mac and PC Backup" strung together and something on their own website titled "how to use computer backup" (see below) I can totally see how someone would think this isn't something they offered. That is, if the advertisement for it, as an essential feature to protect ALL your PC or MAC files didn't make you think it wasn't something dropbox did stump you first.

Ryan T.6

This post is completely wrong and the first thread you see when you google "Dropbox Backup". What is the fine-print on "one computer" regardless of size? Does it include internal hard drives? What's stopping me from backing up multiple TB secondary internal drives?

Hannah

Hey @Ryan T.6, thanks for the nudge here and for your feedback, which is really valuable.

You can find answers to your questions in the FAQ article for our backup feature, but do let us know if you have additional questions.

wonsnot

I have the same problem.

Walter

Hey @wonsnot, could you elaborate on the problem you're facing so that we can assist further?

wonsnot

The drive sizes are different, but I have the exact same problem outlined in the initial issue.

Walter

So, you'd like to backup your internal hard drives Dropbox using the Dropbox Backup feature. Is that correct @wonsnot?

If that's so, I'm afraid it's not possible at the moment as you can only backup your computer's OS folders like Downloads, Desktop and Documents and supported external drives at the moment with Dropbox.

I hope this clears things up.

jrpentland78

Then put that somewhere other than the fine print. Because apparently I’m not the only one who thinks it’s possible based on how its advertised. I got a subscription just for that reason and since I was recently laid off, I had to let that go. Thinks like “Back up your PC” make it sound like you can back the whole thing up.

Tinman2

i am having the same exact issue and just talked to two tech support people on chat for over an hour and apparently they are archaic and not setup to backup two internal drives, yet you can do a backup on one internal drive and an external LMAO what is the difference?!?! they need to address this. I too have the service and pay for it, but can't fully utilize it. Having a second or even third HD inside your computer isn't even an unusual thing.

Tinman2

This should not be the case. You should be able to backup your entire PC. Millions of people have PC's with primary, secondary and even third or fourth internal harddrives, which all need to be backed up. There is an option to backup one internal and one external, why not just make it so you can do 2,3, or 4 drives no matter if theyre external or internal? Doesn't make any sense. For my situation, I have my OS and heavy use files on my SSD (primary) and my other lighter use programs and files on my HDD (Secondary). I need to backup the secondary, but there is currently not a way to do so. And that doesn't really do me any good as a backup service if its that limiting.

Jay

Hi @Tinman2, we appreciate the feedback on this idea.

If you wish, you can suggest this change for others to vote on, so the dev team can look into this in future!

Stupid System

If this is the case, why on earth are you advertising this as a "backup" service? Why have I paid for 2TB of storage space that it now seems I can't use? What a mess.

poofy

This makes no sense. I don't store any files that need to be backed up on the boot drive and I especially do not store it in the documents subfolder. To limit backups to just that makes no sense and makes the backup feature pointless.

housefly

It's implied that if you offer PC backups, that would apply to the whole machine, not just a small selection of arbitrary system files.

My only option is to duplicate my files onto my bootdrive into the dropbox folder. Which negates the entire purpose of backing up on the cloud.
It's not even that hard to implement, I'm having a very difficult time understanding the logic behind this. Even pre-built computers sometimes have weird drive partitions which would also create problems, so it's not limited to your customer base that builds PC's.

Offering to put in an enhancement request is laughable, how is this not on your development roadmap like 5 years ago?

lee-lindley

I disagree that the FAQ addresses the question.

There is no definition of "external" hard drive that is technically sufficient. Is a drive that plugs in via USB-C , is mounted on the computer at boot time and then network shared from the computer an "external" hard drive or is it a second internal drive? The distinction called "external" hard drive seems to be a transient device you plug into the computer occasionally. Who does that? What is that? A portable drive for traveling? A camera?

The question and thread, along with numerous others deal with what Dropbox may be calling "second internal drive". There are FAQ answers that say you can only backup files that are on the same drive as the Dropbox file. Well, I tried that. I followed the instructions for migrating the dropbox folder location to the second drive. Guess what I see on the folder selection list for backup? That's right, I still see the C: drive folders just as many other posts have complained.

I explored creating junctions to the dropbox folder. Guess what? That solution was broken deliberately at some point and now dropbox backs up the junction file itself instead of following it.

There are also articles in the library (not user posts) that say to install dropbox on the drive that needs to be backed up. Oh cool, I can do that. Doh! No I can't. The installer does not give an option for that and no question about how to overcome that obstacle is ever answered. And yet the FAQ and library articles still mention installing dropbox on the the drive that needs to be backed up as the answer. I purchased the product after reading the FAQ and library articles on this subject with an expectation it would work.

We have a problem. It isn't an uncommon problem. We want to back up folders that are not on the C: drive. In my case that is the singular reason I purchased dropbox. If dropbox can achieve this, publish an article on how to do it. If dropbox cannot do this, it should be explicitly stated.

Bingus

Stay far away from Dropbox unless you want to manually save some files that you need to manually update if that is what you're looking for. Google drive will do what you want.