Question OneDrive - files disappeared - backup

[Cooky]

OneDrive Backup
Is it possible to take a snapshot / backup of OneDrive, and store it in ANOTHER cloud storage location? (or is on-prem / local storage easier?)
Some of my files & folders just disappeared (more info below), and confidence of my file integrity in OneDrive is low.

Files & Folders Disappeared
This morning my OneDrive icon in the taskbar area shows it was processing ~500 changes.
Upon further review many of the files & folders were deleted.
The preview panel of the OneDrive icon in taskbar doesn't show the entire path of the files, nor does it show ALL the items that were deleted.
How can I see the full log of ALL the files & folders that were removed?

Also is there any reason or scenario why files & folders were removed themselves, even though I didn't delete them?
How can I find out where they are, so that I can restore them?
They are not visible in Recycle bin in my online OneDrive.
I also don't see them when I go to the restore option, and review the history there.

I've already consulted Microsoft's support page, and even opened a support ticket.
The email response from support tech was basically a copy & paste from the page that I already reviewed, so it wasn't very useful at all.
If anyone know how to get hold of a live support person for TShoot session I'd love to know that as well.

TIA

 

[Tech Junky]

Backblaze does cloud storage for $8/mo

I don't trust companies though with data and keep things locally and the important stuff on multiple drives. Maybe put a copy on Google drive as well.

 

[bba-tcg]

OneDrive Backup
Is it possible to take a snapshot / backup of OneDrive, and store it in ANOTHER cloud storage location? (or is on-prem / local storage easier?)
Some of my files & folders just disappeared (more info below), and confidence of my file integrity in OneDrive is low.

Files & Folders Disappeared
This morning my OneDrive icon in the taskbar area shows it was processing ~500 changes.
Upon further review many of the files & folders were deleted.
The preview panel of the OneDrive icon in taskbar doesn't show the entire path of the files, nor does it show ALL the items that were deleted.
How can I see the full log of ALL the files & folders that were removed?

Also is there any reason or scenario why files & folders were removed themselves, even though I didn't delete them?
How can I find out where they are, so that I can restore them?
They are not visible in Recycle bin in my online OneDrive.
I also don't see them when I go to the restore option, and review the history there.

I've already consulted Microsoft's support page, and even opened a support ticket.
The email response from support tech was basically a copy & paste from the page that I already reviewed, so it wasn't very useful at all.
If anyone know how to get hold of a live support person for TShoot session I'd love to know that as well.

TIA

OneDrive is also supposed to have a recycle bin. But I only put frivolous stuff in cloud storage.

 

[biostud]

I use Onedrive for my backup, but also have an external hard drive where I copy my files to.

 

[mikeymikec]

OneDrive Backup
Is it possible to take a snapshot / backup of OneDrive, and store it in ANOTHER cloud storage location? (or is on-prem / local storage easier?)

You have quite a few options, considering that products like OneDrive store your files on your computer and in the cloud at the same time. A straight file copy operation of the OneDrive folder / its contents as if you were copying any folder structure will do what you want.

E.g.
robocopy C:\users\user\OneDrive "C:\users\user\Google Drive\OneDrive backup" /MIR /R:0

You could leave an icon on your desktop to run that command whenever you want.

Any files in OneDrive that haven't already been downloaded from the cloud will be pulled by the copy request.

For fun and games you could point two cloud services at the same folder, but that wouldn't give you the 'snapshot' you would be looking for.

 

[bba-tcg]

You have quite a few options, considering that products like OneDrive store your files on your computer and in the cloud at the same time. A straight file copy operation of the OneDrive folder / its contents as if you were copying any folder structure will do what you want.

E.g.
robocopy C:\users\user\OneDrive "C:\users\user\Google Drive\OneDrive backup" /MIR /R:0

You could leave an icon on your desktop to run that command whenever you want.

Any files in OneDrive that haven't already been downloaded from the cloud will be pulled by the copy request.

For fun and games you could point two cloud services at the same folder, but that wouldn't give you the 'snapshot' you would be looking for.

Unless you tell OneDrive to always store a copy locally, generally the files are only in the cloud. This is one of the things, the main thing, I dislike about OneDrive - most people won't do this since they're unaware of the requirement (if they want a local copy).

 

[mikeymikec]

Unless you tell OneDrive to always store a copy locally, generally the files are only in the cloud. This is one of the things, the main thing, I dislike about OneDrive - most people won't do this since they're unaware of the requirement (if they want a local copy).

You can right-click on a OneDrive folder/subfolder and select an option labelled something like 'always keep these files on this pc', but also a copy operation such as robocopy will retrieve them in order for the copy to complete.

*I think* if the files started on your PC and were saved in the OneDrive folder, they'll continue to be on your PC (and sync'd with OneDrive, to be explicit/obvious) unless something changes. However, if you sign in to OneDrive on a PC, then as you say the files often don't get downloaded to your computer until you actually request them (e.g. attempt to open a file, OD will retrieve that file from the cloud).

 

[igor_kavinski]

I'm glad that I never trusted OneDrive.

We use Outlook 365 in our company and Microsoft is ALWAYS pushing unwanted UI changes on us.

Their email search sucks and it is slow, like the server is being shared with at least hundred other customers (possibly more).

Logically, there should be an undelete option and the OP may need to get in touch with a real tech support person to get that. If, however, this is a free account, one option might be to pay for a subscription and then contact their technical support, as they would be more willing to go to some trouble to keep their customer.

 

[bba-tcg]

You can right-click on a OneDrive folder/subfolder and select an option labelled something like 'always keep these files on this pc', but also a copy operation such as robocopy will retrieve them in order for the copy to complete.

*I think* if the files started on your PC and were saved in the OneDrive folder, they'll continue to be on your PC (and sync'd with OneDrive, to be explicit/obvious) unless something changes. However, if you sign in to OneDrive on a PC, then as you say the files often don't get downloaded to your computer until you actually request them (e.g. attempt to open a file, OD will retrieve that file from the cloud).

Maybe they are on the original drive but I don't think so. Where I would encounter the issue is saving someone's data using their drive connected to my equipment and getting the error that the cloud provider was unavailable. When the files are local, the cloud provider not being available doesn't matter. And occasionally, some files are copied from OneDrive doing this. More often, they're not, but will be available the next time the customer logs into OneDrive.

Right clicking the folder and selecting the option to always have the files available offline is the action to which I refer in telling OneDrive to store the files locally.

 

[mikeymikec]

I'm glad that I never trusted OneDrive.

If you extend your distrust towards any system of automatic synchronisation then IMO you're getting it. When auto sync is in place without any method for the user to determine/intervene in the choices being made, you've got a potential situation like the OP's. Auto sync is pretty desirable as far as many people are concerned, but offline backups need to be taken a lot more seriously.

IMO many people bought into the nice fluffy, benign label that is 'the cloud'. I had a customer last week scoff at the idea of having an offline backup of essential organisation documents because it's "in the cloud" and "he's never lost any data before". There's one born every minute.

Maybe they are on the original drive but I don't think so. Where I would encounter the issue is saving someone's data using their drive connected to my equipment and getting the error that the cloud provider was unavailable.

You can check by right-clicking on a folder structure and checking the 'size on disk' figure. If it's bigger than the size figure, you know it's also stored locally.

Also, I've encountered the problem you describe before when a customer's computer wasn't booting properly and I attempted to grab a backup via the recovery console. It needs a working Internet connection (plus very likely the OneDrive client to be functioning normally).

 

[bba-tcg]

It would need for the OneDrive client to be logged in using the credentials with which the files were saved in order to retrieve them.

But, the point was (originally) that if the OP is missing files in OneDrive, particularly on the PC on which the files were created, that odds are robocopy will not help him. If they're not in OneDrive under those conditions, the only hope is that they're in OneDrive's recycle bin. Or that he has an offline backup.

Google drive and dropbox store the files on every PC, or at least they did the last time I used them. Dropbox got greedy and I dropped them. The free google drive is limited to 15 GB and I use it with my Android phones. The sub to MS 365 comes with 1 TB of cloud storage and I use it to store memes and other data that's not critical.

 

[mikeymikec]

It would need for the OneDrive client to be logged in using the credentials with which the files were saved in order to retrieve them.

But, the point was (originally) that if the OP is missing files in OneDrive, particularly on the PC on which the files were created, that odds are robocopy will not help him. If they're not in OneDrive under those conditions, the only hope is that they're in OneDrive's recycle bin. Or that he has an offline backup.

Google drive and dropbox store the files on every PC, or at least they did the last time I used them. Dropbox got greedy and I dropped them. The free google drive is limited to 15 GB and I use it with my Android phones. The sub to MS 365 comes with 1 TB of cloud storage and I use it to store memes and other data that's not critical.

Unless I misunderstood the OP's intent, they were looking for two solutions:

1) addressing the data loss
2) a better backup system going forward.

My initial suggestions were directed at the latter point.

As for the first point, my only other idea would have been to run data recovery software on the PC in question, but that's based on the assumption that the OD files were recently on that PC.

 

[bba-tcg]

Ah. Well, a better backup system going forward, would be an offline backup to start with as opposed to putting anything in OneDrive to robocopy from.

 

[A///]

You can pay around 270 a year for a stable proven platform. technicaly it is cheaper but you can expand it by 1 to 2 tb at 5.99 per tb a year extra on top of the package you originally selected. 180 day file file preservation. backblaze is good but they intentionally cripple their backup service by not allowing you to select which directors or files you want backed up. it's all or nothing.