The app automatically fills it with a default set of folders and starts to upload them not long after. Initially, that list is empty.īut it doesn’t stay empty. Once the program is installed, and you’ve signed in (after creating an account if you’re new) you’ll see a list of the files and folders that will be backed up. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you’re fussy with how your apps are configured. Installing IDrive and doing the initial setup is not difficult, and offers more choices than other online backup apps- Backblaze in particular. In each subsection, I’ll explore what the app offers and then share my personal take. IDrive is all about online backup, and I’ll list its features in the following sections. Back up your computer regularly, and keep one copy in a different location where it’s safe from natural disasters… and your kids and workmates. For some of my older files, that was the only backup I had, and I lost them. Then around ten years ago my son picked up my backup drive thinking it was just a spare, formatted it, and filled it with his own data. Since I left my backup (a pile of floppy disks) right next to the computer on my desk, the thief took them too. I haven’t always been diligent in keeping my own offsite backups, and I learned my lesson the hard way-twice! In the early 90s, my computer was stolen from our home. The way we did offsite backup back then was to fill four large suitcases with tapes, carry them down the road to the next branch, and lock them in the safe.

My first job was in the data center of one of Australia’s major banks. My name is Adrian Try, and I’ve been backing up computers since the 80s. And their data storage devices have multiple levels of redundancy to protect your files. They use multiple data centers in the United States that are built to withstand natural disasters and protect against trespassers. And they take careful steps to make sure your data is safe from anything going wrong once it is on their servers. IDrive now offers two-step authentication as extra security when logging into your account. IDrive actually uses a passphrase instead of an encryption key, which is not quite as secure. Technically, it’s not actually a private key. If you’d like even more security, you can create what IDrive calls a “private encryption key” so that even IDrive staff have no way to access your data. You don’t want anyone to have access when it’s being uploaded or stored on IDrive’s servers.

A scan using Bitdefender found no viruses or malicious code.īecause your data is strongly encrypted, it’s also safe from prying eyes.

Idrive personal delete computer