Why should you backup Windows 7 to the cloud?

Many users are looking for a reasonable way of Windows 7 backing up to cloud. Cloud backup is a service used to back up data and applications on personal and enterprise servers and store them on remote servers. Customers usually use a web browser or service provider's application to back up and restore their data.

For many organizations using Windows 7 today, Windows cloud backups are essential because they store most or all business-critical data and applications on cloud servers. Enterprises choose PC cloud backup to keep files and data readily available in the event of system failure, interruption, or natural disaster.

The advantages of Windows 7 cloud backup are mainly the following three:

• Scalable and cost-saving:

With cloud backup, you can rely on the unlimited expansion capabilities of third-party cloud providers without worrying about investment issues. The pay-as-you-go model reduces the hassle of backup purchases and implementation. This approach allows us to predict and manage capacity growth and operating expenses.

• Efficient and reliable:

Cloud providers usually provide the most advanced technologies, such as disk-based backup, compression, encryption, deduplication, application-optimized data protection, and so on. In addition to the security required by certification, most providers can also provide 7x24 monitoring, management, and reporting. These capabilities may not be affordable by ordinary companies.

• Reduce recovery time:

When recovering from a tape, the administrator needs to find the tape, load it, find the location of the data, and restore the data. Recovering data from the cloud is much faster; it does not require the time to transport the tape from its storage location, disposal, and searching. The data that needs to be recovered is transmitted through the wide-area network (WAN) after it is found, saving time and eliminating the need to build local tape devices.

Continue reading to learn how to perform cloud backup for Windows 7.

How to backup Windows 7 to the cloud - 4 free ways

In the following, I will show you how to backup Windows 7 to 3 mainstream cloud storage services and 1 top cloud backup service. You can choose the most suitable one according to your needs.

Cloud Backup Windows 7 to OneDrive

Microsoft provides the OneDrive client for Windows, which allows users to access their hosted files from any web browser or mobile device, so you can use it as a cloud backup tool and storage. By default, OneDrive offers 5 GB of free cloud storage space to its new users.

Can Windows 7 use OneDrive? Users only need to download the service to the computer to use. Follow the steps below to learn how to backup to OneDrive on Windows 7 PC.

Step 1. "How do I set up OneDrive on Windows 7?" Firstly, install the OneDrive on your Windows 7 PC. (If you have Microsoft 365 or Office 2016, you already have the OneDrive application. To check if it is installed, click Start and search for OneDrive.)

Step 2. Start OneDrive, log in to your account and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the OneDrive setup.

Step 3. Right-click the OneDrive white cloud icon in the taskbar, and then click Settings.

Step 4. In the "Back up your folders" dialog box, select all the folders that need to be backed up. And select Start backup.

✎Note: If you want to back up files other than Documents, Pictures, and Desktop folders, you have to do it manually every time. (Drag and drop the files to be backed up to OneDrive).

Cloud Backup Windows 7 to Dropbox

For some more important files, Dropbox has provided an impromptu backup solution for many users. It will create a special "Dropbox" folder, and only the files in this folder will be synced to the Dropbox server. Like OneDrive, if you want to back up anything outside this folder, you must manually copy it every time, or follow the steps to sync folders outside the Dropbox folder.

The basic plan is free and limited to 2 GB-not enough for full data backup. You need to use the Plus plan, which is capped at 1 TB and costs $ 9.99 per month.

Step 1. If you don’t have Dropbox, download and install it first.

Step 2. Create your Dropbox account and log in. Navigate to% UserProfile% / Dropbox of your Dropbox folder. Drag and drop any file or folder to add it to your Dropbox folder. It will start syncing automatically to the Dropbox cloud.

Cloud Backup Windows 7 to Google Drive

With Google Drive for Desktop, Google’s dedicated sync and backup tool, you can select folders on your system to back up to Google Drive (usually only the Google Drive folder will remain synchronized), you can easily save different types of files stored on your computer to Google's cloud.

The free Google Drive account provides 15 GB of generous space. If you need more space? You can get 100 GB of storage ($ 2 per month), 1 TB of storage ($ 10 per month), or 10 TB of storage ($ 100 per month).

Step 1. Download and install the backup and synchronization utility, and then start it.

Step 2. Enter your Google Drive account and password, and click Sign in.

Step 3. On the next screen ("My Computer" settings), click Add folder button to select the local folder to be backed up to Google Drive. The folder selected here will be saved in a dedicated location on the Google Drive interface (named "My Computer").

Step 4. Follow the on-screen instructions to do the remaining settings. After you have made your selections, click Done to backup files to the cloud on Windows 7.

Cloud Backup Windows 7 to CBackup Cloud

You will find that although these cloud services will provide a certain amount of storage space for free, this is not enough for us to back up the computer, especially if you choose automatic backup, these spaces will be exhausted in the near future.  You may need a larger backup space for storing data.

CBackup is the best choice. It provides a large storage space for all users, which can meet the backup needs of most individual users. Moreover, it has a professional backup method, which can safely and quickly transfer local files to the CBackup Cloud. The steps for online backup using CBackup are as follows:

Step 1. Download and install the CBackup application to the Windows PC.

Step 2. Go to the main page of CBackup and create an account, then sign in.

Step 3. You need to enter the Backup interface and click Backup PC to CBackup Cloud on the interface.

Step 4. Then select the Windows 7 files that need to be backed up to the cloud, the CBackup Cloud will be choosed by default as the backup destination.

Step 5. (Optional) Click Settings in the lower-left corner of the window, then select Set a backup schedule for automated backup under Scheduler, and select the time for CBackup to perform automatic cloud backup Windows 7.

Step 6. Finally, click Start Backup to perform the PC auto backup.

Bonus Tip to Get More Free Cloud Storage Space

If the cloud storage space is not enough for you to store files, here is a free way to generate more cloud storage space, that's combine multiple cloud storage space for free with CBackup. Here are the steps to merge cloud drives into a huge cloud storage:

1. Please sign into your CBackup account on CBackup desktop app.

2. Click Storage, select Google Drive, then click Authorize Now, and follow the steps to grant CBackup to access to your Google Drive files. repeat the process to add other clouds, like Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.

3. Now, press Storage > + Add Combined Cloud.

4. Rename the Combined Name, then tick all cloud drives you added, and click Next.

5. Choose the order for all your cloud drives using the triangle icon, then click Combine.

Now, all your idle cloud storage space will be combined into a very big cloud, and then you could backup files to the combined cloud with CBackup, just enjoy the more cloud storage.

Besides, CBackup provides the following features:

• Sync or backup files to Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox easily, try the cloud backup alternative if your cloud desktop app not working.
• Transfer files from one cloud to another with everything transmitted, especially useful to switch cloud drives. That is to say, you could sync OneDrive to Google Drive, sync Dropbox to OneDrive, or vice versa, etc.
• Backup cloud data to another to take a data protection measure for you critical data, and offers useful backup settings to save your time and cloud storage.

Peroration

The top 4 solutions for Windows 7 cloud backup are listed above. You can compare the features and advantages of each service and choose the most suitable backup solution for your computer. If your data volume is too large, you can consider using CBackup to merge multiple cloud drives to get more space. If you don't want to backup files to cloud, just need to transfer files between clouds, you could try the CBackup web version to enjoy.