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Forum Discussion

monica_alvarez's avatar
monica_alvarez
Explorer | Level 4
2 years ago

Restore external hard drive after failure

The external hard drive I had backed up to dropbox failed.  I'm in the process of downloading all my files to a new external hard drive.  It has been a daunting task since its 1.5TB of files, but I've managed. I am just happy my files are not lost.

 

What should I do after downloading them all?    

 

-Tell drop box to erase the previous hdd and to backup the new one.  Uploading all the files again?

 

-Name the new hdd the same as the old one, so dropbox continues backing it up as it nothing happened.  (Is this possible?)

 

Is there any other way of making this change that I don't know of???

 

Thanks for your help.

Dropbox Backup
Restore
  • Hannah's avatar
    Hannah
    2 years ago

    Hey monica_alvarez, sorry to jump in here.

     

    I believe that removing the old drive from your backup and then backing up the new drive would be the best and safest way to go.

     

    I hope this helps!

  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    2 years ago

    Hey monica_alvarez, thanks for using Dropbox and welcome to our Community.

     

    Can you please let me know if you're able to see the external drive in your backups page and if you're restoring the files from your backup using these steps? 

     

    Renaming the new ndd wouldn't help much as it'd still count as a new backup to be added to your Dropbox account. 

     

    Let me know more information when you get the chance and we'll take it from there. 

    • monica_alvarez's avatar
      monica_alvarez
      Explorer | Level 4
      2 years ago

      Thanks Walter, 

       

      Yes I'm able to see the external hard drive backup and I have been able to successfully download all my info to a new external hard drive.

       

      What should I do next?

       

      Thanks for your help.

      Monica

    • monica_alvarez's avatar
      monica_alvarez
      Explorer | Level 4
      2 years ago
      Thanks Walter,

      Yes I'm able to see the external hard drive backup and I have been able to successfully download all my info to a new external hard drive.

      What should I do next?

      Thanks for your help.
      Monica

      Walter
      • Hannah's avatar
        Hannah
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
        2 years ago

        Hey monica_alvarez, sorry to jump in here.

         

        I believe that removing the old drive from your backup and then backing up the new drive would be the best and safest way to go.

         

        I hope this helps!

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