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Forum Discussion
Backup external hard drive on multiple computers
I just started using Backup with my external HDD which has 3+ terabytes on it. I started the process on my main computer but since this is going to take a long time (I canât keep my hard drive plugge...
Hey thanks for the reply, Walter! So the desktop app will take care of the large download size of greater than 3 terabytes?
Regarding the external hard drive issue, if I have a different computer in the future, which is very likely, will I then be unable to continue backing up my large external drive without starting over? Uploading 3 terabytes to Dropbox's servers takes almost a week...
Nancy
Dropbox Community Moderator
Dropbox Community ModeratorHey internetblue, sorry to jump in here.
In case you connect your external drive to another device, then a new back up folder will be created. The original back up folder will only update if the external drive is connected to the same device used to initiate the backup.
However, if your external drive is organized with subfolders, you can perhaps only back up the updated ones.
- Can you please elaborate on that/give an example? What do you mean that I would only be able to âbackup up the updated onesâ?
Also, I read on one of the forum posts that you canât change the level folder hierarchy. Is that true? Does changing a folder at the highest level of file hierarchy destroy the backup? Can you elaborate on that too? I just want to understand it better.- Nancy
Absolutely! What I meant is that when connecting your external drive to a different computer, which is still linked to the same Dropbox account though, you can only choose to back up the folders that hadnât been previously backed up on the old device (this could be folders that have files that were updated in the meantime for example).
This way, you wonât have to back up everything again from the start (since you mentioned you have a large amount of data), but youâll only back up your updated folders. Your old backup should still be available on your account anyways, so youâll have two backups now.
As for your last question, Iâm linking our relevant Help Center article section, which explains this better.
