Best practices for backup

zonka

I am trying Boxcryptor; for now using the Free version, may upgrade to the Unlimited Personal.

I would like to make sure my important files will not disappear forever if something happens to my PC.

What would be recommended practices for backing up my files - and recovering them, if necessary, upon a disk crash, device failure, or PC/device replacement ?

Of these procedures, what works for the free version and what works for the paid version?

Also:

- what would be the differences when using local account vs. Boxcryptor account ?

- are all the files I need for recovery in the Boxcryptor folder, or are there any other files Boxcryptor installs on my PC ?

Thanks!

Robert

Hi,

In a normal case using Boxcryptor with a cloud storage provider should be enough to recover your files e.g. in case of a disk crash. You can simply re-sync your encrypted files on another computer, install Boxcryptor and sign in with your credentials. Besides the encrypted files and your account credentials, Boxcryptor does not require anything else.

However, when handling valuable data it is always recommended not to rely on a single backup procedure. Besides backing up the encrypted files (e.g. located in the Dropbox folder), I'd also recommend to create backups of the unencrypted files (e.g. located in the Boxcryptor drive) - if this is possible and viable for you. Of course you can add other forms of security, e.g. create a backup of the unencrypted files on a hard-drive with full disk encryption.

We'd strongly recommend to use a Boxcryptor account over a local account for the best experience using Boxcryptor. When using a Boxcryptor account, your account information (and protected encryption keys) are stored on our servers - in contrast a local account saves this information in a key file on your computer. You then have to ensure the availability of this file (it is required to decrypt your files) and manually transfer it to all devices. More information can be found here:

https://www.boxcryptor.com/en/technical-overview#anc13

Best regards,
Robert