Who is this article intended for?

This article is intended for any faculty or staff member who has been contacted about receiving a computer upgrade in the summer of 2023.

OneDrive

  Is OneDrive a good thing?

• The short answer is yes - but here are the details as to why:
  • OneDrive has the ability to give you access to your storage from anywhere in the world through your computer or any web browser.
  • OneDrive allows you to collaborate with your co-workers and colleagues through easy documentation and editing.
  • In the event of catastrophic hardware failure, your personal data is safe and still accessible to you. This has happened before and it can happen to you. This also allows IT to deploy replacement hardware to you more quickly, because if your data is already on OneDrive you will be able to access it from your new machine without any work on our part.
  • OneDrive introduces the ability to version, which means you can see history of particular changes and edits that have been made.
  • In the event of data failure, if your data is stored on OneDrive, IT has the ability to retrieve that data for you and save it in the event of loss or corruption.
  • IT is moving away from manual data transfer and no longer support this avenue of support. This is a long and arduous process that costs us valuable time that could be spent elsewhere. OneDrive is a requirement for you to ensure that your data will be accessible at all times, especially in the event of a computer upgrade.
• Is OneDrive better than Google Drive? Why did we switch?
  • With the University's already partnership with Microsoft for the Office Suite, using OneDrive allows us to have more fluency between our programs.
  • Google Drive now costs a significant amount more than it has in the past, and by switching our use to OneDrive, this is saving the university a substantial amount of money.
• Are my files safe on OneDrive? Isn't the data safer on my computer?
  • Actually yes, your files are safe on OneDrive. OneDrive is currently run by Microsoft, which is a company that prides itself on security. Your personal data is very safe being housed on Microsoft servers with many backups and more encryption than is on your laptop.
  • Actually no, your data is not safer on your computer. In the event of a hardware failure affecting your hard drive, your data will most certainly be lost without ability to retrieve. By using OneDrive, even if you do experience hardware failure, your data will be safe and accessible at all times.

  How to Backup My Files on OneDrive (For Windows)

• OneDrive is installed on every University-owned computer, so this utility should always be accessible to you. On non-university devices, OneDrive can always be accessed via a web browser.

1. Confirm that OneDrive is running
   • If OneDrive is running, you should either see a blue cloud icon near the bottom right-hand corner of your screen next to the network and sound icons on the taskbar.
   • If you do not see the blue cloud here, in the same area, there is a caret (up arrow) that you can click - check for the blue cloud here.
   • If you do not see a blue cloud anywhere that means OneDrive is not currently running. In order to start OneDrive, click on the magnifying glass in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen and search "onedrive." This will result in a OneDrive App icon coming up, click on this app or hit the "open" button as displayed.
   • Give OneDrive a minute to start (if a sign-in console pops up, please sign in using your full Cedarville credentials - email/password), and then confirm using steps 1 and 2 that the blue cloud is present.
2. Sync your data in OneDrive
   • To sync your data in OneDrive, click on the blue cloud (which can be located using the above steps). This will result in a pop-up menu being displayed.
   • On this menu, click the gear icon located in the upper right-hand corner, and then select "settings."
   • You will be presented with a "sync and backup" page. Please make sure the "Start OneDrive when I sign in to Windows" is on to ensure that OneDrive saves the latest data you have.
   • On this same page, you should see a button to "manage backup." Please click this button. Once selected, you will be presented with options to toggle backups for Documents, Pictures, and Desktops - select the appropriate options for what you desire to back up on your computer.
   • Once you have selected the correct options, click "save changes" and the syncing will begin.
   • Depending on the amount of documents that you have selected, this may take some time - patience is a virtue. At any time, you may view the progress of your sync by clicking on the blue cloud. Towards the top of the menu, there will be an indicator that will say "your files are synced" with a green check mark once the process has been completed. You will also be able to view your individual files as they sync.
     • Note: If you have files elsewhere that you wish to save (downloads or C: Drive documents in Temp, Docs, or any other area), you will need to move these files onto your desktop for them to be synced and saved with OneDrive. All other files will be lost in this process if you do not sync them yourself!
3. Confirming that my files are synced
   • It is highly recommended that you confirm for yourself that all of your files have been backed up. Proceed with the following steps to confirm that you have successfully backed up your data.
   • Open up a web browser of your choice and go to https://onedrive.live.com/about/en-us/signin/
   • Log in with your Cedarville email and password.
   • Once this page loads, you will be presented with the OneDrive home page. To the left-hand side you will see a list of tabs you can access ("Home" would be your current tab), select the "My files" tab.
   • This page will be a current list of everything that is saved or synced to your OneDrive account. You may see many miscellaneous things here. In order to make sure your files have been saved, you will want to look for the folders that you selected for OneDrive to sync with (Documents, Desktop, or Pictures).
   • Once you have found these folders, click into them and check them against what you have in the corresponding place on your desktop. If you see the same things present, this means you have successfully synced your OneDrive with your files! Make sure that all of your necessary files can be found in this online OneDrive portal (as this means they are stored in the cloud and accessible to you from anywhere).
   • Another way that you can double-check to make sure OneDrive has been synced is to search using the magnifying glass in the bottom left-hand corner for "file explorer" and open this.
   • Once in file explorer, navigate to an appropriate folder that you have selected for backup (Documents, Desktop, or Pictures). Once in this folder, you should see a number of green check marks beside various files - this indicates that a particular file has been synced to the OneDrive and can be accessed from anywhere. If you see green check marks beside everything, this indicates your OneDrive has synced properly!
4. I tried to confirm that my files are synced and I cannot find them all, they don't all have a green check mark, or some of them have a red X and my sync has been halted!
   • Confirm that the syncing process has been complete. Click on the blue cloud and make sure there is nothing pending an upload.
   • Double-check that you synced all the desired folders within the OneDrive settings on your desktop.
   • Make sure all your desired files can be found within these particular synced folders on your computer. (If they are in the C: Drive, they won't sync!)
   • If you are seeing an error with a particular file when you click on the blue cloud (a big red X), this usually means there was an issue trying to sync the file. Most often this is a result of a short-cut to a particular desktop application or file that you either no longer have access to or could not be saved.
5. What about my software?
   • Your software will not be saved as a part of this syncing process. The application will need to be reloaded on your new computer for you to access it again. Please keep this in mind if there are any special accommodations that need to be made: licenses, software files, packages, and other special things.
   • Most software can easily be reinstalled from Cedarnet2.0 or downloaded from the web.
6. What about my printers?
   • Your printers will need to be reloaded on your new University computer. It would be wise to make a list of all current printers that you have access to or require access to on the new computer. Printer installation on the new computer will be covered in-depth further on in this article.
7. What about my bookmarks?
   • Your bookmarks are not automatically saved. You will need to run through the following steps in order to sync your bookmarks to a profile. Choose the appropriate browser and follow each step to make sure your bookmarks are saved.
   • Note: You may have already done some of the below steps for your particular browser, like signed into a profile. If this is the case, read through the following steps and determine where you need to pick up at, and then continue syncing your bookmarks from that point on.
     1. Google Chrome
        • Open Google Chrome to a new tab. If it asks you to choose a profile, please choose the one that you are accustomed to using and has your bookmark information on it.
        • Look in the top right-hand corner for either a small circle with the icon of a person or your own picture and click on this. It should pop up a menu tab with most of your information on it (this would be your profile name, do not be concerned if it says "Person 1" or something else, what's important is that you can see your bookmarks from whatever profile that you are on).
        • From this menu, there should be a large button that says "turn on sync," press this.
        • If you are prompted to log in with your Cedarville University account (full email/password), do so.
        • If you are prompted by a screen that says "verify it's you," click the "continue" button.
        • Once you have finished this, you will be prompted with a "Your organization will manage this profile." Check the little box that says "add existing browsing data to managed profile" and click continue.
        • You will then be prompted with another page "turn on sync?" Please select "Yes, I'm in."
        • Once this process is completed, you should be on a page with all your bookmarks selected and your profile picture in the upper right-hand corner (if you have no profile picture, you will see letters representing the first letter of your name).
        • If you continue to use Chrome on this computer, every time you open Chrome, you may be prompted to select a user. Please continue using this same profile so that all future data you log until your upgrade is saved with the profile as well.
     2. Mozilla Firefox
        • Open Mozilla Firefox to a new tab. If it asks you to choose a profile, please choose the one that you are accustomed to using and has your bookmark information in it.
        • Look in the top right-hand corner for a triple bar icon, click on this and a menu should appear. 
        • Click the "sign in" button, and then proceed to enter your Cedarville email. You will then be prompted to make a password and enter your age.
        • Before continuing, at the bottom of this screen there will be multiple check boxes for you to look through. Make sure at least bookmarks is selected and then click "create account."
        • You will then need to look in your email for a 6 digit code to enter in to confirm your email address for the account (once you enter in the code, click "confirm"). (Note: This code does expire within 5 minutes, so if you do not enter in the code before then, you will have to generate a new code using the same method.)
        • Once this process has been completed, you should see a small circle by the triple bar up in the right-hand corner with the first letter of your name. You can now safely close out your browser.
     3. Microsoft Edge
        • Open Microsoft Edge to a new tab. If it asks you to choose a profile, please choose the one that you are accustomed to using and has your bookmark information in it.
        • If you receive a prompt that asks you if you want to "turn on syncing," please select yes. (This is a first time prompt that all users receive when opening Microsoft Edge for the very first time and at other particular times, so do not worry if you do not see this prompt. You may have already dealt with it in the past.)
        • Look in the upper right-hand corner for the person symbol and click on this. If you see a green check mark with a message "Sync is on" then you are good to go. If you do not see this green check mark, please select the "turn on sync" button.