uBackup on laptops: hotspot, battery, interrupted backups and OneDrive

The workstation backup of uBackup also backs up Windows laptops. A laptop is not always connected to power or to the office network. The uBackup agent takes that into account. This article explains what the agent does in each situation, so your employees and your IT administrator know what to expect.

Hotspot, mobile data and roaming

When the laptop is on a metered connection, the backup waits. The agent reads this from Windows itself, so a phone hotspot, a connection with a data limit and roaming all count.

That way no tens of gigabytes go over a 4G bundle. As soon as the laptop is back on a regular connection, such as Wi-Fi at the office or at home, the backup continues.

Tip: to make a specific Wi-Fi network count as metered (for example a mifi router), turn on Metered connection in Windows under Settings > Network & internet > Wi-Fi > [network].

On battery

When the laptop runs on battery, the backup waits until the power cable is plugged in. That way the backup costs the user no battery life on the road.

Interrupted backup

If the laptop shuts down, someone closes the lid or the connection drops, the next backup continues where it stopped. It does not start over.

The partial backup is already usable: whatever has been backed up can be restored.

Open files

Files that are open at the time of the backup, such as an Excel file or an Outlook data file, are included too. The agent uses Windows Volume Shadow Copy (VSS) for this. The user does not have to close anything.

OneDrive

Folders that are synchronised with OneDrive are skipped by the workstation backup. Those files are already in the Microsoft 365 backup of uBackup. That saves duplicate storage and bandwidth. Files stored locally outside OneDrive are included in the workstation backup.

Summary

Need help?

Do you have a question about backing up a laptop? Email support@universal.cloud or call our support number.