Backup protocol for multiple devices

[Scott Blundell 1]

Hi everyone,

 

Does anyone know how the backup process differs between devices using the same Evernote account?

 

Let me give you an example - I work mostly off my work PC where I upload files/create workbooks/do the majority of my editing. However sometimes I work from my home PC which uses the same Evernote account. I always keep these 2 PC's synced. When I backup from my work PC, I get a much larger export file than when I backup with my home PC.

 

Is this a simple matter of the work PC having access to all the local files that I've dropped into my workbooks?

 

And if I try to recovery my entire Evernote library from the backup on my home PC, will it include all of the documents that have been dropped into workbooks while working from my work PC?

 

 

Thanks in advance for your comments.

Scott

[gazumped 11,652]

Hi.  In Principle,  there's no need to backup a standard Evernote installation from more than one PC.  Your synced* notes are already 'backed up' to the server,  so your backup is in case the server copy gets corrupted in some way / your hard drive implodes / you have a lot of notes and want to jump-start a new Evernote installation on a new computer.  If you do (and you should) regular system backups,  you'll have an external copy of your Evernote files anyway.  You can restore a note or notes on one computer and then sync the change to any other device connected with that account.

 

Having said which:  this only applies to synced files that are part of the Evernote note.  If you have external links to files on your hard drive,  they're going to stay on your hard drive.  A system backup will cover them,  and Evernote backup just gives you the links.  (And if they point to files on another computer,  they're not much good anyway...)

 

(If you have different operating systems on your desktops - Mac vs Windows or XP vs Win 7 - that's also a good reason for keeping separate backups.)

 

*If you have one or more Local Notebooks - they're present on one computer only - not synced anywhere - so a separate backup is essential.  Not even Evernote can recover those for you.

 

If all your work PC notes have synced back to the home PC,  you should see the same number of notes on both PCs and any work files that were attached to notes will be available on both.

 

I can't think why the backup file sizes would be different,  unless one or other PC has a local notebook,  the Trash notebook is getting full,  or you have Conflicting Changes notebooks or notes that haven't been resolved.  I'd suggest you empty the Trash,  check for Conflicts and compare the total numbers of your notes before deciding further...

[Scott Blundell 1]

Thank you for such a detailed response. This has completely resolved my questions! Your time is very much appreciated.