BT CLOUD

[Annie45]

Cant seem to access my BT Cloud recently

[JohnC2]

Hi @Annie45, welcome to the forum and sorry you can't access the BT Cloud. 

Have you tried deleting your cookies and cache or using a different internet browser to see if you can access it then?
Do you get any message displayed?

Cheers

John

[Annie45]

Thanks John, I've managed to get in via Chrome, but none of my shortcuts are working.  Also I can now see that there has been no backup since December 2020.  Sadly, I am a 75 year old technophobe so don't know about deleting cookies etc.  Maybe BT is no longer supporting my Windows 7 Laptop, which still works admirably well despite its age.  I am wondering if there have been  Cloud updates that have passed me by, because it all looks very different when I go in and look now

[TimCurtis]

@Annie45 

For what it's worth there are times when I've had great difficulty logging to BT Cloud using any browser.

[henryfm]

@Annie45 

BT Cloud worked fine until December last year, then primarily for synchronisation, as I recall.

A new improved version was released that initially did not work at all, as far as I was concerned.  The new version was intended:

a) to provide back-up - files from one computer transferred to the cloud for safe keeping - even if you delete the file on your PC, a copy will be retained in the cloud, and if you update a file (e.g. a document or spreadsheet) previous version of the file are retained in case you make a mistake and need to go back

b) to synchronise the files on 2 or more computers and other devices. So, I keep 2 PCs synchronised with all files, so that I can switch between them and have the same files available. If you delete a file on one PC, it will be deleted on the other devices (but a copy is kept in the cloud in the Deleted Files area).  I can also keep selected files up to date on my phone - copies of documents that it is handy to have available when I am travelling.

That at least is the theory. Versions 21.1.3, 21.2.3 and 21.2.8 have been released but have inherent problems not yet resolved.

The current latest BT cloud version 21.2.8 is available at

https://btcloud.bt.com/web/app/share/invite/q0lru7o7JQ

In theory, it can be installed without removing the previous version but some would recommend a 'clean' install. We await V 22.1.1 which hopefully will work efficiently and correctly. e.g., the latest version can take time for new or modified files to be uploaded to the cloud, and during synchronisation the old version of a modified file can subsequently be transferred back to the PC as the working version.

There is detailed discussion in 160+ contributions on the subject in the forum discussion: https://community.bt.com/t5/Broadband-Extras-Apps-from-BT/BT-Cloud-beta-client-21-2-3/td-p/2149524    Something to browse if you can't sleep one night!

[Annie45]

Thank you so much, I'm just grateful to know that it's not something I have/haven't done !! Maybe I should wait for the next version. Do BT notify you that you need to install updates, I can't recall ever seeing such a message

[henryfm]

@Annie45 

Versions 21.1.3, 21.2.3 and 21.2.8 are Beta versions, so released for testing by adventurous users. Sorry, I can't remember if updates are usually automatic, but I would expect that you would be asked to give permission to install any update (depending on your computer settings).  Likely, you just have to click to confirm you want the update.

[Annie45]

Thank you for that. So if they were released for adventurous users what about us poor saps who have not much idea what you are talking about, are we in Limbo since December with no back up. Can you recommend another free back up system I could use before I lose all my treasured photos etc.

[bobdanbh]

Installing  21.2.8 isn't reassuring. It just pops up a notification saying "Be sure to setup your BT Cloud settings to know your content sync is up-to-date" so you have no idea what it's done. But Process Explorer says it's running so presumably it's OK.

It hasn't resolved my stalling issue where the last file uploaded  was 3 days ago and the little cloud is green, saying "All files synced". I am not trying to sync anything, so that may be true, but I am trying to back lots of stuff up, and that certainly hasn't happened.

Looking further, Process Explorer is saying BT Cloud.exe is consuming I/O Read Bytes at a vast rate, but they are not coming from my NAS which is where the files to be backed up live. Nor are they going through my modem.

Until BT Cloud is fit for purpose I think I'll stick to backing up my NAS to various other disks and taking one off-site.

[henryfm]

@Annie45 

Can you recommend another free back up system I could use before I lose all my treasured photos etc.

When Dropbox was first introduced, it was quite generous, but now users are limited to three devices (which may be OK) and 2 Gb of storage for free

OneDrive gives you 5 Gb for free

Google Drive allows 15 Gb for free, but warns that files may get deleted after 2 years if not accessed (complicated)

There are numerous other cloud storage providers.

It may be worth using one of these until you can again use the storage you are already paying for (BT Cloud), at least for photos, etc taken in the last few months. If you log into BT Cloud you should be able to check which photos, etc are safely stored,  and you can manually Upload individual files, folders, groups of files to BT Cloud storage.