BT Cloud Won't Start

[simeon_e]

After uninstalling and reinstalling (again) it's now gone from showing the correct amount of storage (I am only using 23% of storage) to showing "NaN% of 0 b used" just as it did before. Still not syncing. I've basically had useless software on my machines for over 1 month now - BT Cloud. 

Maybe if we take this to an online publication for it to be reported on something might be done because BT have not even addressed this issue, which doesn't give confidence that its being looked at seriously. No statement or anything on the BT Cloud site, it's as if all is still dandy. If you do not use these forums you'd have no clue that this is a wide problem.

[RKM]

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@RKMwrote:

I did have a couple of files that I edited yesterday and noticed that V21.1.1 hadn't backed them up this afternoon for some reason.  I was going to investigate further, but got distracted by something more urgent  However as soon as V21.1.3 was installed those files were backed up immediately, together with the new BTCloud.lnk  file on the desktop.

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Then today, it found and backed up another 3 files that haven't been backed up since the original "update".  So it does seem to be working better than earlier trial versions.

[NigelB143]

I'm one of those waiting patiently for the dust to settle.

I still have 20.6.1 installed, but have not tried to keep up with those trying to find work arounds, preferring to wait for the BIG SOLUTION.

I am enviously looking at those playing with 21.xx.x, and wondering how close we are getting to the end game. Comments from your brave souls lucky enough to be our beta testers. An overall assessment from one or two of you would (hopefully) give us reasons to stick with it.

I confess I have started to look at home NAS+RAID setups, even though this means back pocket and homework.

I did ask BT Cloud email support for comment on where the get well project had reached, but haven't had a reply. Hohum.

[Jules68]

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@NigelB143wrote:

I'm one of those waiting patiently for the dust to settle.

I still have 20.6.1 installed, but have not tried to keep up with those trying to find work arounds, preferring to wait for the BIG SOLUTION.

I am enviously looking at those playing with 21.xx.x, and wondering how close we are getting to the end game. Comments from your brave souls lucky enough to be our beta testers. An overall assessment from one or two of you would (hopefully) give us reasons to stick with it.

I confess I have started to look at home NAS+RAID setups, even though this means back pocket and homework.

I did ask BT Cloud email support for comment on where the get well project had reached, but haven't had a reply. Hohum.

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There seem to be two reasons to use BT Cloud - one as a back-up system for key files to ensure data isn't lost - and I would certainly want to use more than one back-up system for this - my most important files (not very many) are backed up to 3 cloud servers and 4 storage devices within my home.  I would certainly not want to rely on BT Cloud as my only back-up resource (or any other single resource).

The second reason is as a synchronising file server to allow files to be accessed from multiple locations and worked on from multiple devices. For this use you probably do want just one system - and clearly BT Cloud has recently not been up to that job. If you set up your own NAS + RAID server you are reliant on the resilience of your own networks and servers (and you need to back these up as well!).  You are in more control, of course, which is positive, but you don't have the resources that a company like BT could pour into it, assuming they did so wisely.

I'd perhaps wait just a little to see if BT can get back on top of this, unless you are at a mission critical part where you can't afford to hang fire.

[RKM]

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@NigelB143wrote:

I confess I have started to look at home NAS+RAID setups, even though this means back pocket and homework.

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Nigel, irrespective of when BTCloud gets a fixed version issued, you should certainly continue your assessment of additional backup solutions.  As has been pointed out here by many users, the cloud should only ever be part of a more comprehensive "belt and braces" backup solution.

Even a simple time assessment shows how limited it is.  Lets assume you have a good share of the 1000GB allocation used and a Superfast fibre link, at almost the maximum speed of  80Mbps download.   That works out at a minimum of 100,000 seconds to download, with nothing else using up any bandwidth.  That is a continuous download time of about 28hrs.  In practice, file checking overheads are likely to at least quadruple that.

So you could be looking at the best part of a week to recover all files from the cloud, with nothing else using your Internet connection.  Given the circumstances that you would need to make such a recovery, its unlikely that nothing else would need that connection so an even longer time to recover the data would be more realistic.

Meanwhile, a USB-3 connected hard drive would recover backup data at around 6Gbps, or 75 times faster without the need to close any other Internet connections.  So a couple of hours for the same amount of data.

Even assuming minimum wage rates, the cost of your own time between those two options more than covers the cost of the hardware, let alone the inconvenience.

[RichardMPerry]

You will find it in your system tray - no proper dashboard, right clicking gives you a limited one with access to settings, where you can designate folders you want to sync or back up and the option to open the online page.
However, the sync folder doesn't work nor do any folders designated for constant backup.
The only way to put files onto the cloud seems to be by opening the online page and dropping or pasting files directly.
BT acknowledge the problems with this update within days of its release and promised it would be fixed - it is now 31 Jan 2021 and I see no change!

[UgleyAl]

I decided to try this again so deleted the previous installation and downloaded 20.6.1

Nothing at all happens when I try to get it to run.

[vuum]

FWIW I like others here also use a removable USB drive coupled with SyncBackFree software that can Backup, Sync or Mirror. This means I can keep the drive in a fire safe or off-site. I use BT Cloud as a filler between USB backups, when it's working!

[RKM]

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@UgleyAlwrote:

I decided to try this again so deleted the previous installation and downloaded 20.6.1

Nothing at all happens when I try to get it to run.

There are known issues with that version (the latest update), however it is now a "hidden app" so you shouldn't see anything happening anyway.  If it is running, then it would appear in your System Tray which, on Windows, pops up when you hover over the up arrow on the right of the Task Bar at the bottom of your screen (probably next to your speaker, bluetooth and wifi icons).

If no cloud icon appears in the System Tray then it isn't running, which is one of the problems.

However, if there is a cloud icon in the System Tray then clicking on it should bring up the reduced User Interface.

[UgleyAl]

It does appear in the system tray but doesn't look very "polished" .   When installing 20.6.1 a pop-up asked me to download the desktop app.  It certainly doesn't look open up as a full desktop app but may be running in background. Given that Google is starting to charge for its cloud service the 1T  I have from BT is increasingly attractive if it works.