How to Set Up Automated Backups for Brisbane Dental Clinic Patient Records to an Encrypted External Drive

Summary

This guide helps you troubleshoot and resolve: How to Set Up Automated Backups for Brisbane Dental Clinic Patient Records to an Encrypted External Drive. Follow the steps below to fix the issue.

Common Causes

Brisbane dental clinics handle sensitive patient records that must be protected against loss, corruption, and unauthorised access. Under the Australian Privacy Act and relevant health records legislation, your organisation is responsible for maintaining secure, recoverable copies of patient data. This guide explains how to configure automated, encrypted backups to an external drive, helping your clinic meet compliance requirements and minimise downtime in the event of hardware failure or a cybersecurity incident.

Before You Begin

You will need:

• An external hard drive or SSD with at least twice the capacity of the patient records folder you intend to back up
• A Windows PC or Mac that has access to the patient records data
• Administrator rights on the computer performing the backup
• A consistent drive letter (Windows) or mount point (Mac) for the external drive

If your patient records are stored on a server or network share, install the backup software on the machine that hosts the data, or ensure the computer running backups has persistent network access to the records folder.

Quick Fix Steps

1. Connect the external drive to the computer.
2. Format the drive with an encrypted file system (BitLocker on Windows or APFS encrypted on Mac).
3. Assign a permanent drive letter or mount point.
4. Use Windows Backup, File History, or macOS Time Machine to schedule automatic backups of the patient records folder.
5. Verify the first backup completed successfully.
6. Store the encryption recovery key in a secure, access-controlled location.

Detailed Instructions

Option A: Windows PC (BitLocker + Windows Backup)

1. Connect the external drive to your computer.
2. Open File Explorer, right-click the external drive, and select Turn on BitLocker.
3. Choose Use a password to unlock the drive, enter a strong password, and save the recovery key to your organisation’s secure password manager or printed safe.
4. Select Encrypt used disk space only for faster setup, then click Start encrypting.
5. Once encryption finishes, open Settings > System > Storage > Advanced storage settings > Backup options.
6. Under Back up using File History, click Add a drive and select your encrypted external drive.
7. Click More options to customise the backup schedule and folders.
8. Under Back up these folders, click Add a folder and select the folder containing your patient records.
9. Set Back up my files to Every hour (or daily, depending on your clinic’s needs) and Keep my backups to Until space is needed.
10. Click Back up now to run the initial backup immediately.

Option B: Mac (Encrypted APFS + Time Machine)

1. Connect the external drive to your Mac.
2. Open Disk Utility from Applications > Utilities.
3. Select the external drive in the sidebar, then click Erase.
4. Choose APFS (Encrypted) as the format, enter a strong password, and click Erase.
5. Open System Settings > General > Time Machine.
6. Click Add Backup Disk or Select Disk, choose the encrypted external drive, and enter the encryption password when prompted.
7. Enable Back Up Automatically.
8. Click Options and add any folders you want to exclude, then confirm that your patient records folder is included.
9. Time Machine will begin the first backup automatically.

Verifying and Testing Your Backup

1. Wait for the initial backup to complete. In Windows File History, check the Last backup time; on Mac, open Time Machine and look for the latest backup date.
2. Open the external drive and confirm the patient records folder and files are present.
3. Open a sample patient file directly from the backup to confirm it is readable and not corrupted.
4. Schedule a quarterly restore test: copy a file from the backup back to a test location and confirm it opens correctly.

Never store the encryption password or recovery key on the same computer or drive being backed up. If the computer is compromised or the drive fails, you could lose both the data and the ability to decrypt the backup.

Troubleshooting

Backup drive not recognised

• Disconnect and reconnect the drive, or try a different USB port.
• On Windows, open Disk Management and check if the drive needs a drive letter assigned.
• On Mac, open Disk Utility and verify the drive is mounted.

Backup fails with “access denied”

• Ensure the user account running the backup has read permissions to the patient records folder.
• Close any applications that may have patient files open, then run the backup again.

Encryption password lost

• Use the BitLocker recovery key or macOS recovery password you saved during setup.
• If no recovery key exists, the data on the encrypted drive cannot be recovered. Create a new key immediately after setting up a replacement drive.

Computer goes to sleep during backup

• Configure power settings so the computer does not sleep or hibernate during scheduled backup windows.
• Ensure the computer remains powered on and connected to the external drive at the scheduled backup time.

For assistance configuring backups or restoring patient records, Open a Ticket with 220 Internet Services support.

You may also find this related guide useful: How to backup photos to external drive

Still Having Issues?