What can cause a partial backup for Google Docs/Drive?

The following are the most common reasons for receiving a partial backup status for Google Docs/Drive in Spanning Backup:

1. You might notice some "application/octet-stream" MIME file types that are failing.  The "application/octet-stream" MIME file types are almost always associated with the Google Drive application on your computer.  The documents usually show up as 0-byte size files, which we don't back up because we assume they're corrupt and don't want to back up corrupt data.  We'd rather you know there's a problem now as opposed to when you're trying to restore it because it's likely too late for you to do anything about it at that point.  We suggest that you check the file size of those documents in the Drive application on your computer, then:
 
*If they are 0-byte size files, they are probably corrupt and need to be replaced.
*If they are not 0-byte size files, they apparently did not get uploaded properly to the online Google Drive account.  We suggest that you move them out of the Drive application on your computer, which will remove them from the online Drive account, then move them back in.  This will force the Drive application on your computer to upload them to the online Drive account again.
 
2. The documents may simply be damaged or corrupt.  An easy way to determine whether or not a document is damaged or corrupt is to locate the item in the Google web UI and try to open it.  If you're not able to open and access the document in the Google web UI, it's likely corrupt and needs to be replaced.
 
3. Google Forms, Scripts, and Fusion Tables are not exportable through Google and cannot be backed up.
 
4. PDF files that have been locked from download, in the Google Docs web UI settings for that document, are not accessible and cannot be backed up.
 
5. Some third-party and external applications, such as Lucidchart and Smartsheets, cannot be backed up. One reason some of these items cannot be backed up is that they are not actually stored in Google Drive/Docs, but are shortcuts to the content outside of the Google account. It can also be that Google simply doesn't allow the items to be exported out of the Google account, which means we cannot export them out of the account in order to back them up.
 
There's not much that can be done about the last three items above since Spanning isn't able to access that data to be able to back it up.  However, even though Spanning cannot back up that data, we believe in 100% transparency and want to inform you of anything in your Google Drive account that cannot be backed up, even if it is not possible to do so.  As a result, we have implemented filter fields in your Status view, so that you can filter out the errors for items that are not possible to back up, and focus on the errors that need your immediate attention.

Please contact support if you have any questions.