Two Ways To Store And Share Files Online
By Cate Eales
Appeared April 23, 2009 on castanet.net
Save a copy of your important documents effortlessly.
Share files easily and securely, even with yourself. Grab a file on your
home computer from wherever you are. And please STOP sending huge video
files via email! Here are two free, secure, and simple ways to accomplish
all that.
Syncplicity
Install Syncplicity on your computer, choose the files you want to back
up, synchronize or share, and securely transfer your data. Some of you are
saying, "Wow!" Others are saying, "But why?" Let me start with the second
group.
Do you have a laptop and a desktop? Do you have a computer at home and one
at work? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to access the same file --- I mean
EXACTLY the same file --- on both computers?
Yes, it would.
You could copy the file to a USB stick and carry it with you. You could
email it from work to home and home to work. But one of those computers is
always going to have a version that is different from the other one.
Unless, of course, you synchronize the file across the computers.
This is one feature of Syncplicity. After you set up your account and
choose the folders you want to sync, whenever you save a file in one of
those folders, it is backed up and stored on the Syncplicity servers. So
if you are happily working on a document at home, you can save it, it will
sync, and when you connect your laptop in a different location, the newest
version of the document will automagically show up on your laptop. When
you edit it there and save it, it will sync up and the changed version
will show up at home.
click to enlarge graphic
That's just one feature. Anything you sync from your computer is available
to you online from ANY computer that is connected to the internet. So if
you are at a friend's house and you want to access something, you can log
into your Syncplicity account on the web and grab the file.
You can use Syncplicity simply as a backup for files. What if you
accidentally delete that Excel spreadsheet with all your important data,
or those wedding photos? You can browse to your Syncplicity account, and
grab the backups.
Sharing is also very simple. You can designate the files you want to share
and who you want to share them with. You can grant full access, or you can
limit people to read-only. (They can see it but they can't change it.)
Syncplicity has a very clean, easy-to-follow interface. You can store up
to 2GB and sync two computers for free. You can purchase more storage
space and the ability to add more computers.
Check out
Syncplicity here. Have a look around the site,
watch the
video and give it a try.
Drop.io
I love Drop.io for sharing files. Drop.io is a private space online. You
don't need an account. You can privately share photos, audio files, video
files, documents or just about any file. Each drop gives you up 100 MB of
storage, and you can create as many drops as you like.
click to enlarge graphic
It's easy to share your files. Instead of emailing huge
photos, upload them to a drop, and email a link to the drop to your
friends and family. They can go to that drop and access the files.
Check out Drop.io here.
There is nothing to sign up for or download. Drop.io has many powerful
features, which I will not touch on here, but which you can explore by
watching this video.
Even if you are not interested in the advanced features, you should watch
the first two minutes of the video for a basic overview of how Drop.io
works. If you want to see it in action and imagine how you might use
Drop.io, have a look
here.
Do you need help with your computer? With your
scanner/printer/camera/music player? Do you have a virus or a
spyware problem? Do you need a backup plan? Do you have a new
computer and now you're wondering how to get the files from the old one
over to the new one? I'm here to help you and your computer get along! To
ask a question, make a comment or suggestion, or schedule a visit, email
cate@rlis.com. You can read previous columns
here. If you'd like to
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Links
Syncplicity
http://www.syncplicity.com/
Syncplicity video
http://www.syncplicity.com/Video/
Drop.io http://drop.io/
Drop.io video
http://drop.io/howto
Drop.io demo
http://drop.io/fix_demo
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---
Cate Eales has been helping people make online computing safe, accessible
and fun for over 20 years. She lives in Kelowna with her husband, Eric,
and her dog, Sandy. Cate is a partner in Real Life Internet Solutions,
helping individuals and small businesses with virus, spyware and malware
eradication; personal computer training and management; digital image
management; music transfer; and website design, hosting and management.
Email Cate at cate@rlis.com with your
comments, suggestions, or questions. To browse the column archives, visit
the Real Life Internet Solutions website at
www.rlis.com.
©
Cate Eales 2009 – All Rights Reserved
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