Number 292 - September 2007

Free Online Storage at DropBoks
by Bill Ellis, Computer Users of Erie, Horizons. June 2007
Would you like a simple method of storing backup copies of your important data files off-site? Actually, all of our files are important to us, but we may not need or want to backup all of them. Offsite storage means, away from you computer , home, office, even away from your pocket or purse. Yet, it must be handy whenever the need arises to retrieve that file. It also must be easy to use and financially feasible.    DropBoks may be your answer.    DropBoks is a free service although the site's owners do suggest a $1 donation. That takes care of the financially feasible part. Each user receives access to 1 gigabyte of storage space. That's the equivalent of about one and a half CD-ROM disks or nearly 700 floppy disks. That's a lot of storage. However, no one file can be larger than 50 megabytes (several thousand printed pages). As you see there are some limitations to this storage site, but not anything that I couldn't live with. Now on to the ease of use part.    DropBoks works on Windows, Macintosh. Linux, and probably other operating systems as well. It is an extremely simple application to use. To upload files, log onto DropBoks, click on BROWSE, and navigate to the file(s) on your hard drive that you wish to upload. Then click on UPLOAD FILE.    Want to download (retrieve) a file from your online storage area? Go to DropBoks, double-click on the file name, and follow the menus to store it on your local hard drive.	Want to remove a file from online storage? Drag and drop it onto the trash icon. You can't get much simpler than this for online storage solutions.    DropBoks was so simple in its initial phase that it didn't support file sharing with others or any other advanced features. Nor, did it encrypt your files during uploading. Instead, it was a personal tool for your use alone. It became your personal file storage area that you could access from anyplace that has Internet access. However, that has since changed. Files are now encrypted during uploading and you can have file sharing, allowing others access to all or some of your files. You control which files are accessible to whom.    I use two online storages programs. One that backs up my entire computer and this one that I can select which files I would like to backup off-site. I use DropBoks quite frequently. I still carry a flash drive in my pocket with my genealogy file on it, even though I don't have to. Old habits are hard to break.    The DropBoks sign up process takes about fifteen seconds. No personal questions were asked, other than your e-mail address. I was never asked for my name, address, credit card number, or anything else. I was so impressed that I donated a dollar to support the service.    Try it. Wbat have you got to lose? You can access it at: www.dropboks.com/
Number 292 - September 2007