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Offline ChuckJ

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Dropbox or the like?
« on: January 19, 2013, 12:11:34 PM »
Once more I come to learn from the ones who know more than I do. Of course, in this situation my dog probably knows more than I do.

I currently backup my work files to an external hard drive. I also have hard copies of my work. My concern is that if, God forbid, something were to happen to my house it would wipe out my computer, external HD, and the hard copies in the filing cabinets. Because if this I've been thinking about some sort of off-site storage like Dropbox.

My first problem is that Dropbox only allows 2 GB for free. Currently, I would need at least about 2.75 GB. I realize that I can buy more, but with the economy as it is I'm having to cut as much costs as I can so I don't want to add cost.

My second problem is that I've never dealt with anything like this before so I really don't know what I'm doing or what I'm looking for.

If it matters, the files I would be storing would mostly be .doc, .pdf, .jpg, and ,dwg files. Like most people I appreciate privacy/security, but these files don't contain anything like the secret formula to Coke or KFC recipe for 11 herbs and spices.

So tell me oh gurus of technology, what should I do or look for?
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Offline Chris_

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Re: Dropbox or the like?
« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2013, 12:13:50 PM »
What about Google?  They offer Google Drive, but I've never looked into it.  I've got at least 5 GB of storage space on mine.

All your stuff is usually located in the C:\Users folder (Windows 7)... that includes your Desktop, Documents, IE favorites, etc.
« Last Edit: January 19, 2013, 12:16:27 PM by Chris_ »
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Offline ChuckJ

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Re: Dropbox or the like?
« Reply #2 on: January 19, 2013, 12:19:03 PM »
Quote from: Chris_ on January 19, 2013, 12:13:50 PM
What about Google?  They offer Google Drive, but I've never looked into it. 

I've looked at that. They offer 5GB of free storage which would fit what I need, but I'm so ignorant when it comes to this stuff that I don't know if it will serve my purposes. PLus, I'm kind of leery about things. Just reading what they offer seems right, but unlike nadin I don't believe everything I read on the internet.
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“Don’t vote for the person who tells you you deserve something. Just don’t do it if it’s something other than life, liberty, or the pursuit of possible happiness. If everyone is telling you you deserve something, vote for the one who is promising you the least. Be suspicious of the man or woman who tell you deserve everything. Because you don’t.” ---Mike Rowe

Offline thundley4

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Re: Dropbox or the like?
« Reply #3 on: January 19, 2013, 04:30:50 PM »
Why not a keychain USB drive?  They make them up past 32 gigs now.
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Offline marv

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Re: Dropbox or the like?
« Reply #4 on: January 19, 2013, 05:52:33 PM »
USB drive - yes

GOOGLE - no, unless you like to share things with who-knows
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Offline rich_t

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Re: Dropbox or the like?
« Reply #5 on: January 19, 2013, 06:03:22 PM »
Quote from: thundley4 on January 19, 2013, 04:30:50 PM
Why not a keychain USB drive?  They make them up past 32 gigs now.

That is what I would suggest as well.
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Offline thundley4

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Re: Dropbox or the like?
« Reply #6 on: January 19, 2013, 06:12:57 PM »
I still have my first USB drive.  256 MegaBytes and cost @$80.       :bawl:
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Offline tac

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Re: Dropbox or the like?
« Reply #7 on: January 19, 2013, 06:44:08 PM »
Another option,other than the cloud service and USB drive, is the SD cards which are available in sizes up to 128gb. You could also look at small external SSD's, but they are not cheap.
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Offline ChuckJ

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Re: Dropbox or the like?
« Reply #8 on: January 19, 2013, 07:44:34 PM »
I hadn't thought of the USB drive, but I'm not sure it would do what I need because I would still need to store it somewhere else.

Right now, I back up to an external (as I said previously). Then ever few months I burn all of my work files to DVD and take them to my mother and father's. With a USB drive, I'd still need to keep it at my mother and father's to accomplish what I'm looking for which really isn't much difference than what I'm doing now.

I'm trying to find a way to protect my data in case of fire, theft, or whatever that saves me the trouble of physically driving the backups somewhere. I don't foresee anything happening, but neither did my aunt when her house burned down.
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“Don’t vote for the person who tells you you deserve something. Just don’t do it if it’s something other than life, liberty, or the pursuit of possible happiness. If everyone is telling you you deserve something, vote for the one who is promising you the least. Be suspicious of the man or woman who tell you deserve everything. Because you don’t.” ---Mike Rowe

Offline thundley4

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Re: Dropbox or the like?
« Reply #9 on: January 19, 2013, 07:53:38 PM »
Quote from: ChuckJ on January 19, 2013, 07:44:34 PM
I hadn't thought of the USB drive, but I'm not sure it would do what I need because I would still need to store it somewhere else.

Right now, I back up to an external (as I said previously). Then ever few months I burn all of my work files to DVD and take them to my mother and father's. With a USB drive, I'd still need to keep it at my mother and father's to accomplish what I'm looking for which really isn't much difference than what I'm doing now.

I'm trying to find a way to protect my data in case of fire, theft, or whatever that saves me the trouble of physically driving the backups somewhere. I don't foresee anything happening, but neither did my aunt when her house burned down.

USB drives are so small  which is why I suggested the key chain type. Even one the smaller cheap ones would meet your current needs of <3 gigs.
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Offline Splashdown

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Re: Dropbox or the like?
« Reply #10 on: January 20, 2013, 01:14:30 PM »
I like Dropbox. If you invite people, you get more free storage. It's great for transferring things among all my devices. You can lose the USB things. You can't lose Dropbox. Plus, you can always activate another email address. I have one Dropbox acct. for work and one for home. That's 5 gigs of storage. Plus more if you do stuff like download the app on your computer and smartphone.
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Offline ChuckJ

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Re: Dropbox or the like?
« Reply #11 on: January 21, 2013, 07:51:10 AM »
Thanks for all the input.

I've looked at the price of USB drives. They're not as bad as I expected. I think I may go both routes. I could use Dropbox for weekly backups. I could store the last couple of years on Dropbox and still be under the 2GB limit. Then use a USB to do my monthly (or less often) backup ALL of my work files from beginning to now.
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Offline EagleKeeper

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Re: Dropbox or the like?
« Reply #12 on: January 21, 2013, 11:35:05 PM »
One thing that I might have missed in this thread is the importance of being able to test backup media.

One needs to understand that backup media is not worth cat poop unless you can reliably recover it.

It really is not enough to back it up to whatever, you really have to understand how to *recover* it. Control panel/backup will not save you.
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Offline Maxiest

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Re: Dropbox or the like?
« Reply #13 on: January 22, 2013, 12:00:32 AM »
I am also an avid Dropbox user.  Love it.  Like someone said up thread a USB drive can fail or be lost.  Dropbox can't or not as easily.  And if for some reason it does, all the files are synced to all of my computers and even my tablet.  So I would need 3 computers, a tablet and Dropbox to fail before I lost my precious files.

And let me add... it acts just like a folder in your documents so when you place a file in there it is automatically synced to Dropbox and any other system you have with Dropbox on it.
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Offline franksolich

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Re: Dropbox or the like?
« Reply #14 on: January 22, 2013, 12:07:51 AM »
Probably a stupid question here.

Every time one of my computers goes bad, I just toss it because it's too much trouble to get it repaired, and much more easier just to get another used one.

This isn't anything that happens a whole lot; maybe, on the average, since the first one back in 1995, about every three or four years.

I "store" nothing of value on computers, but when a computer crashes, all my short stories, of which there's several hundred, evaporate too.

It's not a great loss, but it's somewhat of a loss.

Would this "drop box" thing be anything of use for me?
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Offline Maxiest

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Re: Dropbox or the like?
« Reply #15 on: January 22, 2013, 12:14:47 AM »
Quote from: franksolich on January 22, 2013, 12:07:51 AM
Probably a stupid question here.

Every time one of my computers goes bad, I just toss it because it's too much trouble to get it repaired, and much more easier just to get another used one.

This isn't anything that happens a whole lot; maybe, on the average, since the first one back in 1995, about every three or four years.

I "store" nothing of value on computers, but when a computer crashes, all my short stories, of which there's several hundred, evaporate too.

It's not a great loss, but it's somewhat of a loss.

Would this "drop box" thing be anything of use for me?

Yes.  Basically Dropbox creates a folder under your "My Documents" or "Documents" in Windows 7.  You save your file there and presto it's synced to the Dropbox servers.  You throw that computer out, get a new one, install Dropbox and login and it will sync the Dropbox folder right back on your computer under your "My Documents" or "Documents" folders.  You can also login on the webiste and view/dowloand your documents anywhere.
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"The society that puts equality before freedom will end up with neither; the society that puts freedom before equality will end up with a great measure of both."

"Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program."

"We have a system that increasingly taxes work and subsidizes nonwork."

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Offline thundley4

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Re: Dropbox or the like?
« Reply #16 on: January 22, 2013, 12:16:20 AM »
Quote from: franksolich on January 22, 2013, 12:07:51 AM
Probably a stupid question here.

Every time one of my computers goes bad, I just toss it because it's too much trouble to get it repaired, and much more easier just to get another used one.

This isn't anything that happens a whole lot; maybe, on the average, since the first one back in 1995, about every three or four years.

I "store" nothing of value on computers, but when a computer crashes, all my short stories, of which there's several hundred, evaporate too.

It's not a great loss, but it's somewhat of a loss.

Would this "drop box" thing be anything of use for me?

Quote from: Maxiest on January 22, 2013, 12:14:47 AM
Yes.  Basically Dropbox creates a folder under your "My Documents" or "Documents" in Windows 7.  You save your file there and presto it's synced to the Dropbox servers.  You throw that computer out, get a new one, install Dropbox and login and it will sync the Dropbox folder right back on your computer under your "My Documents" or "Documents" folders.  You can also login on the webiste and view/dowloand your documents anywhere.


Google also offers a free service.  Google Drive  It sounds like it works like Dropbox.
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Offline Maxiest

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Re: Dropbox or the like?
« Reply #17 on: January 22, 2013, 12:20:40 AM »
Quote from: thundley4 on January 22, 2013, 12:16:20 AM

Google also offers a free service.  Google Drive  It sounds like it works like Dropbox.

I have Google Drive just because I had a lot of documents in Google Docs.  Of course Docs turned into Drive.  I just now realized you could download and Sync your files like Dropbox.  Interesting.
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"The society that puts equality before freedom will end up with neither; the society that puts freedom before equality will end up with a great measure of both."

"Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program."

"We have a system that increasingly taxes work and subsidizes nonwork."

-Milton Friedman
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