Dropbox

Dropbox is a simple file synchronization utility (offered online or as a desktop software by www.dropbox.com) that stores your data in the cloud (amazons) and makes it accessible across Windows, Mac, and Linux machines or on the web via the dropbox.com interface. Dropbox is an amazing file syncing tool and its changes are almost instantaneous and its so functional and works so well.

The idea is to throw everything into the ‘Dropbox’ folder that is created on your computer. Either making it public or private by putting the files in their respective folders. This folder is then synchronised in the background across all your computers with the dropbox application installed (and running). The 2GB of space provided is pretty decent and about 4GB more can be earned free by inviting friends to use Dropbox.

How to get dropbox:

1. Go to www.dropbox.com and click ‘Download Dropbox’
2. Save the application and run it.

3. Install Dropbox by following the setup instructions.

4. Dropbox is now avaialable as a folder. In Windows, the folder is under My Documents > Dropbox.

5. The Public and Photos folders are available. Place files into these folders and they’ll be automatically uploaded and synchronised with the storage space on Dropbox online (on the Amazon cloud). This is provided the dropbox application is running.

6. The Dropbox application runs in the notification area of the task bar.

7. These options are available by right clicking on the icon. Click on Preferences to modify you dropbox preferences.

8. Send your friends links to your shared files easily by just right clicking and selecting this option. The shell integration is simply awesome!

With this you’ve successfully installed Dropbox.

Conclusion: 

Dropbox is a revolutionary file synchronisation and online backup and sharing software. It works so well, so quickly and so reliably. There are many advanced features and other uses for dropbox which we can explore in later articles.