If you’re like many and have had to go through a plethora of reformatting processes (mainly the case for Windows users), then you might be interested in three different services to help you back up your data in numeruous ways.
1. MozyHome
Mozy, one of the leading companies in online and remote storage/backup offers an excellent free service to those who are interested in backing up their important computer files to Mozy’s servers. What is most interesting about this service is that they provide you 2GB of storage to begin with, and for every 4 friends you refer to the service, you will gain an additional gigabyte for FREE! To me, that sounds like a more than generous deal and even if you don’t refer friends, 2GB of storage is enough for many of your important documents and pictures, along with some important music files you don’t think you could find anywhere else.
To get started with MozyHome, you must first visit the company’s site at this address. After you have registered and confirmed your email, you would need to download the software and install it on your computer. After the install is finished, just follow the step-by-step instructions to set up your own backup tool on your computer. Additionally, you could also schedule a certain time period to backup your files using the software, a great option for those with idle computer times that can be used to backup their files. Furthermore, Mozy creates a virtual drive on your computer (for Windows users only) that you can easily access to view and restore your lost files.
Now even though Mozy is a great backup service, it has one main drawback that I’d like to address. When using Mozy to restore your files, it could take an exorbitant amount of time especially if the size of the file is very large, say around 700 mb. Of course you could also purchase a CD of your files to restore them, but imagine you had an important file you had to attain today that you accidentally deleted yesterday, it would take days for the company to ship you the CD before you could even do anything. Therefore, if you are to use Mozy, be aware that it is not the best for backing up large files.
2. File Savr
The next service, File Savr, is not necessarily a backup tool, but it can be used to store large files, such as movies, images, or a music collection – to be downloaded later when truly needed. File Savr is a free file hosting service where you can upload files up to the size of 10GB. One of the many perks of File Savr is that unlike other free file hosting services like RapidShare or Megaupload, there are no counters to wait on nor overload of ads to the site.
Also, for the next four days, File Savr is giving away Gold Plan accounts for FREE! (I seem to have used that word a lot so far.) Their Gold Plan allows members to store their files online at a cap of 250 GB, which is rather a larger number seeing as how normal USB Storage devices of that caliber would cost around $100-200. Furthermore, it allows members to direct link images and share files with their friends and families.
3. Dropbox
Today, a service called Dropbox came out of Beta and began to offer a free secure backup, syncing, and file sharing service. What Dropbox actually does, is that it links your computer to several computers that you own and the Dropbox server to create easy file syncing to access your files from a remote location. Therefore, if you had two computers, one at home and one at work, you could backup your data from work to your home computer using Dropbox’s easy interface to sync your files between computers.
To use Dropbox, like Mozy, you would have to register for the service at its main site here. You then download the software they provide and install it on your computer(s). Next, you will have to link your computer to the Dropbox server using the software’s interface. After that, just copy and paste files or folders to the Dropbox icon located in your My Computers for Windows or hard drive’s window for Mac and Linux. Something interesting about Dropbox is that it also syncs across operating systems like Windows and Mac or Linux, providing you with an easy interface to backup your files and share with friends.
azngoHAPPY is a high school student who enjoys blogging about technology, computers, industry news revolving around the web, and fun sites or services to visit/try out. You can find more of his posts at myBunchies.