File & Folder SYNC – Backup – Replicate

Lets face it more and more people are being given Notebooks at their place of work.  You want to have access to files at the office and away.  You may not have internet access and your VPN performance might not be what you would like.

You can certainly use Cloud based solutions and sync to the cloud – but security might be an issue with work related documents.  Company policy might be to save all files on the network so they are backed up and keep nothing on your local drive on your notebook.

There are several different solutions you might want to look at when your trying to follow policy as well as being as productive as possible.   You can use Microsoft Live Mesh to sync your network files or folders with your local drive on your notebook.  Alternatively I saw a small application reviewed today called FOLDER Replica (Win2000 / XP / Vista / Win7).  Take a look for yourself – read the review it might be handy to have.

Folder replica is a folder synchronization program that is designed to make your life easier in daily file manipulation routines. Advancement in HDD drive technology has made hard drives a cheap, fast and accessible backup option. The flexibility to copy and change data on to your backup device has brought new problems of how to avoid unnecessary data transfer every time you want to make a fresh copy of your data.

Full Review @ addictivetips

 

Cloud Storage – FREE – Another Service 10G FREE

We are all storage hungry – if your like me you use several cloud storage services. You always have to think about security and what your sharing with the Cloud, but if your smart it can be used as a great backup of non-sensitive information. Some are easier than others and some you might trust more than another.

I currently use Live Mesh and Skydrive from Microsoft as well as Dropbox. Live Mesh is a great product if you have multiple computers and you want to sync up your folders or specific files from one to the other with the option of having it in the cloud as well. Skydrive is a manually process but with 25G and it being used for Microsoft cloud apps – it’s a must. Dropbox is a single folder you can save information to and have it sync with the cloud and other computers. It’s fast and works really well with plug-ins for smartphones.

There are others I have mentioned in the past listed on a folder on my main page of the blog.

A new player has entered the game – CLOUD EXPERIENCE – Beta – from fist looks it seems to have most of the features of Dropbox.  Sync from multiple devices – share your files with others and access the service from anywhere.

A full length review was published on AddictiveTips today – take a read!

Related articles

• Dropbox vs. the Alternatives: Which Online Syncing Service Is Right for You? (lifehacker.com)

WAIT – WAIT – Where did my DISK SPACE GO! Windows SP1 Available

Most people get the notice about updates on their systems and say OK and don’t think about it again.  They most likely wont notice the missing 500MB of storage that’s gone.  For many power users this is no big problem, but for those people who have Notebooks with smaller drives this could make a difference.

But WAIT – you don’t want to delete these files for a few weeks of use to make sure you don’t have issue with the update.  Once you feel that you have used your system without any issue, then you might want to take a look at the following article from HOW-to Geek to remove and restore that storage.  At the same time you can remove some other stuff as well!

After you install the Windows 7 Service Pack 1 that we mentioned yesterday, you might be wondering how to reclaim some of the lost drive space—which we’ll show you how today—but should you actually do it?

Note: If you haven’t installed the new SP1 release yet, be sure to read our post explaining what it entails before you do. Spoiler: it’s mostly bug fixes.

Should You Delete Windows 7 Service Pack Backup Files to Save Space?

Wait, What Now?

It’s simple: installing the service pack will take up a bunch of extra space, because Windows is going to create a ton of backups of the pre-service pack files in case you want to roll everything back and uninstall the service pack. This could be anywhere from a few hundred MBs all the way up to a GB or so.

You can easily clean out these backups with Disk Cleanup (see more below), but don’t rush to do that. Keep reading.

Online Storage – Backup and Sync files and folders FREE

On-line storage can be used in so many ways…  It can be used as BACKUP of important files and depending on the service can be done manually or you can use services that auto-sync your files or directories that you pick.  Another great benefit of online storage is the ability to access that data from any computer connected to the WEB.

For a lot of people a single service will work great and will give them the storage they want or need and it’s FREE!  For those that have a lot to save or others that would like to keep personal and business stuff separate there are many services available.

I believe most people understand why they should backup, but most still don’t!  In most cases if you have never had a computer fail or your hard drive die, they just don’t take the time to figure out a method to back up at least the most important files – like your pictures, personal documents and invoices etc.  What would your wife say if you lost all your pictures!

Key benefits

–          Backup of important files

–          Sync between computers and Cloud to have access of data from any computer with an internet connection.  You had or change any file and it’s updated at all the locations you have added.

OFFERINGS

 

Protection – System Restore – Windows 7 (WIN7) – Keeping DATA SAFE!

In several posts I have been suggesting ways in which we can help kids and parents stay safe while on their computers.  I talked about anti-virus, surfing safe and using skydrive or LIVE MESH for keeping important data safe. 

We all have family and friends that rely on us to help them out when they have issue, this is one way you can help yourself by being pro-active and let them solve their own problems.

Well if you have Windows 7 there is another layer that can and should be used. 

BACKUP BACKUP – how many people take the time to backup – not many, not even tech people. 

How would you like to recover that file or folder you just deleted, a great feature in WIN7 allows you to restore a previous version of  or deleted files.  For anyone purchasing a new computer this feature should be turned on as soon as they get the system.  Most current systems come with a good size hard drive so this should not be an issue and it’s just add’s one more layer of protection and productivity.  I have heard you need about 10% of your  hard disk space to make System Restore work well.

Microsoft FAQ on the previous versions functionality

Older systems that people have upgraded to WIN7 might have concerns because of hard drive space….  if adding additional drives to the unit ($50-60 for a 500G drive) is not an option then they can look at several other options.

Windows SKY DRIVE – Have a Windows LIVE ID and you gte 25G free in the cloud.  The storage is great, you have access to your files anywhere, but getting it to Skydrive is a manual process.  There is a method to add a Skydrive Folder as a Network drive and I will be posting this at a later date, once I have tested it.

If you multiple systems and one of them has a larger harddrive, you can use LIVEMESH to sync specific folders or files from your older system to you new system automatically and use that as your on promise backup.

There are several other services, both pay and FREE out there if you look around.  I have not tried any of these, so I do not want to make any suggestions.  If you have used others or try something else out let me know and I will review and post up.