DropBox is a way to sync, store, and share your files online. It also has one of my favourite features – it’s free. You can get 2GB of free online storage when you sign up. (or.2.25gb if you get DropBox here) and the DropBox desktop application makes sure that whatever you put in your DropBox folder on your computer gets sent to your online folder and vice versa.
I use DropBox in a couple of different ways, so I figured I’d share some of the ways to use Dropbox to get the most from your cloud storage.
Also, DropBox gives you extra space if you refer friends, so I’m hoping that at least one or two of you will click this link to get DropBox and score me some extra space (pretty please). If you sign up with my referral link, we BOTH get extra space. It’s a win win situation.
1. Create a todo list or idea pad that follows you around
I have random ideas all the time, or a note that I need to remember later. But I hate having loads of files in different places that I need to remember. Creating a text document in my DropBox means I can open it up, type whatever I need to and then close it. When I get home, I can check the file and see what I scribbled.
2.Have the same wallpaper on different computers
This is a small one, but still kinda cool. All you need to do is save your wallpaper in your DropBox folder and set that as your wallpaper. I named the file wallpaper.jpg, so next time I update the file, all my machines automatically have the same desktop.
3. Use it as your music folder
Whenever I buy new music, I’m anxious to hear it. Sometimes I’ll buy an album in the morning and can’t wait for the download to finish. So, all I do is save the album to my DropBox and by the time I get to the office, I can listen to my new music.
4. Share photos with friends and family
Recently my mom installed DropBox, which makes it really easy for me to send pictures to her. Email is cool, but that means searching for the pics and having to be online in order to see them. And no, we’re not Facebook friends.
Update: Dropbox now offers photo galleries for Android users, so you can group your photos together and share a link to the album. This feature is still in Beta, but I think that as soon as it comes to full production I’ll be ditching my Flickr Pro account in favour of DroBox photo albums.
5. Store software settings and backups
I’ve been through the agony of losing data due to hard drive crashes or some other computer problem, and it sucks. Now I use DropBox to keep backups of some of my software settings. I have my Bento databases my LastPassword backups and my Traktor settings all saved to my Dropbox, which means that when my machines once again meets a fiery death, I still have my stuff and don’t need to spend hours re-configuring things the way I like.
I’ve also started using Dropbox to save my Android Phone backups. I store my latest Titanium backups as well as my most recent nandroid backup in m Dropbox folder.
6. Use it as a free network drive for your team
At StereoType Records, we need to share lots of files – demos we like, draft versions of songs or track separates for remixes.
DropBox is perfect for us – I can upload a track and let the rest of the team know that there’s a new file waiting for them, right on their desktop.
UPDATE:
7.Trigger Torrent Downloads by email
I’ve now started using Dropbox with IFTTT in order to remotely launch a torrent download on my home computer. This means that if I find a cool torrent while I’m out and about, I can email it myself and some magic will happen to start the torrent download in my home office.