Stages

We have come up with a list of items that we feel constitute the “necessities” of first running you brand new PC. In an attempt to make it easier for you we have broken these items into stages – that way it doesn’t seem overwhelming and tedious. We have also included an approximate time of completion. These may vary based on many factors but it is intended to give you an idea of what to expect. By having this information available you can determine how many items you can take on based on your schedule. If you want to bite the bullet and complete the tasks on the same day… go for it!

Let’s get started.

Stage1

Warranty and Registration Cards (Time to Complete: Approximately 5 minutes)
Fill warranty and registration cards in right away. Required information such as serial numbers can usually be found on the back of printers and computers. So before you connect the cables and set the device into its location, get the information written down while it is still easy to read. Once the system is up and running, you can then send in the cards to be registered. While most retailers will act on your behalf for warranty concerns if the store closes its doors, the computer maker will require that you provide proof that it is their device and it was purchased within the warranty period. Save yourself the frustration and do this early.

Restore Disks (Time to Complete: No more than 10 minutes)
Your new system most likely comes with Windows 10 preinstalled. That’s great – that saves some work! You need to realize though this likely means you do not have CD’s to reinstall Windows if the need arises. So, to be on the safe side, you will need to create restore disks. Use this Microsoft link and follow the directions.

Windows Live Account (Time to Complete: 2 – 3 minutes)
When you first start your computer, Windows will ask you to either sign on to your Windows Live email account or to create an account with Microsoft. This is not necessary but it does add some functions to using Windows across multiple units such as those between your desktop, laptop, tablet, or Windows phone. If you do not have any of these other items, ignore the offer to create an account. If you have logon credentials with MSN or Outlook.com then that login is your Windows account. For more information follow this Microsoft FAQ link.

Set the System Restore (Time to Complete: 2 – 3 minutes)
System Restore, by default, is not enabled. You need to set this up to keep the system as safe as possible. Information on how to enable the system restore can be found by following this Microsoft link.

Backup Admin Account (Time to Complete: 5 – 10 minutes)
Create a Backup Admin account. Many problems can arise should you have one admin account and it gets damaged. If you create a backup admin account you can simply work around the issue rather than working through hours of trying to undo whatever created the issue. Save yourself the time and unpleasantness by setting up a second one right away.

You can use this helpful site with easy to use instructions.

Stage 2

Beware Freeware (Time to Complete: Up to 30 minutes)
Check the “All Programs” list in PC Clean Maestro. Open the program, click the Uninstaller tab and review the items in the list provided. Many new systems include a list of freeware and trialware programs.

If you have already purchased an antivirus program and are going to install it, do not leave a free antivirus on the system as you could experience interference and compatibility issues. Stay with the programs you know and save yourself the frustration of programs popping up on the screen.

Remove Remnants (Time to Complete: Up to 3 minutes)
After installing your programs remember to clear up the install remnants so the drive is clear of unwanted files. Open PC Clean Maestro and from the “Clean” page, confirm that the items you want to scan and clean are checked. Next, click the Start button. The scan will be quick and you can easily review items before removing them. It will take more time to review the findings then to scan or clean them.

Registry Scan and Fix (Time to Complete: Up to 3 minutes)
Now that you have removed unnecessary and unwanted files, it’s time to clear the registry as there may be remnants that have not been removed. To scan and clean your registry open PC TuneUp Maestro and click the “Optimize PC” page in the left panel. Click the Registry Defrag option and perform the Express Scan.

HD Defrag (Time to Complete: Up to 30 minutes)
After removing items from your computer it’s time to address sorting – defragmenting – the hard drive for best performance.

If your new PC uses the traditional spinning platter hard drive (HDD), we recommend using good PC habits right from the start and defragmenting it. Good practice is to defrag your HD when you remove items of significant size (applications, media files, etc.). To defrag your drive, Open PC TuneUp Maestro and click the “Optimize PC” page in the left panel. Click the Disk Defrag option at the top of the list and follow the instructions.

Stage 3

Power Bar (Time to Complete: Varies)
Is the light on the power bar flashing or flickering? If so… replace it. This is the least expensive insurance policy you can buy for your new computer. That flashing or flickering light means it needs to be replaced.

Windows Updates (Time to Complete: 10 – 30 minutes)
Check for updates from Windows. Windows 10 supplies driver updates for all your devices (video cards, printers, etc.), so it is possible that when Windows was installed the devices were not connected. To be certain everything has the correct drivers you need to run an update: use this Microsoft site for details. Please note Windows 10 could start performing updates before you choose to do so. If it does let the process complete itself as trying to stop it could lead to Windows having problems before you get to use your computer.

Conclusions:

Now that you have completed the steps – there is no reason why your PC shouldn’t be performing at top speeds. You should notice fast startup times as well as exceptional file access and program startup performance. We hope this article has helped you to feel less intimidated with your new and somewhat unfamiliar PC acquisition. Taking the right steps right from the get go is critical and we think these tips will support you well in that regard.

Feel free to visit our Support Center at: https://www.compuclever.com/support/ If you have some ideas of topics you would like us to cover or have other feedback to offer, email us at: newsletter@compuclever.com

The post My New PC Arrival appeared first on CompuClever.

The following topics include our top stories that we find will give you an upper edge on PC good practices and regular use:

Security & Privacy

Digital security – updates and trends
Edward Snowden hit the news this past year and opened up a whole can of worms in relation to surveillance and the reams of digital information that is readily available.  Our information article broached the subject of the digital universe and our level of exposure to surveillance.  We have become participants and are increasingly more involved in the creation of digital information that can be accessed from online means.  We need to ask the question: With the amount of focus directed at gathering digital information can we feel that our private data – including financial data such as credit card information – is in fact secure? Read the full article…

How to protect your privacy
Not only did we reference Edward Snowden but also major companies like Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and Target and how each have used technology to track and monitor activity.  In our How To article we provided five steps to being more PC secure.  We looked at: 1) How to make your web browser more secure, 2) email security, 3) data encryption, 4) virtual private networking, and 5) clean up.  The last item is likely the most important – no one can access what is not there to begin with. Read the full article…

Backup Your PC

Are you ready for Cloud Storage?
There has been considerable attention given to “cloud” storage and we delved into this topic with both feet.  The beauty of this topic is that we have, in other articles, made reference to backing up data to another location and cloud storage is one method of backup of items.  We would suggest backing up items that are difficult to replace; a backup copy of family pictures for example would be ideal to store “in the cloud”.

We covered the basics of cloud storage including: reasons to use cloud storage (sharing files or backing up data), cost, size, access and more. Read the full article…

Choosing an online storage solution
We also looked at some of the free cloud storage that is made available to anyone.  All of these are starting places and any of these storage offerings may suffice for one’s basic needs.  Cloud storage can be used as a means of preventing data loss – although by itself it is not sufficient enough in our minds.  We find the best use of this technology is to take advantage of the ability to share files. While we outline several cloud storage providers we give the thumbs up to Dropbox as our top pick. Read the full article…

A free local PC backup solution
We brought up the importance of backing up your PC in several articles.  The act of backing up your data is a daunting task when considering the numerous files we create and modify on a daily basis.  Even making the attempt to manually synchronize files is something we would not do.  A viable alternative is to use a free synchronization tool called SyncToy.

Our article on this subject contained a lot of information that we were able to present in one file.  It included the following: 1) what data to backup, 2) when, why, and where to backup, and 3) how to use SyncToy.  The third area offers step-by-step instructions with screenshots.  Read the full article…

Clean Your PC

Too much junk? Keep your PC lean and clean
The creation of free space.  Hand-in-hand with removing items from your hard drive to is the need to effectively deal with the accumulation of junk files.  In our first article we systematically look at:

The Clean and Uninstaller Tools
The companion article covers the steps on backing up, using the PC Clean Maestro Clean Tool and the Uninstaller.  Not rocket science by any means… just a good, effective management regime. Read the full article…

Speeding up Your PC

Understanding defragmentation and optimization
Likely the most technical articles we have written were on the subject of hard disk drives and optimizing them with the Disk Defrag tool.  Despite the complexity of the subject manner we feel this article is a very good synopsis of the process involving fragmentation of data and its impact on hard drive performance.

How to Defrag Your Hard Drives
Fragmentation can be a bottleneck to system performance. If you are experiencing slowdowns in opening applications and overall responsiveness along with a shortage of overall disk space, you need to look at the Best Practices section and the steps to defrag your system.  For those of you suffering from a bogged down system, you will be impressed by the performance gains. Read the full article…

Guard Your PC from Foistware

Understanding Foistware
Funny how the little things can be completely annoying and such a pain in your side!  We introduced “foistware” (also known as crapware).  The fact is many beginner users find themselves experiencing these fraudulent little annoyances all too easily.  In our first article we looked at what you can expect to see including changes to your PC such as a hijacked browser home page, extra browser toolbars, flashing ads, and more.  The result is a slower PC; slower performance and a system that has been customized to use a homepage and search engine that you do not want to use.  Often this points you to sites with advertisements and warnings that your PC has errors or you need to backup your PC. Read the full article…

Remove Foistware and restore your PC
With our previous article we looked at identifying the intruder and pointing out detection and some hints for prevention.  This article follows up on removal and restoration.  Getting your PC back to how it was before the foistware invasion occurred is fundamental to a decent solution.  After all, your PC was hijacked and you want it to be returned in good working order. Read the full article…

The post Looking back and moving forward appeared first on CompuClever.

What to Backup:

When thinking about backing up your PC we suggest you visualize types of computer files in three categories: system files, application files, and other files (including your personal data).  System files are those items that are critical to your PC for it to run and operate as you expect it to.  These files are part of the operating system and they are typically hidden and are not meant to be modified, moved, deleted, or tampered with.

System File Backup:  For all versions of Windows you can make use of the Backup & Restore tool available with PC Tuneup Maestro.  This is a way to backup system files quickly and easily and by doing so you can restore your system to a previous date when it was working before a change was made.

Keep in mind this is not a method of backing up your personal files – it restores your PC based on an earlier configuration of your system files.  Here’s how you can do it:

Application files include all the programs that you have installed on your computer.  Most often, with a healthy computer you do not have to re-install programs.  In the rare event that something happens to your computer you can re-install from your original CD discs or you can go online to the software manufacture and download and install the program again.  Having your license code previously written down may save you some time but in most cases you can contact the manufacturer and they can pass the license to you.

Personal files most often make up the bulk of your PC files in terms of space required, items you interact with directly, and data that changes on a frequent basis (new files added, files deleted, renamed items, items modified, etc.).  These are the files that we are going to focus on here more specifically.  This is where a good program like SyncToy will save you a lot of time and give you the sense of security that comes from knowing you are not going to lose recent data.

When, Why and Where to Backup:

Let’s look at some of the basics to good backup management.

When:  With creating a System Restore point you want to have a Restore point created before making significant changes to your PC.  With PC TuneUp Maestro, there is an automatic restore point creation built-in when you apply certain functions.  You can see it happen during the process.  This includes registry cleanup and defragmentation of the registry or the hard drive.  It is these types of system changes that warrant having a Restore point created.

With personal data files you need to do regular backups even if this is on a monthly basis.  Think of it as building up a wealth of some sort (in this case, new and modified documents and media files all represent time and effort and in some cases cannot be replicated easily or at all).  Once you build up wealth to a certain point you want to bank it so it is safe.

Why:  As just stated backing up your files provides a sense of keeping your digital “wealth” safe.  There is also the added benefit of being able to better organize hard drive space.  If you take advantage of virtual storage (like Dropbox for instance), as well as storing on an external hard drive, you can free up space on your computer.  The added benefit to this is that your PC has a greater chance of operating at optimum speed rather than having to wade through fragmented data files.  In some cases you need to create enough free space in order to defragment your PC.  Finally, duplication and backup is good practice in the case of hard drive failure as well as destruction or theft of your PC or laptop.

Where:  We recommend using an external hard drive for personal files.  With files that require duplication, as they are of considerable value when you consider having to replace them, we recommend having two copies: a combination of your PC and either external hard drive or cloud storage (we have given the thumbs up for Dropbox).  As stated above, if you are struggling for disk space on your computer, you may want to consider removing personal data files from your PC and storing them on two external hard drives (one to backup the other).  Or, you can use a combination of cloud storage and an external hard drive.  The downside is that you may not have much free space for cloud storage and it fills up fast.  If you have a lot of files (like most of us do), we recommend taking on the additional cost of a second external hard drive and keeping two copies of your personal data files.  The good news is that external hard drives have really come down in cost and they have very large capacity of storage.

How To Use SyncToy

If you decide on cloud storage and external hard drive(s) or some combination of these, you can use SyncToy even if the files are not directly stored on your PC.  For example, you can hook your USB key and your external hard drive and use SyncToy to backup and synchronize.  Once you have connected external storage devices you can create a folder pair to sync the original files to the backup location.

After creating a folder pair, it is only a matter of choosing the type of synchronization and then running a preview before proceeding with the backup.

Let’s take a look at the SyncToy user interface.  As can be seen here it is fairly straightforward.

Folder pairs are listed in the left pane.  You can select one and see the Left and Right folders that you created in this pairing along with the file path where the files reside (for example: “F:\Docs\From Laptop”).  Below this, the type of synchronization action that you originally selected is identified.  You have the ability to change the action using the link that is provided.  Next, there are options to choose from; the ones that you have selected (typically by default) are listed.  Finally there are three action buttons relating to folder pairs and two on the right to perform the backup.

Folder Pairs: To begin you will be starting with a blank window and you need to create folder pairs.  When you first start you can think of this as having a folder that contains all the files you want to backup on the left and the target folder (originally just an empty folder you have created) on the right.  Now do the following:

Sync Type: The next step of the folder creation is to choose the synchronization action type.  Here is what you see:

For the Synchronization action type… you would use this when you have two existing folders with, for example, music and you want to easily make both of these folders contain the same files.  The shortcoming of this is that you need both folders to be fairly similar – deletion occurs in both directions to achieve a mirror of the other.  It is better to do some manual organization first.

With Contribute, you would have a backup folder on the right constantly building up all the files you ever had on the left regardless of what items you have deleted in the left (source) folder.  This is a backup for people who do not want to permanently delete their files stored in the backup location.  As the description says… there are no deletions.  You could use this option but we recommend that you have a lot of storage space.

With all these actions you can use the “More information” link to get a more complete description in the available help file.

Preview and Run:

With a folder pair created you can now perform a backup.  Do the following:

The post SyncToy – A free tool for PC backup appeared first on CompuClever.

Making a Decision That Works for You:

Before you begin using a cloud storage provider, it is best to consider the determining factors.  Here are a few of the items to consider.

Cost:  Many storage providers will offer an entry level for free.  You can then upgrade to a larger storage package based on various levels of cost.  Some subscription levels will also get you very large amounts of storage or even unlimited storage and perhaps more functionality (as would be the case if you want an enterprise subscription).  For entry level users we suggest free.  When you compare you will want to pay close attention to whether it is a monthly or annual payment plan.

Storage Size:  If you are going to be using cloud storage for the purpose of sharing files and accessing files via mobile devices, you will not likely need a lot of space.  As most providers offer 2 to 5 GB of space for free this will likely work for you.  However, if you are considering backing up all your files or if you have a considerable amount of multi-media files to backup, you will need to take inventory of how much space you are currently using for these files.  If you have little experience about file size, we suggest you see the “Space It Out” section below to get an idea of file space needs.

Access:  Most providers will work if you are using a Windows operating system or Mac.  If you are using Linux then you will want to pay closer attention to what options are available.  This is also true if you want to access your files from a mobile device such as from Android, Blackberry, or iOS.  Dropbox for instance supports all of these platforms.

Sharing, Backup, or Both:  This factor relates to the prime reason for using online storage.  If you want to share files easily then the most basic levels of cloud storage will work for you (that is, something free with 2 to 5 GB of storage).  If you decide that this form of online storage meets your needs, then you would want more storage and begin looking for a payment plan that works for you.

Recommendations:

We do not have any affiliation to the companies we recommend nor do we benefit from our recommendations. We feel free to pass on our experiences when the use of a given solution is considerably beneficial.  Our recommendations with respect to cloud storage use:

The Solution:

Now that we have made some recommendations on cloud storage use, we can proceed in helping you get started by by answering some basic questions and coming up with a cloud storage provider that is safe and meets the requirements.

Free:  We like free.  However it is best to check out what exactly free is.  Some companies are able to provide free services through the use of advertisements.  Most frequently the provider will charge you once you have exceeded the storage capacity.  These companies also stand to profit by converting you to a paid level of subscription usually through a monthly fee.  As we have stated in our newsletter article, free is not always free.  We see constant prompts to purchase as incurring a cost.  This is called “nagware” and is very annoying to contend with.  We advise looking closely at the storage solution and examining what they consider to be free.  You can check customer reviews for an indication of nagware as you will not see it coming beforehand.  Free should also be without any time restrictions.

Space it Out:  For you to determine how much space you need you will have to assess what kinds of files you want to store in the cloud.  There are several types of file types with varying sizes.  So how many files can you store with 2 Giga Bytes (GB) of space?  The answer… it depends (of course).  Here is a way of thinking about it:

Multi-platform:  We prefer to have a system whereby it does not matter if you access files via your PC, a Mac, or a mobile device.  The other consideration is some providers (like Google Docs), have a web client interface where multiple users can edit a file.  However, once you attempt to use this file with your computer software you have formatting issues.  In effect it becomes only a working file.

The Choice – Dropbox:  Given that the other options are likely similar between these providers (web interfacing and integration with Windows Explorer), we recommend Dropbox.  It offers 2 GB of free space with no time restrictions or nags, you can get more storage for free (as we outline below),  it sets up very well with Windows Explorer, and it has very good cross platform support (for example, Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, and Android) so you can synchronize between computers and devices.

Get Started with DropBox:

We are going to outline how to get started, how to get more storage space while maintain the free entry level, how to interact with Windows Explorer, uploading and downloading via your web browser, and how you can recover files that you accidentally deleted.  To begin, you will need to first set up an account. Instruction 1 – Getting Started: Here are the steps to downloading and creating Dropbox:

When you are done, a Dropbox folder is created on your computer.

Instruction 2 – On Your Computer:
You now have Dropbox on your computer and you will be able to interact with the files there like any other folder with files.  Any time you want to interact with your Dropbox folder we suggest the following:

Right-click the Dropbox icon (the blue box shown below) located in the lower right of your system tray (bottom right area of your taskbar), and select Dropbox Folder.  Or, you can simply double-click the icon.

Your Dropbox folder opens up and you can interact with all the files there as you would if they were stored on your computer.  Simply drag and drop files to upload them.

Instruction 3 – Sharing: To share a file or folder you can simply locate it on your computer hard drive, right-click the item and select “Share Dropbox link”.  Dropbox provides you with two sub-folders to get you started: Public and Photos.  Let’s take a look at instructions on how to share photos as provided by Dropbox.   With the Dropbox photo galleries you can share photos with anyone including non-Dropbox users. These photos are available in a photo gallery that is viewable online.

You can easily share a folder by right-clicking and selecting “Share this folder”.  That’s it!  You can view this photo gallery online by going to: www.dropbox.com/photos.

Instruction 4 – Web Interfacing: You can go to someone else’s computer and access your files.  The way to do this is to open a web browser and go to Dropbox.com .  Log on using your account information.  You can now view your files, share them, or you can download or upload them.

Instruction 5 – Get Space: As mentioned, you begin with 2 GB of free space.  There is an incentive program available to increase your storage up to a maximum of 18 GB.  For example, if you refer a friend to Dropbox you earn 500 MB of space.  Taking a tour is a good idea.  You can learn about Dropbox and earn 250 MB of space.  For more information on this see: Dropbox.com/getspace.

Instruction 6 – Recover a file: Dropbox uses a feature called “Packrat”.  Every change made in your Dropbox folder over a 30 day period is preserved.  If you accidentally delete, lose, or erase a file you can recover it using the Packrat feature.  Here’s how:

For more information on how to use Dropbox, go to: Dropbox.com/help.

The post Choosing an Online Storage Solution appeared first on CompuClever.

Data Loss:

As the creation of data on PC’s increases so too does the need for storage and for the chance of loss of data.  In a recent article we introduced basic information about your PC Hard Drive.  Having your PC turn off or crash can result in data loss.  This usually results in data loss from the time you last saved a document or an email that was open – not a great loss overall.  However, the most common cause of data loss is hardware failure.  According to one study [1] 40% of data loss incidents occur from hardware failure including power surges and hard drive failure. Human error accounts for 30% of data loss (accidental deletion of data and accidental hardware damage). Software corruption accounts for 13% of data loss incidents and computer viruses account for 6% of data loss occurrences.  Then there is theft of hardware which is especially prevalent with laptops accounting for 9% of data loss and hardware destruction (damage caused by floods, lightning and fire) account for 3% of all data loss.

One thing is for certain – all hard drives will eventually fail.  Data loss from hard drive failure is more common than expected.  Here are some related statistics:

Reasons for PC hard drive failure are varied.  Not only can it occur from manufacturer defects but the cause of failure can be exasperated as a result of how you operate your PC.  Examples include exposure to detrimental environmental conditions such as adverse temperature and humidity as well as workloads and powered-on patterns.  There are technologies available to keep your data safe.

The Technology:

Cloud storage is also known as “file hosting”, “online file storage”, and “cyberlocker”.  These terms refer to an Internet hosting service designed to host your data files.  The service includes enabling users to upload files to “the cloud” that can then be accessed over the internet from a different computer, tablet, smart phone or other networked device.  This data can be accessed by the same user or by other users once the required password or authentication is provided.  The reasons for using this kind of service are primarily for backup purposes, to share files with others, or to access the files from a range of devices.  An example would be to have online storage that you can view and interact with multimedia files without having to store the data on a device that has limited storage.

Cost:

As can be seen from a Wikipedia[5] description, there are a variety of storage charge options with cloud service providers.  Including the following:

See the section on “Free” below for what we consider “free” and what service offers you need to beware of.  Taking into consideration the value gained from using cloud storage with respect to the cost of the service is a crucial factor in making the decision to use cloud storage and to choose a provider that is right for you.

Security and Reliability:

Another equally critical factor in determining if the service provider is right for you is whether the data you are storing is safe.  You need to determine if the data is secure and if the provider is reliable.

Security:  This deals with the aspects of being able to access your data on a continual basis while only allowing others with the proper credentials to access the data.  Being certain that your provider uses some form of encryption is vital to the decision of cloud storage.  This means that your data encoded in some manner and digital signatures are required so that hackers cannot access the data.

Reliability:  You need to rely on having someone store your data and make it available for you.  Continual access of your data will depend on several factors including how good the storage providers physical systems are (they also use hard disk drives), as well as the stability of your provider as a company (a financially stable company that will continue operations).  In this way you need to feel assured that the organization you are choosing will stay around and not go “belly-up” any time soon.

The Downside:

There are some disadvantages to using cloud storage which need to be identified.  This includes the following:

1. You do not have direct control of your data.  While a cloud storage provider may even be more reliable and secure than your home PC system, you still have to rely on a third party to interact with your data.
2. You are at the mercy of the Internet and have to deal with connectivity, bandwidth, and potential outages.  This can have an impact on performance.
3. When you save your files online you transfer them to the storage service.  This involves uploading data and it is slower than downloading files.  Large files and numerous files can result in slowing down your computer.

However, despite these disadvantages, if you are interested in the benefits of cloud storage including sharing your files with others, accessing your files from many different devices, and benefiting from having your files stored on a system that is less vulnerable than what your home PC system in terms of theft, damage, or loss… then you will want to know the top contenders.

The Contenders:

There are numerous storage providers available and making an informed choice is not easy.  In this article we examine four “top contenders” – the providers what we deem reputable and provide a good service.  We will examine: Box, Google Drive, Microsoft SkyDrive,  and Dropbox.  Each of these has web browser interfacing.

Box:

While Box looks similar to other services (such as Dropbox), and while it has some of the same basic features it lacks a desktop client in the free version.   The mobile client displays a list of files and folders and a history of changes.  After uploading multimedia from your cell phone you can send them to box.com and share to email or Skype.

Google Drive:

Google Drive is offered by Google.  Google has multiple redundant storage facilities to ensure reliability.  There are applications that are native to Google – such as Google Docs – for Windows and Mac but there is no Linux native client but this is expected to be supported.  It does have Insync and native clients for Apple iOS, Android, and a web based interface for universal access.  There are those that consider the Google online suite to be advantageous as you can view a Google doc in the browser and share and collaborate on it with a group of people.  It also has some good revision features and editing functionality including the ability to instant message others working on the file.  However, there are disadvantages.  The downside to using an online application in this manner is that formatting differences exist.  For example, you can create and share a Google document and then attempt to put the file into a Word doc.  The formatting will not line up and you are left doing a lot of work formatting.

Microsoft SkyDrive:

With respect to access, SkyDrive includes Windows, Mac, web, and remote access.  Mobile options include iPhone, iPad, Windows Phone, Android, and Mobile web.  You can collaborate with others on files as it includes online editing and version tracking.  There are also a variety of image showcase options such as online slide shows, posting to Facebook and Twitter, captions, and geotags.

Dropbox:

Drop Box supports web interfacing as well as having generic clients for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems and includes native client support for Android, Blackberry, and iOS.  This integration across platforms has given Dropbox a considerable competitive advantage over other providers.  The dropbox.com mobile app is fun to use as it has a modern look and fancy graphics.  Dropbox also has a very good recovery feature in case you need to recover accidentally deleted files. In terms of security, Dropbox uses modern encryption methods for transfer and storage of data – Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and AES-256 bit encryption.  They also use a two-step verification process at login.

In Common:  All four provides examined here have web interface functionality meaning you can upload and download files through your web browser.  To the best of our knowledge, all four also provide a client side application that integrates with the operating system.  For example, you can access the file using Windows Explorer as if they were local to your computer or device.

Free:

Free is free.  Free software is not “nagware” – nag the user with popup messages until their will is broken and they reluctantly buy the product.  Let’s look at the levels of free software as we experience them:

Our recommendation:

To begin, we feel that as a user first entering into the cloud storage world, baby steps are in order. Trying one or more of these services for free is a good way to start.  We also recommend that you do not rely solely on cloud storage as a means of backing up your data.  We would suggest instead that you use a combination of your PC, external hard drive, and online storage.  While it is true that all hard drives will eventually fail, it is a safe bet to have data on more than one device as simultaneous failure is very unlikely.  This way you will have the best of all worlds… being able to back up your important files, share any files via the cloud to others, access file on your own mobile devices, and feel secure in the knowledge that your data is safe from the most common forms of loss.

We do not recommend that all your data be backed up online until you feel more assured that this is the solution for you.  In which case, you will need to look at a whole new set of features such as how well the service interacts with Internet Explorer and how well it synchronizes your files.

For a free online cloud storage that offers good storage, has multi-platform support, offers a variety of access to devices, and is easy to use… we give Dropbox the nod.  The reasons include:

• It offers 2 GB of free space with no time restrictions or nags and you can get more storage using their incentive promotions.  This leaves the choice up to you as to whether you want to get more space if you feel you need it.
• It sets up very well with Windows Explorer in that you get the sense that the files are local to your computer and you can easily upload and download them.
• It has very good cross platform support so you can synchronize between computers and devices.
• It is easy to use, secure, reliable, and one of the least intrusive programs of its kind.

One More Recommendation:

Don’t just take our word for it – do some due diligence.  You need to feel that the service and the company you are dealing with can be trusted.  We suggest examining their website and finding out where they are located, what contact information they have, what support they offer.  These factors indicate stability and actual proof of existence.  We are of the opinion that it is still possible to have a relationship to vendors even if they are part of our digital world.  While there are many scam artists out there, we feel that the best way to profit in any industry is through long term established and trusting relations.

We hope this information has been helpful to you, our readers.  In our blog article we will provide some instruction on how begin using an online cloud storage such as Dropbox.  We have no affiliation with the vendors we recommend and do not profit in any way through our recommendation.  Our views here are based primarily on our experiences and we hope to pass these views forward.

Reference

The post Cloud Storage appeared first on CompuClever.