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Need more room to store files, photos, and music? Storegate is an online hard drive that gives you protection from data loss should your computer crash or get stolen.

Overview

Storegate offers online data storage and backups, mobile phone backups, Web albums, file sharing, and remote and mobile access to your data.

Features

• Online Storage - Store your data online and protect it from destruction due to physical damage, theft, computer viruses, deletions, and computer crashes. Storegate’s free plan starts off with 2 GB of storage space with additional upgrades available.
• Remote Access - Access your online storage files from any Internet-connected computer
• Mobile Access - Access your online files from your Internet-capable mobile phone.
• Automatic Data Backups - Not only can you park your files on Storegate for online access, you can schedule automatic data backups so that your most important files are always backed up with the latest changes.
• File Sharing - Share large files, photos, and other documents with friends, family members, and co-workers without having to send bulky e-mail attachments.
• Web Drive - Install Web Drive and save files directly to a drive letter on your computer. These Web Drive files are backed up automatically to your Storegate account.
• Web Albums - Create and share photo albums 
• Phone Backups - Backup your cell phone data with Storegate
• Security - Storegate uses secure facilities to house their servers as well as SSL encryption to protect your data from theft during transmission and storage

Benefits

With a product such as Storegate, you have peace of mind knowing that your data files are safe from file corruption, viruses, theft, and destruction. Anytime/anywhere access to your data means that you can work with your files no matter what computer you are using.

How it works

Simply sign up for a free, personal, or business account and begin by uploading your data and scheduling automatic updates.

Recommendations

Storegate offers several plans and services with ala carte pricing making it a versatile online storage solution that fits your needs.

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Drag and drop your important files to one of the leading online storage depositories - Xdrive!

Overview

Xdrive is an online storage service and backup solution powered by AOL that makes protecting your data online as simple as using folders on your computer. With 5GB of free storage and optional plans for higher storage needs, this service is eye catching indeed. XDrive is easy to use with numerous features such as remote access, file storage, file sharing, and drag and drop functionality.

Features

Drag and Drop - With Xdrive’s Desktop Lite software (which uses Adobe Air technology), managing your files locally and online is a snap. Simply drag and drop.

5 GB of Online Storage Free - Xdrive offers 5 GB of online storage for free! Upload photos, music, data, and other important files for easy access from any Internet-connected computer.

Automatic Backup - Schedule regular, automatic backups to protect your most important files from destruction.

Share Files - Xdrive makes it easy to share files with others. Simply designate the folders that you want to share and invite others to access them. You can even fax documents from Xdrive to fax machines.

Benefits

Instead of investing in an external hard drive, upload your files to Xdrive. Once your files are uploaded and a backup schedule created, you can rest easy knowing that your data is accessible, secure, and protected from a disaster.

How it works

Simply sign up for a free 5 GB account with your e-mail address and a password. Registration is fast and easy with very few forms to fill out. Next, select the Xdrive interface that best meets your needs such as the classic Xdrive interface or the new Desktop Lite software. Upload files, schedule backups, and access your data as needed. If you ever outgrow the 5GB of free storage, upgrade plans are available.

Recommendations

Xdrive is a versatile online data protection solution that offers a full five gigabytes of free online storage with no strings attached. If you’ve been considering upgrading your hard drive, consider this terrific alternative.

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Your Important Files Anywhere. No Software to Download. Try Box.net for Free

Access, Backup, Share and Sync files across all your computers
Running low on disk space? Looking for an easy way to share files? Want an online storage solution? You can’t go wrong with Box.net!

Overview

Box.net is an online storage “box” where you can upload your files securely for remote retrieval later. Not only can you use Box.net as an online storage location for all of your important files, you can also set up file sharing so that you can securely share large files with friends, family members, and colleagues without having to use e-mail.

Features

• File Sharing and Collaboration - Share large files with collaborators and avoid the hassles of e-mail. Privacy protections are incorporated into file sharing so that only those with your express permission can access your files - and only the files that you want them to see.
• Data Protection - Box.net takes your privacy concerns seriously and uses 246-bit SSL security for encrypting your data. In addition, data spans across multiple firewall-protected servers scattered in facilities that are geographically separated from each other. Store irreplaceable files on Box.net and rest assured that your data is available to you (and only you) where ever you are, whenever you need it.
• Open Box Services - Box.net integrates with numerous popular Web applications such as Facebook, Blogger, Web Doc, and Zazzle. Simply upload your files once and easily link to them from within the Open Box related applications.
• Remote Access - Web based document storage allows you to access your data remotely, where ever you are and from whatever computer you happen to be using. You can even access files from your iPhone!

Benefits

While removable storage devices have become large enough to be practical, nothing quite compares with being able to access your important files remotely. Remote data storage ensures that if your computer and removable storage devices are physically destroyed or stolen, your data is still accessible.

Many professionals work on multiple computers day in, day out. This isn’t a problem for workers on a network with a network storage drive, but it is a problem for those who juggle data from various office branch locations, home computers, and laptops. Storing files on Box.net solves the problem. Now, you can easily find the file you need no matter which computer you are working on.

With Box.net, not only can you store your files in a central, Web-based location, you can also share them with selected individuals.

How it Works

Box.net is easy to use. Sign up for a Lite, Individual, Business, or Enterprise account and upload files up to the file limits of your account. From there, you can log in from any computer and manage your data.

Recommendations

If you’re looking for an inexpensive, secure, and easy-to-use online storage solution, Box.net is a top contender!

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If you’re a photo buff, you’ll flip for FlipDrive. This online storage and backup solution is terrific on its own. However, the fact that you can store and share your photos online for free adds icing to the cake!

Overview

Think of FlipDrive as a virtual hard drive located on the Internet. With the basic plan offering a full 20GB of storage space, the possibilities are endless. You can safely and securely store your data and access it from any Web browser - anytime, anywhere. In addition to storage and remote access, you can also choose to share select files with your friends, co-workers, and family members.

Features

• Online Storage - If you need massive storage, FlipDrive delivers with plans ranging from 20 to 100 gigabytes of storage space.
• Photo Albums - FlipDrive’s unlimited photo storage and album sharing gives you additional space over and beyond your plan’s limit. As long as you place your photos in the photo storage area, you can store as many photos as you want without worrying about running out of space. Create albums and share them online.
• Calendar - In addition to storing data and photos online, you can store all of your important appointments and tasks in the FlipDrive Calendar. Now, you can access your calendar from any Internet connected computer.
• Address Books - Keep your contact information readily available by using the FlipDrive’s address book. Create an address book and share your photos and documents with your contacts as needed.
• Favorite Sites - Ever have a computer crash and lose everything - even your Internet bookmarks? The Favorite Sites feature prevents this from happening again. Simply store your favorite sites in FlipDrive and access them from any computer.

Benefits

Using FlipDrive as an online storage and backup solution makes sense. Should disaster strike and render your computer unusable, you will still have access to your stored files. For example, storing photos online ensures that your precious memories are protected from disasters such as house fires, floods, and theft.

Not only is FlipDrive a smart way to protect your files, it’s also a smart way to access them, especially if you use multiple computers.

How it works

FlipDrive offers a free 30-day trial with regular plans starting at about five dollars per month for 20 GB of storage.

Recommendations

FlipDrive is an excellent, secure online storage repository on the Web with the added benefits of unlimited photo storage, online calendar, and favorite sites. At a whopping 20 GB for the basic account, you won’t outgrow FlipDrive anytime soon.

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Box.net is a cool Web site for storing documents and files and collaborating with other users. Several different account levels are available including a free account, individual user account, business account, and enterprise account. Obviously, each account type has different features and storage limits.

Mapsco USA offers dozens of different software products such as CD-ROMs containing detailed US maps. Depending on the software you have, you can customize and print maps. Certainly, you can upload files to Box.net provided that you have enough storage space and share those files with other users. However, if your intention is for each user to be able to access the Mapsco USA software and customize their own maps, that isn’t going to work. Box.net doesn’t host applications uploaded by users.

To upload individual files to Box.net, all you need to do is log in and click on My Files. From there, click the Upload button, designate a storage folder, and click Add Files. You can also drag and drop files into this space. Assuming you have an account with enough storage space, the files will upload. The free box.net account provides you with a full one gigabyte of storage. If you need more storage space to accommodate large files, then you’ll need to upgrade to the Business account which provides 10 gigabytes of box.net storage.

Once your Mapsco USA files, or any other file that you need to share, are uploaded, you’ll need to invite “collaborators.” Click on the Collaborators tab and then click the Add Collaborators link. Enter the e-mail addresses of each person that you want to share your files with. Designate the folder that they can access and then grant permissions such as whether or not the user can view files or edit them. Depending on how many users you have and how many separate collaboration folders you need, you may need to have a Business account rather than the free Box.net account.   

Box.net has a variety of additional services and features such as the ability to download files to your iPhone and edit documents online.

 The only thing that I find more frustrating than losing my data from my hard drive is to have a computer that won’t turn on. Fortunately for those of us who somehow seem to have the worst of luck when it comes to keeping our data right where we want it, the world of modern technology has created a few wonderful retrieval tools that simply ooze with their greatness.

I can only sing their praises from personal experience because I have also lost important files and images. In fact, my daughter’s engagement photos mysteriously disappeared from the digital camera only to be retrieved by a similar program to the one that I am going to mention to you.

The SimpleTech External hard drive can be thought of as a peripheral hardware device. Even so, missing data from it can easily be retrieved with a data recovery tool. ParetoLogic’s Data Recovery Pro offers a free scan that you can use to see if your files are recoverable. As long as you haven’t reformatted your SimpleTech External hard drive or overwritten every file, you should be able to recover all of it.

If the files are found, they are recoverable and you can purchase the full version of ParetoLogic Data Recovery Pro to retrieve them. I suggest that you try this out since it should do the trick. I love this product and so do my kids. Visit the website for ParetoLogic, select the category for products, and select ParetoLogic Data Recovery Pro.

Click on the link “How to Download.” This will take you to the directions to download your free scan of ParetoLogic Data Recovery Pro. Take note that different browsers require a different process, so make sure that you select the right one.

When using Firefox and Netscape browsers, click “save file” and save the application to your desktop. For Windows-based browsers, click “run.” Next, run the free scan for recoverable files. It doesn’t take more than a moment or two for Data Recovery Pro to come back with the results.

A list of files, documents, images, emails, and more appears, showing you everything that is recoverable. Click on the small plus sign in front of the category to see a fuller outline.

You will be able to see the entire list of the data that ParetoLogic Data Recovery Pro has discovered hidden within your computer system. Hover over an item for more information. If you see the data listed that you want to retrieve, I suggest you purchase this program and use it to get your data back. You can also look into the standard version, ParetoLogic Data Recovery, since it is also capable of recovering your missing data.