I'm thinking of using dropbox to enable me to use my laptop remotely. A bit dubious in that I'm not sure what to do. If I simply copy my latest back up from my standalone to dropbox and restore from there to my laptop FH, will it sync all files etc. What about other links (photos etc)? I guess they won't be available on my laptop but what happens when I restore the 'worked on file' on my laptop back to my standalone. Will those links be broken automatically and therefore need to be fixed all over again. Would it be useful and advisable to put all my FH data files and folders on Dropbox, thereby everything being synched automatically, or is that a bit risky? [confused]
ID:5053
* Dropbox
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tatewise
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Dropbox
The general strategy is to move the Family Historian Projects folder into Dropbox on both PC.
Then all project data, multimedia, the whole lot, are synchronised between the two PC.
See the Knowledge Base entry for full details at:
http://www.fhug.org.uk/wiki/doku.php?id ... ts:dropbox
Then all project data, multimedia, the whole lot, are synchronised between the two PC.
See the Knowledge Base entry for full details at:
http://www.fhug.org.uk/wiki/doku.php?id ... ts:dropbox
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tatewise
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Dropbox
If you are uncomfortable with moving the Family Historian Projects folder, and providing you run either Windows Vista or Windows 7 on both PC, there is an alternative.
Windows Live Mesh synchronises folders in situ between PC.
It is part of the Windows Live Essentials suite.
See the Knowledge Base entry for full details at:
http://www.fhug.org.uk/wiki/doku.php?id ... _live_mesh
Note that Dropbox offers 2-GB for free and Windows Live Mesh supports 5-GB for free.
Whichever you use, be prepared for a delay in getting synchronised.
It will take about 30 seconds per 1-MB to get synchronised initially, but is quite quick thereafter.
This is because, even on a good broadband connection, the upload rate is only several hundred Kilobits per second.
Windows Live Mesh synchronises folders in situ between PC.
It is part of the Windows Live Essentials suite.
See the Knowledge Base entry for full details at:
http://www.fhug.org.uk/wiki/doku.php?id ... _live_mesh
Note that Dropbox offers 2-GB for free and Windows Live Mesh supports 5-GB for free.
Whichever you use, be prepared for a delay in getting synchronised.
It will take about 30 seconds per 1-MB to get synchronised initially, but is quite quick thereafter.
This is because, even on a good broadband connection, the upload rate is only several hundred Kilobits per second.
Dropbox
I didn't know about Windows Live Mesh so cannot comment on that ,also I have Windows 7 on my PC and XP on my netbook so would not be able to use it if it requires Vista and/or 7 on both machines. Following advice on this site re DropBox I have been using it for some months without any problems. Wherever I am I can access my up-to-date files on my netbook and know that anything I do will be synchronised on my PC when I return home.
As a precaution I did have a back-up folder on another disc drive but found that more trouble than it was worth. Remember your files are backed up on DropBox and on your second m/c so do you really want another location to worry about?
Apart from the synchronisation I find one of the greatest advantages to using DropBox is the ability to send an invitation to anyone who is interested in their part of the tree or certificates etc and they can access it without any difficulty.
If you have any worries at all I would suggest giving it a trial run with a dummy file and play with it until your confidence builds up. I guarantee you will be delighted with it.
Dagwood
[smile]
As a precaution I did have a back-up folder on another disc drive but found that more trouble than it was worth. Remember your files are backed up on DropBox and on your second m/c so do you really want another location to worry about?
Apart from the synchronisation I find one of the greatest advantages to using DropBox is the ability to send an invitation to anyone who is interested in their part of the tree or certificates etc and they can access it without any difficulty.
If you have any worries at all I would suggest giving it a trial run with a dummy file and play with it until your confidence builds up. I guarantee you will be delighted with it.
Dagwood
[smile]
Dropbox
Have you considered SugarSync? It's the same concept as Dropbox but you can sync as many differenct folders to as many dfferent PCs as you like. The free version gives you 5gb of storage.
https://www.sugarsync.com/
I've been using the 30gb option at $5 per month for the past 6 months or so on two PCs (Windows XP) and one Laptop (Windows 7) and it's worked perfectly for me. I couldn't be happier as I was tortured maintaining backups and keeping all three machines up to date. I still occasionaly copy my working folders to external USB for peace of mind but it's not really necessary. As with all uploads it can take a while but it's been worth it (I have 12gb backed up). I recommend getting everything uploaded from 1 PC first and then let SugarSync download your files onto any other PCs you're using. Don't try to shortcut by copying files manually between PCs - I tried this to save time on some big files I have but it wasn't very successful. Just let SS do it's magic.
Kieran
https://www.sugarsync.com/
I've been using the 30gb option at $5 per month for the past 6 months or so on two PCs (Windows XP) and one Laptop (Windows 7) and it's worked perfectly for me. I couldn't be happier as I was tortured maintaining backups and keeping all three machines up to date. I still occasionaly copy my working folders to external USB for peace of mind but it's not really necessary. As with all uploads it can take a while but it's been worth it (I have 12gb backed up). I recommend getting everything uploaded from 1 PC first and then let SugarSync download your files onto any other PCs you're using. Don't try to shortcut by copying files manually between PCs - I tried this to save time on some big files I have but it wasn't very successful. Just let SS do it's magic.
Kieran
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davidm_uk
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- Family Historian: V7
- Location: St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK
Dropbox
I'm always a little wary of using these synchronisation things (be it a program just running on PCs on a local network or an internet based service) as a substitute for proper backups.
If a file on one PC is erroneously deleted (or corrupted in some way) the synchronisation can result in this error getting propagated to all your other computers, so you lose all of your good copies of the file, and it might be a long time before you realise that it's happened.
With large external hard disk drives being relatively cheap now, and inexpensive but sophisticated backup programs around that can automate even minute by minute incremental backups there really is no substitute for a well planned backup and archiving strategy when you have important (and probably irreplaceable) data on your PC.
If a file on one PC is erroneously deleted (or corrupted in some way) the synchronisation can result in this error getting propagated to all your other computers, so you lose all of your good copies of the file, and it might be a long time before you realise that it's happened.
With large external hard disk drives being relatively cheap now, and inexpensive but sophisticated backup programs around that can automate even minute by minute incremental backups there really is no substitute for a well planned backup and archiving strategy when you have important (and probably irreplaceable) data on your PC.