Dropbox login. Dropbox - how to use cloud data storage, as well as working with the Dropbox program on a computer and mobile

Hello, dear readers of the blog site. Not long ago I published an article, which now acts as a kind of add-on l (the “Files” tab in the web interface).

The thing is convenient and I actively use it. But it would probably be wrong to ignore the service that was first implemented cloud storage idea and which, at the moment, has one of the largest user audiences, which already numbers tens of millions. I'm talking, of course, about Dropbox.

The problem of sharing files between computers, tablets and phones is solved by creating a folder on a cloud server on the Internet that will contain all the data that you upload to the Dropbox folder on your computer. This folder can be accessed either through the web interface or using a program installed on your other computers, tablets and phones.

Which is better - Yandex disk or Dropbox (there are also other storage facilities, for example, or)? Let’s answer this question yourself by trying both cloud data storage services and evaluating their functionality and convenience. Dropbox can be supported by the fact that many programs can use it to synchronize their data, or the fact that the bourgeois service maintains and stores a history of changes to all files (up to one month on a free account) and you can always roll back (this is convenient, especially when editing documents together).

Creating an account in cloud storage

In order to try Dropbox in action, you first have to fill out a simple registration form on this page (unfortunately, this bourgeois service has not yet acquired a Russian interface, which is probably due to the small number of paid accounts registered by RuNet users).

P.S. It is noteworthy that a week after the publication of this article, the Dropbox web interface and the program that you install on your computer became fully support Russian language. Either they heard my groans, or it was a coincidence. Although, my megalomania votes, of course, for the first option.

If in some incomprehensible way Russian was not selected as the default language, then this misunderstanding can be easily corrected by clicking on the language selection button in the lower right corner of the Dropbox website window:

Well, actually, the registration form (already in Russian):

You can enter your data in Cyrillic, and then you can use Russian characters in the names of files and folders that will be synchronized and stored in Dropbox. In the future, your login will be the email you specified during registration.

After clicking on the create an account button, you will be redirected to a page where, without any preamble, your browser will display a program download dialog to install it on your computer. Indeed, someone may not notice the button to download the program, but that’s for sure. However, for your other computers you you can download Dropbox from this page:

At the first step, the installation wizard will ask whether you already have a Dropbox account (second checkbox) or whether you still need to create one (check the first line):

We have already created an account, so mark the second option and click on Next. Next, you will be asked to provide your account information and, if desired, change the name of the computer to which this version of the program will be linked:

After clicking Next, the program will connect to the service, checking the account data you entered, after which you will be given a choice - not to pay anything and have only pitiful 2 GB of disk space in cloud storage, or pay ten or twenty dollars a month for a hundred or even two hundred gigabytes on a paid account:

What Russian doesn't like freebies? This is probably why the owners of Dropbox were in no hurry to translate it into Russian. Of course, 2 GB will not be enough, but it is possible to expand this space by performing a few simple passes, or by attracting new users to this cloud storage (on refs you can dial up to 16 gigs, which is much better than two).

I have to use Google Chrome integrated into the browser, because I am extremely weak and helpless in English. By the way, he translates better and better every year.

Moreover, the referral program is very cunning. For each new recruit you will be given an additional half a gig of disk space in the cloud storage. However, the same half a gig will also be received by those who registered using your referral link. For example, I went to the Dropbox website using a referral link and after a while I received a letter explaining that I now have as much as 2.5 gigabytes in cloud storage and suggested where I could get your referral link:

Here's my reference. In general, they have everything thought out. Dropbox, by the way, is a very profitable company, whose income is measured in hundreds of millions of dollars a year, and all thanks to a huge audience of users, a simple and understandable interface, as well as high reliability and availability. Well, the referral program helps increase these same incomes, which is probably not so easy to do lately, because several dozen analogues have appeared that are not inferior to Dropbox in functionality, and sometimes even superior to it.

Installing and configuring the Dropbox program on your computer

Okay, let's get back to our sheep. At the final step of the program installation wizard, you will be prompted change the location of the Dropbox folder on the computer (“Typical” by default, and “Advanced” - with the ability to independently select):

Personally, I try not to install anything unnecessary on the system drive so that the image created in Acronis is not too large, so in this case I select the “Advanced” option and specify a different path for the shared folder (not on the system drive):

Next, you will be asked which folders you want to synchronize with the cloud storage server and, accordingly, with all other Dropbox programs installed on your own computers. The checkbox in the first line will mean complete synchronization of all subfolders and files, and when you check the box in the second position, you will need to uncheck those folders that you do not want to synchronize for one reason or another.

That’s it, the steps of the installation wizard are completed, after which you will be offered to look at explanatory pictures on working with this cloud storage service and its desktop part. By the way, it turned out quite clearly; the large green arrow that appeared, swaying and pointing to the Dropbox program icon blinking in the tray, looked especially cool; double clicking on it will open a window to the cloud data storage:

If you right-click on the program icon in the tray and select the settings item from the context menu of the gear icon (you could bury it even further):

A window will appear where you can tweak some things and see the percentage of your limit in the cloud storage. At the time of synchronization, the percentage of completion and data transfer speed will be displayed. Well, a list of recently added files to your cloud will also be displayed. We are still interested settings, so we select the item "Options".

On the first “General” tab, you can disable the appearance of notifications about various events that occurred in the cloud storage (adding a file, changing a document you are working on with someone, etc.), and you can also disable autoloading of the program Dropbox with Windows and disable fast data synchronization with computers on your local network.

Let me explain the last point. If Dropbox is installed, for example, on the computers of you and your significant other, who is on the same local home network, and you are logged in under the same account, then the files placed in the shared folder first copied over local network to a second computer, and only then will they be uploaded to cloud storage via the Internet. This will greatly speed up the exchange of heavy files within the local network, thus eliminating double downloading of files via the Internet.

The next tab in the Dropbox settings window is called "Account" and allows you to perform only one action - disconnect the program on this computer from your account in the cloud data storage. On the tab "Traffic" You can, if desired, limit the speed of downloading and uploading files from the cloud and to the cloud during synchronization. It probably makes sense to do this on a common Internet channel for many users, for example, on a home or work network.

You can also set the proxy server settings if for some reason you use it to access the Internet. On the tab "Advanced" you will see all the same settings as when installing this program on your computer - the ability to change the location of the Dropbox folder and disable synchronization for individual folders in your cloud storage. It would be possible, of course, to choose a language, because recently there has been full support for the great and powerful Russian language.

How to use Dropbox?

After installing the program, you will see the contents of your Dropbox folder, where, in fact, there will be nothing except the “Photos” folder and a short manual. In the “Photos” folder you will find a folder with a demo album. Photo albums in Dropbox are formed based on folders created inside "Photos":

After creating a folder for a new album and dragging new photos into it, a blue tab will appear to the left of its icon, which will change to green after synchronization is complete (uploading new files from your computer folder to cloud storage).

To give the opportunity to view photos from your photo album to your friends or anyone else, you can right-click on the folder with the album and select “Dropbox” from the context menu of this folder - “Share a link” (share a folder or file):

After this, you will be transferred to the browser, which is the default in the system, and you will see a window asking you to send a link to view this photo album by mail (it can be seen in the background of this window) or copy the public link to it to the clipboard by clicking on the button "Get the link":

Any person who has received this link from you or copied this link on the site will be able to view the list of photos in the album, download them all in the form of one archive, or simply view them in full screen mode by left-clicking on the screen to load the next photo:

You can share more than just folders in Dropbox, but also individual files. For example, I applied everything described just above to the Getting Started.pdf file, which was present in the cloud folder by default. Now this file is available to everyone via the shared link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pfmmievx9tshh05/Getting%20Started.pdf

Depending on the default settings of your browser, it will either be opened for viewing in the browser, or a dialog for downloading it to your computer will be activated.

Just above, we made it possible for all Internet users, without exception, to view the contents of a folder by following the appropriate link. But often there is a need to have shared folder to collaborate with files located there, and access to it should be limited.

To do this, you will need to select “Dropbox” - “Access to folder” from the context menu of this folder:

A window will open in the browser where you will need to specify the Email address of the person with whom you want to collaborate with the files in this folder, and click on the “Grant access” button:

As a result, a letter from Dropbox of the following type will be sent to the specified mailbox:

Now the two of you can edit the files there, add and delete them if necessary. Thanks to Dropbox's ability to rollback any changes and maintaining a detailed history of edits, you can be calm about uncoordinated actions. We'll fix everything. You can, if desired, similarly add the required number of users who will be able to work with files in this folder.

View the previous version of a file in DropBox and restore it

How does rolling back file changes work? stored in Dropbox cloud storage? Surprisingly simple. For example, I placed the “Draft” file in the “Shared” folder and edited it in both accounts for which this folder was shared. Now right-click on this file and select “View previous versions”:

As a result, a browser window will open with the web interface of this cloud storage, where for this particular file all changes made to it will be listed minutely, indicating the name of the person who did it. In addition, you can check the box next to the desired backup copy of the document and click on the “Restore” button to roll back unsuccessful or accidentally saved changes:

This is exactly why I love Dropbox. Now I have all the files to which I periodically make changes stored in my local Dropbox folder, so that I can be calm not only about their safety, but also that an erroneous saving will not kill all my years of work. True, in a free account The change history will be stored for only one month, and then it will be deleted.

If it is important for you to keep the history of changes longer, you will have to activate the Packrat service by first switching to one of the paid tariffs. By the way, about the birds.

Expanding cloud storage with bonuses

In addition to attracting referrals described just above (with this you can earn up to 16 gigs of additional space), there is a promotion Samsung + Dropbox, which in my case brought me immediately 48 GB of additional space in this cloud storage for a period of two years:

I simply installed Dropbox on my wife’s mobile phone (Gnusmas Galaxy S3), logged into my account and almost immediately received a letter of congratulations. If you also add all the other bonuses to the maximum, you will get somewhere around 64 Gigs, which is already comparable to the first paid tariff of 100 gigs, for which you would have to pay ten evergreens every month. Quite a nice freebie.

By the way, in addition to referrals, you can also fill out a checklist on the page " Where to begin", thereby adding a few more hard gigabytes to your cloud, especially since this will be the same “young fighter course”, after completing which you will become completely comfortable with Dropbox. In general, combine business with pleasure:

Let's now take a look at online version of the service, which will always be available to you without installing additional programs - through a regular or mobile browser. To access your cloud drive, you will have to enter the email you specified during registration and the password you created there.

Working with the Dropbox web interface

By default, the contents of the Dropbox folder open, where the entire folder and file structure you created on your computer will be repeated (due to synchronization). Actually, the web interface allows you to do everything the same as the desktop program, but at the same time you can work with cloud files from any computer - you just need to log in.

When you right-click on a file or folder, a context menu will open that allows you to perform a number of actions on this object shown in the screenshot (download for editing, delete, share, make the folder public, move, copy or rename).

Just above there are buttons for uploading an edited or new file, for creating a new folder, for sharing it (you will be offered to either create a new folder and make it shared, or select from existing ones), as well as for showing all those deleted by you or other users file account.

On the tab "General access" All shared folders in which you work with files together with other invited Dropbox users (well, or with those who invited you) will be listed. And on the tab "Links" you will find a list of all public links to folders and files in your account:

There you can copy the public link again, or eliminate the possibility of public viewing of these folders and files using the crosses located at the end of the lines. On the tab "News" you will find an event log (protocol) where you can track in time all the actions performed ever and by anyone in your account. We just talked about the purpose of the “Where to start” tab.

If you click on your name and surname, which are located in the upper right corner, then from the drop-down list you can select items to log out of your account (if you need to log in to another); to switch to another tariff plan (Expand capabilities); in order to download the latest version of Dropbox (Install), and finally, in order to get into settings of this wonderful cloud service(Settings):

On the first tab of Dropobox settings, called "Intelligence", you will be able to view the disk space you have in this cloud service and how much of it is still free.

On the tab "Account settings" you can change your first and last name, your associated email address, and also connect your Dropbox account with Twitter, Facebook, Gmail or Yahoo. Well, you can configure some other things there, up to and including completely deleting your account from this cloud (link at the bottom of the settings window).

Protecting DropBox from hacking

Bottom of the window "Protection" you will find a list of devices from which this account has ever been accessed so that you can track an unauthorized connection, and just below there will be a list of browsers in which you worked with Dropbox using your username and password.

At the top of this window, you will be able to change this very password, as well as uncheck the boxes for notifications to be sent to you by email when a new device connects to your cloud or any application accesses it.

Interestingly, it will be possible there activate two-step verification, which can seriously increase the security of working with your account in this cloud service (read about similar ones). What it is?

Everything is banally simple. In addition to entering your login and password, now, when connecting from a new device, you will be required to confirm using the mobile phone specified in the settings (either you will receive a code in an SMS message or a code from the mobile application). When logging in again from the same device (computer, mobile phone, tablet), a simple authorization will be sufficient. It’s very convenient, and most importantly, it greatly increases the security of working with your files in this cloud storage.

So feel free to click on the link "Change" and in the pop-up window, click on the “Getting Started” button. Since this is a very important matter, you will be asked to enter the password for your Dropbox account again. Next, you will be offered a choice of two options: either enter a code from incoming SMS messages, or install a special application on your mobile phone:

SMS messages are free, so without further ado I chose the first option, and in the next step I indicated the country and my mobile phone number, to which I immediately received an SMS with a code that I had to enter in the next window of the two-step verification connection wizard. Next, I was asked to indicate a backup cell phone number, which may be needed if the first one is unavailable or lost.

Well, at the very end they suggested remember (write down) the security code, which will help you disable two-step verification if you cannot access your Dropbox account using it:

Now, if anyone even finds out your username and password for your Dropbox account, then when you try to log in, he will be very puzzled by the request to enter a security code, which will be sent to your mobile phone:

How to use mobile versions of Dropbox

Let's now talk a little about the mobile versions of the Dropbox program, which will allow us to view documents and files from this cloud folder on a tablet or smartphone, as well as edit them or add our own. The principle of operation of mobile versions of programs is somewhat different from how the desktop version works.

The fact is that the desktop version of the program, by default, tries to completely synchronize files from the cloud storage folder with files from the local Dropbox folder. This is quite logical and convenient, because the vast majority of users of this program have unlimited Internet, and the gigabytes of hard disks are such that the size of files downloaded from the cloud is unlikely to be too noticeable. However, you are always free to exclude unnecessary folders from the synchronization process in the settings of the desktop version of the program (see above).

Another thing is mobile phones or tablets, where the size of the data storage space may be significantly smaller than the size of your folder in the cloud storage. How can we be here? The developers did it quite simply - by default, the files in the cloud are completely are not copied or stored on mobile devices. When a user opens one of the folders and wants to view a picture, an office document or something similar, this file is downloaded to his mobile phone upon request.

If you need to have copies of files from cloud storage on your smartphone or tablet that would be available offline, then you will only need add such files to favorites. It’s very convenient, for example, by connecting to Wi-Fi at home, you can add to your favorites all the documents or media files that you will need on the way to work, and you won’t have to go broke on expensive mobile traffic, which is not always the case in the same metro .

Well, if you have a Gnusmas smartphone (Samsung) based on Android, then by finding the Dropbox program on Google Play, installing it and logging into your account, you will quite possibly receive a bonus in the form of additional gigabytes to your cloud storage. Personally, I got about 50 gigs of freebies.

But this does not mean at all that for owners of iPhones and iPads there is no point in going to the App Store and installing a similar program - even without additional goodies, Dropbox will give you a lot of convenience and pleasant sensations.

Automatically save photos from the gadget to Dropbox

When you first launch the program, you will be prompted save automatically everything you did on your mobile phone or tablet Photo and video to a separate folder in the Dropbox cloud. At the same time, by default they offer to automatically download footage only when connected via Wifi to the Internet, so as not to waste mobile traffic, but you are free to choose the second, more wasteful option:

This was a screenshot from an iPad, but in an Android smartphone the picture will be similar:

Here you will actually be asked about the fate of the photos and videos you already have on your phone - if you check the box, they will all be merged into a cloud folder "Camera Uploads". What’s noteworthy is that you won’t create a separate folder for each of your mobile devices - everything will be merged into one “Camera Uploads”. But it's still very convenient.

Documents or files that you create in other programs on your mobile devices can be transferred to the Dropbox program, which will merge these files, in turn, into a cloud service so that you can continue working with this document on your computer at home. As an example, there are a lot of options for using Dropbox and not all of them are obvious. You need to install the program and try it to understand the beauty of the cloud.

Program window on iPad you can see in the screenshot just below:

At the bottom of the left column there are four tabs: Dropbox folder contents; storage of photos and videos of your iPad; selected files and program settings, which were opened in the above screenshot. There aren't many settings, but it's still something.

Any file from the Dropbox folder you can Add to favorites using an icon star-shaped, which is located in the upper right corner of the screen. All files added to favorites will be stored in the memory of your mobile device and can be accessed even while offline on the corresponding tab in the left column of the program window. When viewing files in the Dropbox folder, your favorites will be marked with stars:

Just above the second tab icon in the left column of the program (your iPad’s photo and video storage) the number of new files that have not yet been uploaded to the cloud service will be shown. In order to correct this annoying misunderstanding, just go to this tab and file synchronization will begin immediately (if you are connected via Wi-Fi). It’s quite convenient to transfer media files captured on a mobile device to your computer in this way.

Work is organized in approximately the same way in the program for smartphones. based on Android:

You can add individual files from the Dropbox folder to your favorites for storage in the device’s memory and upload all photos and videos captured by your mobile device to the cloud. Quite convenient and unobtrusive. For example, this is how I transfer books to the iPad that are installed there.

Some mobile applications can use this cloud service to synchronize your files with desktop applications. I once wrote about, which I now use to avoid theft of passwords from my computer by Trojans (after this). So, Kipas stores passwords in an encrypted database, which, however, no one bothers you to place in the Dropbox folder, for its greater safety and accessibility from other computers.

Then on your iPad you can install, for example, the KyPass application, which can use the Kypass database downloaded from Dropbox. And there are quite a lot of such programs. They can access your cloud storage and use it for their own purposes, some of which may be quite unexpected.

There are also desktop applications that can connect to your Dropbox account and use its folder to transfer files or data. For example, this way you can monitor another computer - the program takes screenshots of the desktop at specified intervals and sends them to the cloud. There is a program that simplifies synchronizing program settings on different computers by placing files with settings in a cloud folder, and leaving shortcuts in their place.

There are also programs that allow you to encrypt the contents of the Dropbox folder on the fly, and another program installed on another computer decrypts the whole thing on the fly. However, it seems to me more acceptable in this case to use a time-tested encryption program. For example, you can easily create it in a cloud directory, and put a portable version of the same program next to it so that this container can be decrypted on another computer.

There is even one called wp Time Machine, which can create and place it in the folder of this cloud service of your blog (wp-content directory and database dump). You will only need to specify the login and password for your Dropbox account in the plugin settings and name the folder where the backups will be stored.

In general, there are a lot of possibilities and I will be glad if you share your work on using Dropbox.

Good luck to you! See you soon on the pages of the blog site

Illustration by David McLeod

Photography by Davy Evans

Illustration by David McLeod

Photography by Davy Evans

Organize all your data without being distracted from your work process

With Dropbox, all your files are in one central place. They're easy to find and securely sync across all your devices, so you can access them anywhere, anytime. You no longer have to waste time searching for lost files.

Collaborate on presentations, layouts, and any other files.

Dropbox is designed for collaboration. Easily share large files created in PowerPoint, Photoshop, or Sketch with others. Everyone will have the correct version. And you will be on the same page. Finally!

Creativity without chaos in Dropbox Paper

Paper is a space where your team members can bring ideas to life. Discuss ideas, look for inspiration, share drafts. You can store everything from videos and images to audio and code in Paper.

DropBox is an online file storage program.

The advantage of storage is that if there is not enough space on the hard drive for new files, upload existing ones to the Internet and then delete the files from the computer.

Essentially, file storage stores user information so that he can later use it or so that he can transfer his files to other users of the World Wide Web.

At the same time, they supposedly expand the user’s hard drive, but this is not entirely true.

Moreover, in order to receive a file, you first need to download it from the Internet, and in order to have something to download, you need to upload the file to the Internet even earlier. But all this is the Internet - it wastes traffic...

Many companies provide their users with a completely free small “disk”. The DropBox site has 2 GB.

However, it can be expanded up to 1 TB by completing various site tasks and paying money to increase the space provided.

The history of Dropbox

The program was invented by DropBox back in 2007 and then began to develop. This program has come to many platforms such as Android, Windows, Linux, Windows Phone, iOS, Blackberry and Bada.

The idea for the project first came to Drew Houston while he was riding on a bus.

According to the Internet, one day he got on a bus, and it was a long way to go.

So that he would not be bored, he took his laptop with him, but forgot to take the Flash drive with him.

He considered that for all people it would be necessary to come up with a program that would not require additional storage media such as floppy disks and disks.

His choice fell on the Internet and he began writing the first version of the DropBox program on a laptop while sitting on the bus.

Subsequently, the program was approved and began to be praised. The DropBox company was created and a domain was assigned to it https://www.dropbox.com/.

It is also known in history that on June 19, 2011, any Internet user could see the files of other people’s users within 4 hours and easily download them to their computer.

Depending on the version of the program and operating system, the controls are different.

The article will discuss the application for Windows and Android.

Dropbox for Android

First of all, you need to open Google Play Store on your phone.

An Internet connection is required.

After the Play Market is selected (colored triangle, for some it may be a white briefcase), the Play Market window itself will open.

To do this you need to do the following in order: Login with Google.

Once login is allowed, a menu will appear.

What can be done with it is indicated in the figure.

To download new files, you need to close the menu by clicking on the gray area.

Then you need to click on the blue circle with the “+” sign.

Internet traffic is used to upload and download files.

The figure shows a gray gear - a button to go to the settings menu.

In “Account Photos” you can change your photo (avatar).

It will be visible to other users.

The Dropbox Basic plan is free but has the fewest features.

To view the available plans, click on “DropBox Basic”.

Connecting a computer is an offer to install the program not only on a smartphone, but also on a computer.

The logout button allows you to log out of your account.

If you log out, you will need to log in again to view the files.

For inviting friends, you can increase the size of your storage for free.

If you uncheck notifications, the user will not know about DropBox news, downloading and changing their files, etc.

By clicking on the access code setting, the user can increase the security of his data on his account by coming up with a personal code that only he will know.

In updates you can see how there are new versions of the program.

The cache clear button will free up some space on your smartphone, but next time you will have to log into your account again.

The “Application Version” shows the current version – 48.2.2. Versions are updated over time.

They can be viewed and downloaded by clicking on the “Latest Updates” button.

In the help center you can get answers to questions about the program, and in the “legal information” you can find the terms of use of the program.

Dropbox for desktop

First you need to go to the company’s website https://www.dropbox.com/.

Then you need to click on the “Download” button.

A download window will appear. At the bottom left it will tell you how soon it will load.

After downloading, you need to click on the downloaded file.

We must agree.

Windows may also display a User Account Control window.

There you also have to agree.

The installation window will open.

After initialization, the program will download the program from the Internet (from the official website).

The download speed depends on the telecom operator tariff chosen by the user.

You need to wait for the download to finish.

After installation in the menu "Start" the program will appear, and the program itself will display a login window.

To begin with, it will show you how to register.

To do this you need to press the button "Register".

After opening the appropriate window, you need to enter your data in the fields and register.

Only after registration you will be able to use the service.

If desired, the program can be removed by clicking "Start" - "Control Panel" - "Remove programs".

Therefore, a step-by-step guide to the program on Windows is not possible.

Instead, the site itself will certainly be used.

Using Dropbox online

To begin, you need to log into your account on the official website.

Then the page will open (if you log in for the first time).

After clicking on the “Show me how it works” button, the service will try to teach the user the basics of using the storage.

To complete the full training (it is absolutely free), you need to click the “Next” button.

You can skip the tutorial by clicking the button "End review".

The user can expand the functionality of his disk by clicking on the button "Improve your account".

After clicking, the user will be given a page where he can choose a tariff plan.

After selecting (the “Start” button), the browser will open another page.

Once selected, the user will be redirected to the purchase confirmation page.

You need to be very, very careful on it.

All instructions are written in red text on the image.

You also need to select a country and enter its index.

After pressing the button "Buy now" a purchase will be made.

The figure shows an example of payment through the PayPal electronic payment system.

When making a purchase, you usually receive an invoice notification on your mobile phone and a one-time password to complete the purchase.

But this is all just additional and not necessary.

Let's go back to explaining the interface.

There is a face on the page.

If you click on it, a window will open for you to upload your photo.

It can be changed at any time.

There is a blue button on the home page "Download files".

Clicking on it will open a file selection window.

In the desired folder, you need to select the desired file with the mouse and click “Open”.

After the file is uploaded to the server, the download status will be displayed at the bottom of the page.

After downloading the file, you will be asked which folder on the server to save the file to.

Initially, only one folder is provided, named "DropBox".

To save, you need to select the desired folder with the mouse and click on the “Download” button.

You can also find the downloaded file among others simply by entering its name in the search bar.

By clicking on a file, the service will automatically redirect the user to view the file.

In the “Files” menu, all downloaded files are not only displayed along with icons, but you can also see how long ago they were downloaded (the “Changed” column).

There is a submenu in "Files" "General access", where you can view and download other users' files, but you must first verify your email address.

You will receive an email from DropBox containing a confirmation link.

To confirm your email, just go to it by clicking on it.

The operation is performed once.

Just like any file storage, it is possible to delete your files.

On DropBox, deleted files can be recovered within a month without uploading them to the server.

If a month passes, in order to restore the file, you will have to upload it to the server again.

Dropbox is a cloud data storage service. This is a location on the server. Using dedicated storage, you can exchange data with other Internet users. This is convenient because you can send large amounts of information to users. In our article we will tell you how to create a data cloud and how to register for Dropbox.

With Dropbox, you can access your data from all your computers, phones, or tablets. All your information is protected and stored on the server. In order to log into the Dropbox system, follow the link to the official Dropbox website. Click the login button.
Enter the username and password specified when registering on Dropbox.

To register in the Dropbox system, click the register button. The system prompts you to fill out a registration form. Enter your first name, last name and email address. Click registration. Next, the system will ask you to select a tariff plan.
A basic Dropbox account is free. When you choose the basic plan, Dropbox gives you 2 GB of data server space for your needs.

After filling out the registration card and selecting a tariff plan, you will be redirected to the site where the Dropbox download will begin.
The application is being installed. If you do everything correctly, after installation is complete you will be redirected to the Dropbox login page.

Enter the email address specified during registration, password and click login. Click open Dropbox folder. A message appears in the tray indicating that you are connected to the Dropbox system. Click on the tab and select open folder. Once you've opened the folder, you'll find instructions and a guide on how to get started using Dropbox. Try dragging a few photos or documents into the Dropbox folder. Then open the Dropbox website at

Only recently I noticed that we still don’t have a review of the service on our website. Dropbox. And now I’ll catch up and try to tell you in as much detail as possible and introduce you to Dropbox.
Of course, there are a large number of other similar or similar services, such as: Live Mesh, Mozy, Syncplicity, SugarSync, SkyDrive, Ubuntu One, ZumoDrive, Box.net and others...
But today we will get acquainted with Dropbox because it is very easy to use and it has its advantages in relation to other similar services

Dropbox is designed to store files and synchronize information between Mac, PC and various mobile devices. This service has many advantages. It is extremely easy to use and requires virtually no training. Supports any file type. Allows you to work with a large number of files and folders at the same time. Cross-platform - can be installed on any OS. If, for example, you use Macintosh at home and Windows at work, then in any case there will be no problems with obtaining the necessary files. Supports publishing files on the Internet. Supports automatic updating of data to the Internet when updating on the local computer. Supports collaboration between multiple users. When files are changed by one user, these files for others are changed automatically, and an update message appears
Version control and the ability to revert to previous versions are supported.
Dropbox makes it easy to deliver email, contacts, and other information to multiple devices over a wireless network—for example, if you need to sync your iPhone, PC, and Mac without connecting to a computer.

2Gb of space is provided free of charge; in the future, the work area can be expanded for an additional fee.

The principle of working with Dropbox is quite simple even for inexperienced users. First, you need to register on the site and download the client, and when installing it, enter your registration data in the input fields. After this, a folder called “My Dropbox” should appear on your computer. From now on, all data placed in this folder can be synchronized between the Dropbox server and any computers.

Now I will show you in detail in pictures how simply and quickly the client can be installed on your computer. Once again I would like to note that there are versions for Windows, MacOS X, Linux and mobile devices.

Download the desktop client

And we begin the installation

During the client installation process, you will be asked whether you already have an account or not.

Now, as an example, I will create a new account. You should fill in your information in this window. Of course, you need to leave the correct work email as your account is linked to it.

After that, we choose what size box we want. In the example, I chose a free box of 2Gb size

When installing the client, you can either specify a folder that will be synchronized in the future, or leave everything as is, then the “My Documents\My Dropbox” folder will be synchronized (in Windows), and the folder will be highlighted with a service icon.

After this, a folder called “My Dropbox” should appear on your computer. From now on, all data placed in this folder can be synchronized between the Dropbox server and any computers.

If you need to get to your files from any other computer, then just go to the site. There you can view, download and upload new files in protected mode from any browser.

After installation, a blue box icon should appear in the tray. By clicking on this icon you can open your Dropbox folder, go to the Dropbox website or change your settings.

Set additional folder properties, if required. It is possible to share access with other users (on folders, not on individual files). The Dropbox item appears in the context menu of the file navigator, which includes a list of additional actions with folders and files
If necessary. We install Dropbox on another computer, specify an existing account and get an up-to-date copy of the workspace. Synchronization occurs automatically

From now on, all data placed in the Dropbox folder can be synchronized between the Dropbox server and any computers.
Information is transferred via a secure SSL connection and is encrypted using a special algorithm - AES-256. Thus, you get the most convenient, quick and secure access to the necessary information - both from your home and work computer, or from a mobile device, for example.

It’s very simple to write data to the storage you created: just drag the necessary files into “My Dropbox” and wait for them to download (the computer must be connected to the Internet at this moment).

In order to share your files with other users, there are 2 main ways:

Wait for the synchronization to complete, then right-click and select “Copy Public Link” from the “Dropbox” menu

2. You can also share files with other users using a shared folder. Perhaps you want to collaborate on files in a specific folder, then this method is for you.
Right-click on the folder and select “Share This Folder” from the “Dropbox” menu

Here you should enter the postal addresses (Email) of those users who will work together with you

Now, as soon as one of the participants in the shared folder changes its contents, the changes will be reflected in the other participants. In addition, you can flexibly manage users who have access to the shared folder, up to kicking (deleting) the user and deleting all files on his computer.
To organize the collective use of Dropbox, you need to send special invitations to your friends or colleagues by email (they must have the service installed). This can be done using the “Invite friends to Dropbox” block. By accepting the invitations, your friends will have access to the files and the ability to edit them. Moreover, all changes made will be visible not only to you, but also to other Dropbox users.

As you already understood, all your files from the My Dropbox folder are stored on the service’s disk space, which means that at any time you can re-download the files to your computer. Plus, you can restore previous versions of your files! Very convenient if you accidentally deleted or overwrote the desired file. Regular users can restore previous versions for the last 30 days, premium users - for any period of time.
There is also a permanent erase function (without the possibility of recovery), but it will not be available if, for example, you try to erase several files at the same time, or decide to delete a folder containing over a thousand files.

Access Dropbox from mobile devices

As I already mentioned, you can access your Dropbox account from mobile devices: iPhone, iPad, Balckberry and Android smartphones. So, what can you do from your phone:
View a list of files in your account
View some types of files inside the application (docx opened on my iPhone, well, txt, pdf, jpg of course)
Add videos and photos for synchronization
Create directories
Save files to third-party applications

Safety

Of course, many are concerned about the security and confidentiality of data. But there is no need to worry here either:

All data is transmitted via a secure SSL connection
The data is stored on the server encrypted (AES-256), Dropbox employees do not have access to your files
Only people invited to them have access to shared folders
Only those who have a link to a specific file have access to files in the Public folder; it is impossible to browse the directory or somehow find links to other files in it
Applications are maximally protected

Thus, you get the most convenient, quick and secure access to the necessary information - both from your home and work computer, or from a mobile device, for example.

It is worth noting that Dropbox is ideal for novice users, unlike many of its analogues, due to its “intuitiveness.” When using this service, you do not need to manually add synchronized files; you work with only one directory. Thus, you can avoid complex settings, which, for example, are characteristic of the Syncplicity service.

Just recently, another nice bonus became available to Dropbox users. Function " LAN Sync"in the new version of Dropbox 0.7.3, it became possible to synchronize files over corporate local networks (i.e., without using a Dropbox server over the Internet).

What does LAN Sync do?

LAN Sync- a long-promised innovation that significantly increases the synchronization speed within the local network. Previously, all changes were transmitted exclusively through Dropbox servers, which limited the synchronization speed by the width of the external channel. Now, Dropbox first checks to see if there is a modified file on your local network, and if there is one, downloads it from there. However, this function does not eliminate the need to initially upload a new/changed file to the Dropbox server.

DropboxPortable- By the way, maybe not everyone still knows about the existence of such a convenient add-on to Dropbox as DropboxPortable. It turns out that Dropbox can be not just a replacement for a flash drive, but also a complement to it. DropboxPortable works from a flash drive and without installation. Allows you to synchronize data to this flash drive. While the truth is not always stable, besides, the pgo version is only available for Windows.

If you have to constantly exchange files between different systems or, say, between a home computer and a work one, then this will be the ideal solution to this problem.

You can get an extra 250MB of storage space for your files by simply completing five or six of the steps on this beginner's list to become a Dropbox Guru

1. Take an orientation tour
2. Install Dropbox on your computer
3. Add files to your Dropbox folder
4. Install Dropbox on other computers you use
5. Create a shared folder for you and your friends/colleagues
6. Invite people to Dropbox

You can also slightly increase your disk space for free. For each attracted user you will be given an additional 250Mb of space. And so on up to 10Gb inclusive. Moreover, both you and the person who registered using your link will receive an additional 250Mb. You can find out your link by going to the website page:

Dropbox - Store, sync and share your files online.

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