Afternoon all, After a long but worthwhile trawl came across a tutorial from Paul (the Mod) posted on third August 2010 about Dropbox so thought that I'd share it with those of you who may not have seen it. It is good and quite comprehensive; just what I wanted thanks Paul for compiling and posting! Happy uploadind/downloading! ----- Original Message ----- From: Paul Traynor (NCBI) To: vip_students@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2010 9:46 AM Subject: [vip_students] Working with dropbox! There is a new and very handy utility out there now that we can all use called dropbox. Here is a short overview of the software and what it does. After that I give some instructions on how to use it. a service called Dropbox, which is for online back-up, synchronization, and file sharing. They give you a small application that you install, and 2 gigs of disk space on their servers. This can be increased all the way up to 100GB if you pay a monthly or yearly free, but the 2GB is totally free. You copy files into a Dropbox folder which is created on any PC on which you install the application. Once a file is copied there, it automatically gets uploaded to the Dropbox server. So it's a bit like having your own virtual thumb drive anywhere you go. If you have documents in there that you change, Dropbox is smart enough to synchronize only the changed bit, thus minimizing bandwidth usage. You can create shared folders, so Dropbox users can exchange files with one another. You also have a public folder. It is possible to get a link to any file in your public folder, which you can give to friends, even those who are not Dropbox users. So it's a very simple way to share files. Finally, even if you don't have the client installed on a PC, you can log in with any browser, and view or download your files. This is great if you have a mobile device, for instance, and want to get at your content while on the move. The link is: https://www.getdropbox.com/ [What you need to do] The first thing you need to do is to download a small piece of software from the above website link. This will set up dropbox on your computer and during the installation process, you will be asked for a user name which can typically be your email address and a password of your choosing. Once you have completed the installation, a new folder will appear inside you're my Documents folder called "Dropbox". There will be a small number of sub folders inside this dropbox folder, one which is called "Public" and is something I will focus on later. In order to use dropbox after you have installed it, here is what you do: 1. A friend or family member wants to have some pictures or important files or even some MP3 music that you have on your computer. Go to where these files are stored and copy them to your clipboard using the usual keys, "control + C". 2. Now go into my documents folder then into "My Dropbox" and in here you will have the option to place the files into a sub folder so that the other person can access your files. What I do here is that if I am sharing something with someone I create a new folder in here and call it after the first name of the person to whom I am sharing the files with. This could be something like "Ann or Tom or John". To create the folder within my Dropbox" with nothing in there selected, press the application key and down arrow to "new". Right arrow in here and choose "folder" by pressing enter key. Now give the folder a name and press enter. That's it, your new folder is created. 3. Now I arrow to my new folder and press enter on it to open. Once open I use keys, "control + V" to paste in my files. Notes: My files I wish to share with my friend are now ready to be transferred to the person whom I wish to have them. 4. The final step on my end is to now indicate to my dropbox software that I want to share this folder with the other person. To do this I press the application key on the folder I created earlier and where the files I want to share are stored. 5. Arrow down to the dropbox sub menu and right arrow in here. Arrow down to share and press enter. 6. After a few seconds the internet will open up into the dropbox website. Here if I move around carefully I will find an "edit box" which is where I place the email address of the person who I wish to have access to the files. 7. I type in the email address and then I tab once to the share button and press enter to send it off. Notes: For now I have completed my part of the sharing process. [Requirements by the other person] When you share files with someone else in the manner I am currently outlining here it will be necessary for that other person to have dropbox set up on their end. Once they have met this requirement then it's all they need to allow the folder I shared earlier on my computer to be shared on their end so we both then have access to the same folder. For the other person to share my folder here is what they need to do; 1. After they have received my email that I have shared a folder with them, there will be a link within the email which takes them to a dropbox web site page. Usually pressing enter on this link within the email will be enough to open up the internet and bring them into the right area. 2. Once in here they must look around for a button called "accept" and press enter on it. 3. Once they have entered on this button they will now find that inside their dropbox folder in my documents will appear a copy of my folder I created earlier and after a bit of time will also find that any files which I placed into that folder will also appear on their end for them to have. Notes: Depending on how much files you have shared with the other person will depend on how long it takes for the files to arrive into the other persons dropbox folder. This is just one very useful way of sharing files with someone. There is a second and more simple way but still requires that you have dropbox installed on the sending computer. That is if you wish to send files to Mary or Tom etc then you must have dropbox installed on your computer. 1. Pick out a file you wish o send to someone and copy to the clipboard. 2. Go into first My documents then into the "My Dropbox" folder. 3. In here look for a folder which will have been pre-made in dropbox during the installation called "Public" and paste your file you wish to send into it. 4. Now press the application key on the file you just pasted into this public folder and arrow down to the "dropbox sub menu". 5. Right arrow in here and then down arrow to where it says, "Create link". Press enter on this option. Dropbox will indicate to you that it has now placed a link to this particular file onto your clipboard. 6. Go into your email program and open up a new blank mail. Fill out the email in the usual way with the recipients email address and a meaningful subject line. 7. Now down in the main body of your email do a control + V to paste in the link that dropbox gave you earlier and which is a link to the file now residing in your dropbox/Public folder. Notes: Once the person to whom the email is sent too receives your email and enters on the link contained in the body of the email then the file you wish to share with them will be downloaded to their computer. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am using the Free version of SPAMfighter. SPAMfighter has removed 915 of my spam emails to date. Do you have a slow PC? Try free scan! ******************************************************************** National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI) is a company limited by guarantee (registered in Ireland No. 26293) . Our registered office is at Whitworth Road, Drumcondra, Dublin 9. NCBI is also a registered Charity (chy4626). NOTICE: The information contained in this email and any attachments is confidential and may be privileged. If you are not the intended recipient you should not use, disclose, distribute or copy any of the content of it or of any attachment; you are requested to notify the sender immediately of your receipt of the email and then to delete it and any attachments from your system. NCBI endeavours to ensure that emails and any attachments generated by its staff are free from viruses or other contaminants. However, it cannot accept any responsibility for any such which are transmitted. We therefore recommend you scan all attachments. Please note that the statements and views expressed in this email and any attachments are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of NCBI ********************************************************************