How to make your life easier and more efficient using DropBox. I no longer have access to my email address, so I can't change my password

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Which helps me in work and life. For those who are not familiar with what Dropbox is, we will also download it for free, install it on your computer and make all the necessary settings.

Dropbox is a special service that allows you to remotely store various files and synchronize them on different computers. Each of us used flash drives to transfer some files. So Dropbox is the same flash drive, only virtual, which you don’t need to carry with you and insert into your computer every time.

Why do we usually use flash drives? For example, the last time we went on vacation and brought back a bunch of photos, I downloaded some of them onto a flash drive, with which we went to visit our parents and looked at the photos on their TV.

Here’s another example: when we submitted documents for a grant, I uploaded various documents to a flash drive, such as the Grant Regulations, a list of documents, etc. Next, I downloaded documents from this flash drive to my work computer and filled them out.

These are all private examples that I gave to better understand the essence of how this service works for those people who have never used it and have never heard of it.

For me personally, this service is especially relevant now because of the ability to access certain documents from different devices (computer, laptop, tablet, phone).

If earlier, when I worked at home, I did not have an urgent need for Dropbox, now, when I rent an office for work, this service makes my work much easier.

I have several computers: one at work, the second at home. I also have a netbook, tablet, and also a smartphone allows me to do some things, such as checking email, etc.

My working day is not regulated. Of course, I try to stick to some kind of schedule. But if, for example, I decided to work at home until lunch, then I may need access to some work documents.

For these purposes, I once upon a time created a Business folder on my work computer in the office. It contains a lot of interesting things. Naturally, every day I constantly work with the documents contained in this folder. These are various Excel files, Word documents, audio and video recordings of my trainings, various lessons, etc.

I placed the most important documents in the Dropbox service, or rather in a special folder on the computer that is created when installing this application. These documents are then uploaded to the Dropbox server. And from there they are synchronized on all my devices on which I also installed the application.

This way, I can create some important document at work and save it to the Dropbox folder. Then, in the evening, I can continue working on this document, but from my home computer.

The next day, I can stop by a cafe with Wi-Fi and continue working on this document from my laptop while having breakfast. And finally, I can then send this file to my employees, colleagues, partners or clients from my mobile phone when I’m on the road.

KeePass keystore synchronization

Another important area of application for the Dropbox service is the ability to store there a KeePass program file with my logins and passwords for different sites. I used to store all my logins and passwords in my head. But the head is not rubber))

Sooner or later there comes a time when you start to confuse where a password is or simply forget. It was also not secure, since I often used the same passwords on many sites. In general, I came to the conclusion that I began to use special programs to store passwords.

We will talk about such programs in one of the following articles. And now a few more words about how it works. In fact, I only remember one password. This is the password to the KeePass program, which in turn stores passwords from all those sites where logins and passwords are actually used.

This program creates a special file with the *.kdbx extension. If I store this file on one local computer, then I will not be able to use my passwords from another computer.

I uploaded a file with passwords to the Dropbox service, which immediately appeared on all my other devices that have access to this file. Now, I can use this program on all computers and there will always be the same version everywhere.

For example, I registered on some site from my work computer. In order not to forget my login and password, I entered them into this program, which is securely encrypted and almost impossible to hack.

Then I come home in the evening and before going to bed I want to look at the information from the site I registered on during the day. Logins and passwords were updated on the Dropbox server, due to which I have an identical file with keys for the KeePass program on my work computer.

I access the site from my home computer. I’m working and, for example, I decide to change the passwords for this site. By changing them and immediately saving the changes in KeePass, the file with the keys is immediately updated on the server, after which the updated version appears almost instantly on all other devices.

If you sometimes or constantly have to work on one document from different computers, then in order not to perform unnecessary movements with a physical, regular flash drive, it is better to use the Dropbox service.

Work on your documents while traveling and on vacation

Previously, when I was going on vacation, I usually threw everything that I might need in distant lands onto a large removable hard drive. This caused certain inconveniences:

Firstly, it was necessary to spend time, which, as usual, is always in short supply, to copy the necessary information from the computer to a flash drive.
Secondly, you then need to put this flash drive somewhere else and constantly shake for it so as not to accidentally sit on it or lose it. There is important information there, the loss of which will cause a lot of headaches and even loss of money.
Thirdly, while copying, I might have overlooked something and not copied it. While on vacation, I could only hold my head and say: “Here, you bungler.”
Fourth, after arriving from vacation, it was necessary to download all the changed files from the portable hard drive back to the work computer.

Now this problem has been partially resolved using the Dropbox service. I no longer need to copy anything to a removable hard drive, I don’t forget anything and everything syncs automatically.

Why did I write partially? Because Dropbox has certain restrictions on the free space quota. When registering with the service, you can use a free account, which has only 2GB of free space.

As you understand, this is not very much, not even enough. All the necessary files simply do not fit. This 2GB limit can be removed in a paid or free way. We'll talk about this later. In the meantime, we will continue to consider other options for using this service in order to make life easier for ourselves and other people.

Work on your documents together

Another undoubted advantage of the Dropbox service is that you can work on the same document with different people. For example, I recently needed to draft a contract for one of my clients.

I’m not good at this myself, so I delegated it to someone else. To do this, I created a special folder in Dropbox to which I gave access to the person who worked on this agreement.

When she prepared a draft, she wrote to me about it on Skype. Next, I opened this document from my computer and studied this agreement. There were several points about which I had a question.

I highlighted these items in yellow and saved the file, which was immediately synchronized via the Internet with my assistant’s computer. The assistant took a look and immediately gave me feedback or redid these points.

Previously, I would have had to send this file by mail. My assistant would have to save the resulting file, then edit it and send it to me. I would also have to save it on my computer over the old version that I sent him the first time.

Yes, this form of communication also has a right to exist, but much more time is spent on it.

How else can you use Dropbox (save scans of important documents)

Another great use of dropbox in everyday life is copying such important and necessary information there as:

scans of passport, tax identification number, driver’s license and other documents;
bank details, electronic wallet numbers;
summary;
various necessary contacts that you may need during your vacation or business trip.
scans of children's birth certificates, scans of certificates, diplomas;
business plan and presentation to defend the grant.

Now let's look at this in more detail. I often have to fill out passport details in everyday life. For example, at the post office, when I come to pick up a letter or parcel. And I visit the post office often due to the nature of my work.

Fortunately, I remembered my passport details 5-6 years ago, when I took out a mortgage. I then had to fill out a bunch of documents, so I remember my passport by heart.

However, sometimes there are situations when you need to present a photocopy of your passport. Previously, I would have had to go home to get a copy, wasting a lot of precious time. Now I just take my mobile phone, go to the mail, ask the person for his email address, to which I can send a copy, then create a letter and attach the necessary document from my folder in Dropbox to it.

Literally in a few seconds the person receives my message by mail, prints out the attached scan and has a copy of the passport in his hands. Very comfortably.

You can do the same with absolutely any documents.

Transfer photos and music from computer to phone and back

Sometimes it happens that you need to download some file from your computer to your phone, for example a metro map, music or an e-book, in order to read it on the go.

To do this, previously I needed to connect my mobile phone to the computer via a USB cable and download everything I needed. But there were times when I forgot the USB cable (let me remind you that I have a computer at home and at work), and I needed to download a document urgently. Then I could only say: “Here is an ambush.”

Now I don't need USB cables because Dropbox works great on mobile devices. I simply put the file I need into the Dropbox folder and then open it on my mobile phone through the same Dropbox folder.

And there are also situations when you took a photo of something on your mobile phone or recorded a video and want to send it to your computer. Previously, again, I would have needed a USB cable. Now I just drop this video or photo into the Dropbox folder and after a few seconds I can see it in the Dropbox folder on my computer or netbook.

All of the above also works well in the case of tablets.

Streamline sending large files via email via Dropbox

Have you ever had a situation where you needed to send a file that was too large? Mail services have restrictions on sending files that are too large, which can cause problems for you.

To avoid this, I now copy large files to a Dropbox folder, and then send a link to this file by email. The link itself weighs almost nothing, so the message arrives instantly.

Save important backups to Dropbox

Backup – translated from English (backup) means backup. It is needed in case of data recovery in case of damage. For example, your computer broke down, and along with it everything that was on it. This is a fairly common situation.

If you have a backup of your computer, then after repairing and reinstalling the operating system you can quickly restore everything. And to do this, you need to store backups not on the computer itself, but in another place. The windows backup takes up too much space and doesn’t fit into my Dropbox account. So I have to copy it to a removable hard drive.

However, just recently I started backing up the database of my WordPress blog to Dropbox. My blog is very important to me, because it is not only a means of earning money, but first of all what I like to do, that is, work and hobby at the same time.

In general, I store blog backups in several places at the same time. On the computer’s hard drive, on the server, and now also in dropbox. So if it suddenly happens that one day my computer and server burn down (pah-pah-pah), then I will sleep peacefully)).

By the way, for WordPress there is a special backup plugin that will help you create and automatically send backups to Dropbox. It's called BackWPup.

Why do I save backups to Dropbox? For those who still don’t understand why this service is needed, I’ll repeat it, because Dropbox is a virtual storage for your files. When you save a file to the Dropbox folder on your computer, this file is immediately uploaded to the Dropbox server, after which it is synchronized on all your other devices where you have also installed the Dropbox application.

P.S. How do you use Dropbox in your life? Share in the comments, I’ll be glad to learn interesting tips for using it.

Cloud data storage ( online cloud storage) is a model for storing data online, that is, on the Internet, on distributed servers owned by the service provider. Thus, the owner of the cloud storage provides clients with a data storage service, where the user pays only for the data storage itself, and the service owner is responsible for infrastructure support, server maintenance, security issues, access speed and reliability.

The operating principle of dropbox is based on synchronizing user files located in a specific folder with a remote server using an application installed on the user’s computer. Once files are uploaded to the server, they are automatically synchronized with all other user devices. The list of supported devices, in addition to computers and laptops running Windows and Linux, also includes tablets and smartphones running iOS and Android. Dropbox saves file modification history for the last 30 days, allowing you to restore an accidentally deleted or modified file. It is also possible to additionally purchase the function of saving unlimited history.

It is possible to use the service for free with a storage limit of 2 gigabytes. This limit can be expanded to 18-22 gigabytes or you can purchase a paid subscription. Prices start at about 300 rubles per month for 100 GB.

Also, if you register using a referral link from a user with a free account, then 500 MB will be added to the starting 2 free gigabytes, but if you register using a link from a user with a paid account, you will receive an additional 1 GB. You can use my paid account referral link if you want to sign up for Dropbox.

Dropbox is the best service for cloud storage and synchronization of your data. In addition to the standard way of using it, alternative methods have become widespread, such as using Dropbox as a photo gallery or hosting for simple websites. These alternative methods have become classic and well-known to most Dropbox users. In this article, we will offer you several ways to use Dropbox that you never even thought of. In addition, we will tell you about the tricks of working with Dropbox so that you can boast that Dropbox is like a pro =)

Go!

To get used to working with the new folder structure, you can move your work folders to Dropbox and create links to them from your usual places. For example, your usual document folder ~/Documents/Work will actually be saved in /Dropbox/Work. (there are many ways to create such links, for example you can do it through the terminal. Enter enter ln -s ~/Dropbox/newfolder ~/path/to/symbolic/link, that is, for the Documents folder it will look like ln -s ~/ Dropbox/Documents ~/Documents There are also many applications for working with such pointers.
If you have a small hard drive, you can free up space by storing some files in Dropbox.
Many of us keep files and folders for active projects on our Desktop. It's better to store them in Dropbox instead.
Dropbox is a convenient place to store scans of all your important documents: passport, license, incorporation documents for an offshore company in the Caymans. Then you will always have them at hand. Even in Courchevel.
You can also store distribution kits of the programs you use there, so that you can configure everything you need on any other computer at any time
Dropbox is also convenient for storing various instructions, guarantees, and other things.
If you don't have a very large music collection or you have a lot of space in Dropbox, you can store your music collection in the cloud. This is done like this: Create an iTunes Media folder in Dropbox and copy your music there. Then go to iTunes Settings, Advanced tab and set this folder as iTunes Media Folder. Important - do not synchronize the iTunes Music Library.xml file - this may cause unstable operation of the application.
You can sync contacts from your address book so they are always available on any of your Macs. Just move the ~/Library/Application Support/Address Book folder to Dropbox and create a pointer to it from the old location.
In general, you can do this with almost any application. Just find the files in which the software stores its settings or data and save them in Dropbox, creating an index.
You can add an additional layer of security to your Dropbox by encrypting the data inside it into a crypto container. Using, for example, TrueCrypt.
It will be convenient for web developers to store local versions of sites and scripts in Dropbox so that if something happens, they will always be at hand
You can sync your browser bookmarks using Dropbox. Then you will always have them at hand on any computer! For example, for Safari you need to move the ~/Library/Safari folder to Dropbox and create a pointer to it using the familiar pattern. Firefox stores its bookmarks in the file ‘places .sqlite,’ which is located at ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/randomcharacters.default. Thus, you can sync either just this file, or your entire profile, including History, Open Tabs (!) and much more.
Useful for work: you can distribute iPads to all meeting participants, each of which has a synchronized dropbox installed, and thus distribute to each device all the information needed during the meeting with one click.
Dropbox is much more convenient than standard means of sharing over a local network, so if you have unlimited traffic, then it is much more convenient to use it.
It is convenient to create a file archive for outsourcers in Dropbox. Upload all the files they need there and give them a Public Link to this folder.
Instead of sending large files via email, upload them to Dropbox and send them to everyone via Public Link.
For collective work on projects in which there will be many edits and versions, it is convenient to use Dropbox, since it has a history of changes and the ability to roll back versions.
If you're a teacher, you can force your students to submit work to you in Dropbox, so they can no longer make the excuse that they forgot their lab report at home.
To set up regular automatic backups of files that you don't want to keep only in Dropbox, create an Automator that will copy files to Dropbox from time to time and then start synchronization.
For torrent monsters. Set up your BitTorrent client to monitor for new .torrent files in your Dropbox and start downloading immediately when it detects one. This way you can download movies from any device at any time.
It is not advisable to sync using Dropbox: iTunes (iTunes Music Library.xml file), iPhoto (libraries) and Quicken (service data files).

So, if you have any tricky way to use Dropbox that is not mentioned here - write in the comments, we will definitely add it.

Cloud data storage is very popular these days. They provide the client with a huge amount of free space for storing various kinds of files with subsequent easy access to them - it is enough to have a device with Internet access at hand. On the one hand, this is very convenient, you will never lose the information you need and will always have the opportunity to edit files, but on the other hand, what is the price of this convenience and is there a security guarantee that no one except you will have access to confidential information? This, and in particular Dropbox, will be discussed in this article.

CloudApp and Dropbox

Dropbox's main competitor is a similar cloud service called CloudApp. Identical functions, a high level of reliability, ease of access and ease of use are all that both repositories have in common, but the cheese is free only in the mousetrap - you have to pay for it. Initially, Dropbox gives you 2Gb of free server space, which may be enough for you to store photos, screenshots and small files. But if you wish, you can sign up for an annual subscription for $99 (in my opinion, MobileMe is better for the same money), and the free space will increase to 100Gb. CloudApp has unlimited space and a free account, but the cloud loses in terms of the number of downloads per day - 10, and the file size should not exceed 25MB. Dropbox offers you 250MB per day, with no file limit. A more attractive option than CloudApp offers us.

As you can see, both clouds have both their pros and cons. For an annual subscription, CloudApp will also give you a short URL to which you can send your files, and Dropbox will significantly increase your personal space on its server. Dropbox also has very convenient applications for iPhone/iPad, and they are absolutely free. Cloud2go asks $2.99 for its application, which only exists on the iPhone/iPod Touch.

Why Dropbox?

Because this is the easiest way to store files. You can upload photos from your library into it at any time and then open it all on your computer without unnecessary pain. 2Gb of free space, of course, may not be enough, but who forbids you to create another account? Dropbox also supports any type of file, you won’t have any problems with it. You can install it on any OS - it is compatible with Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS and even .

Another important advantage is that if you work on a local network with several users and a lot of files, then Dropbox is for you. Automatic updates are also supported. You can add a file you like to your favorites for later offline viewing. It’s very convenient if you need to read/watch something urgently, but you won’t have access to the Internet in the near future.

Dropbox, in my opinion, is the best cloud for storing data and accessing it “on-the-go” - a minimum of unnecessary things, a maximum of functions, convenience and respect for your health - you don’t have to worry about the information, it’s in good hands, on reliable servers .

To complete the task we will need a virtual machine - I used WinXP under VMWare.

16 Gigabytes are given for inviting friends (referrals) from the invite friends page.

In total, you need to invite 32 people, 500GB each. Dropbox considers clients different if they have different mac addresses, and accordingly different mailboxes. These two conditions are enough to get the coveted gigabytes.

Mailbox registration

To register mailboxes, I decided not to look for services like 10minutemail, but to use Yandex mail. And the reasons are the most basic - when registering with Yandex mail, you receive 7 mail aliases at once:

@ya.ru
@narod.ru
@yandex.ua
@yandex.by
@yandex.kz
@yandex.ru
@yandex.com

Thus, we slightly speed up the process of obtaining additional space in the cloud.

Sending invitations

And we send invites to the prepared addresses, I sent them one by one to navigate the mailbox, but you can send them in a bunch.

Setting up a virtual machine

! all mac addresses must be different!

As a result you will get something like this

Turn on the virtual machine

And then we disconnect all network adapters except the very first one.

We go to our new mailbox on Yandex

For convenience, you can write everything down in a notepad: mailbox/link/password

Launching the client

We indicate that we already have an account.

Enter the details of the first invited account and click next.

Attention, we do not perform the next step, we simply close the client. Then no synchronization will occur.

This is enough to credit a bonus of 500MB.

Disable the active network connection and run the following

Then we go to the second box, click the link, register a new account and indicate new data in the client and so on in a circle, 7 boxes will take about 15 minutes at most.

If this is too difficult, then just order an increase in space from me

The service for increasing space costs 1000 rubles. Leave your contact in the comment and I will contact you.