Here Is How To Share Holiday Photos With SugarSync

SugarSync: The best way to share your holiday photos

Did you know that SugarSync is the easiest, most secure way to share all your photos and videos? With the new SugarSync 2.0 Beta, you can share hundreds of photos and videos with just 3 clicks!

You also have the freedom to share with just a few select people, or you can share them with everyone via Facebook/Twitter. Your friends and family members don’t even need to be SugarSync users to check out your photos!

Here are the steps to share your holiday photos with SugarSync

Step 1:

Drag your photos folder over any contact in your SugarSync client. 

Step 2:

Choose how you want to share ? privately with a select few people, or publicly via a link that you can post on Facebook or send in an email.

 

Step 3:

Click on Send and your?e done!

Below is how your friends and family will see the photos and videos they receive from you!

Pretty easy to do, huh?

The great thing about this is that your photos are also going to be securely backed up into the cloud with SugarSync, with no extra effort on your part.

Protect your photos, share them easily, with SugarSync

THIS IS COOL: SugarSync’s Free Trial is a full 30 days with 30 GIGABYTES of space! Compare that to the competition with their 2 week trials and limits as low as 15 MEGABYTES!

Click here to learn more or start a free SugarSync trial

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Now Is The Time To Backup Those Christmas Pics

Save Your Holiday Photos To An Online Backup Service

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Don't Lose Those Precious Memories

If you have children then Christmas was probably a pretty active time around your house. And if your family is like ours, that means every laugh, smile and gift opening needs to be captured by the camera(s).

Well, the Holidays are over, the wrapping and boxes out in the trash (and maybe a toy or two already), and the good food is gone.

January blah’s.

Are you still carrying around those precious photos on your phone, that you could lose or break at any minute?

Have you downloaded those pics off of your SLR camera to your computer – the one with the hard drive that, despite how new or old it is, could die at any second?

Why Worry When You Can Sleep Easy?

What I have found is the longer it is between the time that holiday photo is snapped and someone actually takes the time to rename the photo, tag it, and sort it so that it’s not just one huge directory of files named PICT0001.jpg…PICT9999.jpg, the less likely that it will ever happen.

And if you can’t find a photo when you want it, what’s the point in having it?

And if you can lose everything in one power surge, or one piece of 35 cent electronics going “poof”, then you have to ask yourself if the photos mean anything to you.

The Logic Of Backing Up Photos To Online Backup

Maybe you can see where I’m going with this.

If you can’t find it when you want it, or you can lose it too easily, then what’s the use in bothering to take that holiday photo of the kids opening gifts or the grand kids tearing the paper off that toy you bought them?

You would be better off to just enjoy the moment and not be distracted by trying to get that photo (and possibly annoying everyone with the antics of trying to get a good picture).

But since you DID take that photo, I’m guessing you DO CARE about preserving the moment.

Kids grow so quickly, don’t they?

You have the holiday photos, so name them, save them and BACK THEM UP!

Online backup services are:

  • Easy to use
  • Inexpensive
  • Reliable (if you choose the right one!)
  • The salvation of those holiday photos should something happen to your computer hard drive – or you accidentally delete them

You can get started with a free trial to an online backup service right now, no credit card required.

Checkout:

All of these services are recommended by us to backup your holiday photos, videos, and any other digital media or data that is important to you.

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Why Aren’t People Buying MyPCBackup?

Former Favorite Unlimited Online Backup Service

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Why Not MyPCBackup?

MyPCBackup really had a good run in early 2012 as a favorite unlimited online backup service. Then, mysteriously, people stopped buying (or subscribing) to the service.

Like any good website, we try to keep tabs on what our readers like and don’t like. There are many inputs we use, one of which is feedback from vendors as to whether or not people subscribe after visiting our site.

And what we have been seeing is that people still read our MyPCBackup review and articles, then head over to the MyPCBackup website and often try out the software. But no one is actually buying and saying, “yes, this works for us and we want to continue using it”.

What we would like to know is why? What is it about MyPCBackup that you don’t like. The price is quite reasonable, one might even say cheap. We even did a video on how to get the service for less than they are asking for it.

You Can Help!

One of the things we can do to answer why people are not buying MyPCBackup is to ask our readers – you! – why you are not buying it. Did you try it? Did you see a reason not to even try it?

We would love to hear the answer; and, find out what online backup service you found that was better.

This website is all about helping people and to do that effectively we need to know not what WE think of a particular online backup service, but what YOU think of it. We are technology experts and are fully aware that what WE find easy and intuitive is not always what the average computer user finds easy and intuitive.

So please leave us a comment below; we will read and approve them as fast as possible (we do have to check for spam, that’s why the comment won’t show right away).

Thanks in advance.

And if you haven’t yet tried MyPCBackup, you can do so here.

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Carbonite Saves Pool Companies Business Data

Carbonite Business Online Backup Software Is Affordable

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These People Keep Pools Looking Good

When talking with the owner of our local pool business he mentioned that they had recently had a computer hard drive go bad.

Expecting to hear about weeks of agony and records reconstruction I instead heard how Carbonite for Business online backup had saved the day for him.

While his original attempt to restore the data failed, a quick call to Carbonite Business tech support found out that it was some problem with his email address he was using and was quickly resolved.

I was simultaneously happy that he had a good backup when disaster struck and that a product we recommend here at OnlineBackupSpot.com was the solution that worked for him.

I was not surprised to hear, though, his follow up statement that he had learned the hard way about the need for good computer backup.

Why is that?

Why Must People Lose Data Before It Becomes Clear They Need Online Backup?

This business owner is not the only one who had to go through an expensive, painful data loss before realizing that the very reasonable cost of business grade online backup is not an option or a luxury but simple common sense.

  • All hard drives WILL FAIL EVENTUALLY
  • It doesn’t matter if the hard drive is brand new
  • RAID mirroring or above (NOT RAID 0, that’s not really RAID in our mind) only protects you from hard drive failure, not data corruption or accidental deletion
  • RAID only protects you if you monitor the array to make sure you do not have a failed drive in the array already! Then replace that failed drive before you lose another one
  • Your building (or home) where the data resides could: flood, burn, get blown away, get burglarized

Online backup for your business data can literally save your business, or maybe just your profits!

Try out a quality online backup software and make sure you understand how to use it and can verify that your data is being backed up regularly and automatically.

(We have found that the only way business data gets reliably backed up is if it happens automatically – without someone having to remember to change a tape or double click an icon.)

Then take time to TEST A RESTORE of some data so you don’t have a heart attack the first time you REALLY NEED that data and run into a glitch, like the pool company owner above did (not the heart attack, fortunately, just the glitch!).

We work with several excellent online backup services for business and try to review this services and relay our experiences here.

Why not test drive Carbonite for Business with a FREE TRIAL?

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SugarSync 30% Off Coupon!

BLACK FRIDAY is HERE! SugarSync, the app that helps get you started (according to TIME), is offering its products for a 30% discount from now until November 26! Beat the holiday sales rush and visit SugarSync to claim your discount today!

Black Friday Limited Time Offer: Save 30% on Your First Year of SugarSync!

But,

In order to get your 30% off special SugarSync coupon you must CLICK THE LINK BELOW!

Black Friday Limited Time Offer: Save 30% on Your First Year of SugarSync!

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Mozy Online Backup Offers Free DVD Restores To Hurricane Sandy Sufferers

Mozy Online Backup is taking care of its customers, and if you are one of their customers affected adversely by Hurricane Sandy and need a data restore fast you can get a DVD restore for no cost.

Mozy is offering free DVD restores for its online backup customers and resellers affected by Hurricane Sandy. The number to call is 1-877-MOZY411 (1-877-669-9411) and the email is [email protected].

Even though Mozy never charges customers to download their data restores from the web, natural disasters often interrupt Internet access along with everything else.

A potentially faster alternative method to restoring one’s data involves Mozy creating DVDs and mailing them directly to you. Mozy will absorb all DVD restore processing and shipping fees for individuals and businesses impacted by Hurricane Sandy to assist them in getting back up and running as quickly as possible.

They are the only company we have heard of doing this.

More details:

  • This offer applies to Mozy customers residing in the United States of America or Canada.
  • For those affected by Hurricane Sandy, Mozy will pay the full cost of the media restore, including costs of the DVDs, labor, and shipping.
  • The offer is good for restores of up to 100GB of data.
  • The offer is good through December 31, 2012.
  • Mozy reserves the right to decide whether applicants meet the above requirements.

If you don’t have Mozy and wish you did, why not Try Mozy for Free today?

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Livedrive Releases Windows 8 Modern App

Livedrive Online Backup Ahead Of The Competition

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Give Livedrive A Try, It's Free!

Livedrive is staying ahead of other online backup companies by releasing a Windows 8 modern app for their awesome cloud backup service.

Just today Livedrive has released a free Windows 8 Modern App which lets their customers access files stored in the cloud from their Windows 8 devices.

By doing so they have become one of the first cloud storage providers to have a Windows 8 app and after extensive testing they believe they have the best cloud app on the market.

The Livedrive Windows 8 app includes a range of key features:

  • Upload and download files directly to the cloud
  • View your documents stored in the cloud
  • Stream your movies
  • Enjoy your photos on the touchscreen interface
  • Share files with other Windows 8 apps
  • Save files to your cloud from other compatible apps

The app also includes several features which are not available in the competition’s apps and help improve the user experience, these include:

Backup Windows modern app data, available through the new Livedrive Desktop 1.10 program.

Video streaming and music streaming is done directly within the app, you do not have to stream files in another app and keep moving between the video app and Livedrive app.

Share files with other Windows 8 apps via two different methods. The share function is not available on some cloud apps and the companies which do include it only offer one way to share. Offering two options allows the program to adapt to how YOU use the new operating system.

Large previews of images within the app saves time and doesn’t bother the user to switch to another app to view the file.

To us it seems that Livedrive is leading the field in the cloud app space.

Try Livedrive for free and get your stuff backed up!

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Livedrive Encryption And FTP Downloads

Livedrive Online Backup Is Fully Encrypted

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Livedrive Protects Your Files With Encryption

I have seen on many forums the question of whether Livedrive encryption is just a myth since files can be downloaded using and un-secure version of FTP (file transfer protocol).

Since we prefer to deal in facts rather than speculation, we thought it best to pose the question straight out to technical support for Livedrive and see what kind of answer we get back.

So many online backup services skirt the tough questions and give you either a non-answer or just don’t answer your question at all. Therefore we saw this as a bit of a test of Livedrive’s tech support at the same time.

So Is Livedrive Encrypted or Not?

Let’s answer this question.

Yes, your files are fully encrypted at Livedrive.

Can I Download Livedrive Files With FTP?

Yes, you can download files from Livedrive online backup with FTP.

So let’s clarify with the actual Q&A with Livedrive tech support:

Q: I am reviewing your online backup offering and was wondering how my data can be secure if you allow FTP access to it; FTP is not secure (yes, you also offer SFTP..). And, Once I download my file with FTP or SFTP, how do I decrypt it?

A: Livedrive uses military grade, AES-256 security to encrypt all communications between a user’s computer and our servers, data stored on your Livedrive is backed up on to multiple storage servers at our data centres ensuring your data is fully protected.

Our network is protected by enterprise-grade firewalls ensuring that once your data is on our servers only the people you want to access your data can.

Files stored on our server are encrypted, so in the very unlikely event that someone compromised our data storage and stole any data it would be meaningless.

This storage encryption is done by our web service on receipt of the file, rather than by the Desktop Sync Software on your PC.  If this encryption was done by Desktop Sync then we wouldn’t be able to let you download the unencrypted files directly from the web portal or from FTP – you could only use the software.

The encryption used between the Desktop Sync Software and the Livedrive servers is a separate process – more similar to the SSL connection you use when sending data to and from your online bank.

Files are decrypted before transmission to you – it is up to you how you wish to download files, and whether to use an encrypted method to do so.

It’s Really Up To You

Most people will NOT use an un-secured method of transferring file from their online backup service like basic FTP.

With Livedrive, they give you that choice if you want to use it.

But your files ARE ENCRYPTED on Livedrive’s servers and are therefore secure, and are normally transferred securely, and that is what we would recommend.

You can try out Livedrive free, with no obligation, no credit card needed – click here to start a free Livedrive trial

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Livedrive Updates And Cloud Storage Tips

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Seal Pic Snagged From Livedrive

I checked in over at the Livedrive blog this morning and found a number of worthwhile entries that I thought deemed passing along.

The first is with regard to a new improvement at Livedrive for those of you with Chromebooks. It’s a new app that will make it real easy to upload photos (like the seal pictured above, left) to your Livedrive cloud storage account.

Livedrive has been one of our readers most popular choices for online backup over the last several months.

Almost everyone who has signed up for a free trial of Livedrive has been thrilled with the service and gone ahead and signed up for a full paid account. What better review could you ask for than satisfied customers just like you?

Get a free trial of Livedrive now!

Online Backup / Cloud Storage Tips From Livedrive

I learned from decades of running small businesses that one of the keys to success is to educate your customers so that they have realistic expectations of your products and services.

Livedrive is doing just that with many of the blog entries over at their website.

Megabits Vs. MegaBytes

One such entry is an explanation of the difference between megabits per second (Mbps) and megabytes per second (MBps). You wouldn’t think so, but just the capitalization of that “b” is an EIGHT-fold difference in the performance of your internet connection and by extension, your transfer speed to your cloud storage provider.

In addition, your upload speed (sending files TO Livedrive) will almost always be slower than your download speed (retrieving files FROM Livedrive) due to your ISP (Internet Service Provider) throttling uploads more than downloads.

When a Terabyte is Not a Terabyte

A similar discussion on the Livedrive blog pointed out the reasons why a hard drive never holds as much information as you expect.

In short, how bytes are counted – in combination with formatting and drive overhead – means you will never be able to store quite as much as the number on the box might make you think.

It’s not really cheating or being deceptive, just a matter of consumer education.

In Summary

Livedrive is doing a great job of educating anyone interested in cloud storage and online backup. They are improving their service and making it ever more usable to the continuous onslaught of new mobile devices.

The neat thing is that you can try out Livedrive before buying and we highly suggest you do that.

Try Livedrive now and protect all of your important files with quality cloud storage

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Amazon Cloud Player: Improved or Removed?

Amazon’s Cloud Player and Cloud Drive used to be a handy 5GB free online backup service with the ability to play the music you upload (or buy) on any one of a number of electronic devices, including your smartphone, naturally.

Now, however, we receive this email from Amazon announcing “improvements” in Cloud Player:

Cloud Player and Cloud Drive are now separate services. Music you previously imported into Cloud Drive will remain in Cloud Drive at its original audio quality, and won’t count toward your Cloud Drive storage limit. Music you import to Cloud Drive in the future will no longer be available in Cloud Player.

Free Cloud Player accounts are now limited to 250 imported songs. Customers who are over that limit receive a 30-day free upgrade to Cloud Player Premium to test out our new features. Once you log in, you have 30 days to enjoy your music, everywhere. If you’d like to keep using Cloud Player for free, remove songs from your ‘Imported’ playlist until your library is below the 250 song limit before the 30 days are up. At the end of the 30-day free upgrade, if you have more than 250 imported songs in Cloud Player, you will not be able to play your previously imported music in Cloud Player – but you can start fresh and re-import up to 250 songs. Music you imported before July 31st will remain stored in Cloud Drive.

Hmmm. $24.99 per year and I don’t even understand exactly what I get for that.

Music they “match” is a higher quality, sure.

And I can re-upload 250 songs, convenient.

Oh, well, sometimes “free is as free does”. It was nice while it lasted.

If you are really into online backup, syncing with mobile devices, and having what you want the way you want it, maybe you should take a look at SugarSync.

With SugarSync you will be much happier with both the online backup portion of the service and the ability to play your music – which is backed up to the cloud – on any device at the quality you expect.

Get a FREE 5GB SugarSync Account Now!

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