How do I know if I need Dropbox?

If you've ever spent time hustling to e-mail files to yourself before leaving the office, just so that you can have access to documents or pictures at home, then you'll appreciate Dropbox. If you've ever lost a flash drive with important files on it, then Dropbox is for you. In fact, if you have lot of important information on your computers and you don't regularly back up, then Dropbox is definitely for you.

What is Dropbox?

Dropbox is a simple online virtual storage utility that makes your files accessible from almost anywhere. Dropbox is web-based and uses cloud computing to allow you to store and share files and folders with others across the Internet using file synchronisation.

There are both free and paid versions of the service, and accompanying options. What we liked is the fact that the free version comes with 2GB of storage, which is a lot - to get you started on your transformation into digital packrat. Another huge bonus with Dropbox is that there are a relatively large number of user clients across a both desktop and mobile operating systems, and even if you can't access a user client, there's still the fully-functional web version - this means you'll really be able to access your files from just about anywhere.

In addition to Dropbox web, there are a total of 10 clients, including versions for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, and there are, of course, versions for mobile devices, such as the iPhone, iPad, Android, and BlackBerry.

Getting started

First, I'd suggest you head over to the website, and sign yourself up for a Dropbox account, and then download the desktop app that you need for your operating system, and the one you'll be using when you're mobile. Once you've installed it, a Dropbox icon will be placed on all of your computers and anytime you drag and drop anything in to that Dropbox folder it will - like magic -  appear in the Dropbox folders on all of your other computers.

The how-to bit

After you've installed the desktop app, it's time to launch it. For me, it works by clicking the Dropbox icon that's on the top menu bar, and selecting Open Dropbox Folder. 

It works much like any file explorer on your operating system, in terms of putting stuff into your Dropbox. Here's the quick two-step:

• Step 1:  Drag and drop any file or folder into your Dropbox folder - (that's why it's called Dropbox, duh.)
• Step 2:  Once your file/folder is inside your Dropbox folder, the program will immediately  sync it to the Dropbox secure servers and once this is done, your file's icon is marked with a green check which means your file is now safely backed up online and is also accessible from the Dropbox website.

That's it!

What else can I do with Dropbox?

You can organise and re-organise to your hearts' content. Like any file manager, you can change the names of your files, create new folders (and of course, folders within folders), move files around and delete them and have changes reflect almost immediately on other machines you're using Dropbox on. In addition to synchronising all your files between your computers, Dropbox also versions them. Which is handy if you've made some changes to a file that you later regret. No problemo. Dropbox allows you to revert to an older version of that file. In the case of accidental deletion, you can get it back - Dropbox keeps a backup of deleted files, and to access older versions of files, or deleted files, simply sign into Dropbox web.

You can share your files and folders with other people.  Here's how that works. Inside your Dropbox folder there will be, by default, a folder titled Public. Just drag any file you want to share into that folder. Then open the Public folder and right-click the file and click Copy Public Link from the pop-up menu. That copies the URL to that file to your clipboard so that you can then paste it into an email or blog post.

It's also easy to invite people to share folders, within your Dropbox folder. It's as simple as selecting a file, and the 'share folder' option, and typing in the recipients email address. They'll then receive your invitation, and will then be granted access to what you choose to share with them. You can share folders that you've already created, or you can create a new folder before you send the invite.

You can collaborate on projects with other people. Just right-click the folder you want to share and click Share This Folder in the menu that pops up - and it's as simple as inviting your contacts to collaborate with you on content - changes they make will appear on your copies of the files in that shared folder and you can re-edit them, and changes you've made will be visible to all collaborators. And, let's not forget, you can always get an earlier version of your files by logging onto your account at Dropbox.com.

You don't have to worry about backing up your Dropbox contents. Ever. Seriously. Dropbox is online backup, that works without you having to think about it. Not only are files backed up autonatically, but you can delete and undelete folders, and there's 30 days worth of undo history as well.

You can go mobile, instantly. The mobile Dropbox applications let you access your Dropbox and view files within the application. You can also download the files for offline viewing. You can also sync photos and videos taken on your mobile phone, to your Dropbox. If you were so inclined, you could export your files to other applications, as well.

So, have you Dropboxed yet?