Access the files on your home computer when you are on the road
In the old days, when you wanted to work on a file on different
computers, or give a file to someone, you had to save it on a floppy disk. If
you didn't have your own computer, that floppy disk was often the only copy you
had of important files such as your résumé, your Microsoft Money file, or an
important presentation for work. Storing your information on floppy disks was a
dangerous game. They could be easily damaged or lost.
Those floppy disks didn't store much either—800 kilobytes (KB). These days
one photo can be 5 megabytes (MB).
Well, as file sizes have grown, so have the options for file
storage. You can use a USB flash drive to store large files, and take them with you,
but flash drives can be lost or damaged just like an old floppy. Luckily,
Windows Live SkyDrive solves these problems. It's like a flash drive on the
Internet. This storage solution is a lot harder to damage than the flash drive lying
around your desk or getting crushed in your bag. And you can't forget it at the
office or lose it.
When you store your files on SkyDrive, you can access them from
virtually anywhere. It's a fast and easy way to work on a file both from home
and at work, without transporting it back and forth. You can also sign in to
SkyDrive from a friend's computer, or at an Internet café or library, and work
with your files.
Imagine taking a trip to your mom's house and being able to show
her all your photos, up to 500 MB. You can save all the photos she wants on her
computer for her, or you can set up a special shared folder just for the two of
you to swap future photos in. To access the files, she just needs a Windows Live ID.
With SkyDrive, you can create three different types of folders
that can be accessed from the
Internet (these folders are stored on a server that is managed by Microsoft):
| • | Personal folders that can be accessed only by you. |
| • | Shared folders that you can set up to be accessed by the
people you want to share your files with. |
| • | Public folders that anyone on the Internet can access. |
To get started using SkyDrive, just go to the Windows Live SkyDrive website. If you aren't
signed in with your Windows Live ID, click Get started,
and sign in.
Adding files is easy to do. Just select a folder and click Add files. Browse to the file you want to save on SkyDrive, and
then click Open. If you have more than five files to upload,
installing the upload tool is a good idea. Just click Install
our upload tool to get started installing the ActiveX control. The
upload tool lets you drag files to SkyDrive. When you are done adding files,
click Upload.
Now you can access the files you uploaded from another computer.
Just open your browser and go to the Windows Live SkyDrive website.
If you aren't signed in, click Get started and sign in
with your Windows Live ID. Then open the folder that contains the files. To
download files to the computer you are using, just click the files, and then click Download.
Much better than spilling coffee all over your floppy disk, don't
you think?
Server
A computer that provides shared resources, such as files or printers, to network users.
USB flash drive
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USB flash drive
A small device used to store information. USB flash drives plug into computer USB ports so you can copy information to or from them, making it easy to share and transport information.
Help and How-to
