If you are like me you probably own multiple devices that access the internet. Desktop PC, laptop, netbook and my iPhone all have the ability to connect. Up until 6 months ago, I was always worried that I had my presentations, documents and other important files on the device that I was going to be working at.
I assume you have shown up at your client’s site for the big presentation, only to discover that the presentation on your laptop is the old one, without all the dazzling content and graphics that you spent the previous evening adding at your desktop PC. Or the file is on your laptop, but you lost it at the airport. Or the hard drive crashes in the first three minutes of your meeting. If it hasn’t happened to you yet, be patient. It will. What happens from this point is never positive and can end up being very costly. Unless you are using ZumoDrive.
After signing up for ZumoDrive’s free account, you will never be in one of these awkward situations again. The basic description of ZumoDrive is that it looks like a local drive on your device, but all the files are stored in a secure location on the internet. After enabling ZumoDrive, a new local drive appears on my screen, I named it the “Z” drive. As far as any of my devices know, everything on my “Z” drive is on my drive, when in fact it is not. I save all of my work, from all of my devices, to my “Z” drive.
When I open my files on any of my devices, they open as they normally would if it was stored on my hard drive using the available connection. You might wonder what happens if you are unable to connect to the internet? ZumoDrive keeps your commonly used files on your device locally so you can get to them even when you are off-line.
How easy is it to use? You simply drag and drop files into your designated ZumoDrive letter. I have made my “Z” drive my default so all of my work gets stored there. My netbook has no hard drive, but rather a relatively small Flash Drive. There is not enough room to hold everything I need. No worries with ZumoDrive. It is all accessible whenever I need it.
Browsing files is just as easy as storing them. They are all there, looking just like they would if they were local. And you can tell whether the file is one of those that have been stored locally by a little icon on the file itself. Once you access the file from your current device, the icon disappears, indicating that it is now stored locally. You can also select files in advance and store them locally if you know you will not have a connection.
Another feature that I have taken advantage of recently can save the day. If you do not even have your computer with you, you can still access your information from any device with an internet connection by logging in and accessing your files. You can access your files from their computer. Just make sure you log out to prevent any embarrassing moments later!
I think it is important to point out that this is not one of those online backup services. You could save your backup file on your ZumoDrive if you choose. The files on the “Z” drive are individual files. You do not need to “restore” them or somehow convert them as you do with most of the backup services. Just click and go. It is that simple.
You also have the option to add “trusted users” to your account, allowing them to have access to your files. File-sharing if you would like, though I haven’t used this capability myself.
Need another reason to create a ZumoDrive account? Wouldn’t you like to access your entire iTunes collection on your iPod Touch or iPhone? In my case I have over 18 GB of music, podcasts and videos in my account, and approximately 8 GB of room available. With ZumoDrive, it has a feature that will setup iTunes with my entire music collection. Once sync has occurred, all 18 GB of my music is available to select from, streaming smoothly as if it is local.
ZumoDrive offers this amazing service with 1GB of storage for Free. Additional storage plans up to 500 GB or more are available. Start with Free as I did. Next step up is 10 GB for $2.99/month. I ended going to 50 GB for $11.99 per month and now that I am getting comfortable with the service, I have found that I have reduced my overall need, so will be going down to 25GB for $6.99 per month. ZumoDrive is available for PC, MAC and iPhone. Android version is coming soon.
ZumoDrive – How can you not use this WebTool?