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Joined: 3/11/2011
Posts: 156
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Dropbox is an online service to sync between computers and/or keep a backup of your files. Basic service is free. You install a dropbox to your computer and the files you place it in are updated by the dropbox service and synced if you use multiple computers.
But even if you don't use multiple computers -- if you keep your work in dropbox, it will automatically save both on your computer and their service when you save. So, if your computer dies suddenly, you will be able to access your work from your dropbox. So you won't completely lose that manuscript or those edits.
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Joined: 3/15/2011
Posts: 13
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Big fan of it as well. With a laptop, home computer, and a netbook for on-the-go, Dropbox makes it so much easier for me to keep files synced without having to constantly email them to myself or use USB drives.
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Joined: 2/28/2011
Posts: 17
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Also good if you want to sneak in some extra time on the WIP while at the office but don't want to have to worry about syncing your progress or juggling multiple documents.
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Joined: 3/7/2011
Posts: 12
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Oh, man, I drank the Dropbox Kool-Aid and fell in love. I recommend it to everyone I come across. It is fantastic.
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Joined: 3/15/2011
Posts: 13
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The only issue is if you, like me, get in the habit of saving your document every-other-word, sometimes the documents will become Read-Only and require them to be closed down and restarted before any further changes will enact. But that does tend to be because I'm very paranoid about losing my work.
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Joined: 3/13/2011
Posts: 412
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Hmm, i do most of my writing these days on my wordpress installation on my website, and the entire database is backed up and sent to a gmail account that forwards to another gmail account, as well as a yahoo account, daily.
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Joined: 4/26/2011
Posts: 29
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I turn off the antenna on my eee pc when I write so that I cannot be distracted by the internet, so drop box is less of an option for me. I always have a flash drive in my pocket, though. I transfer files from my eee pc to my flash drive to my laptop at home (I write in public because I get more work done there) so I have three copies available. I keep finished manuscripts on my nook as well. I used to keep files on my phone, but worried about losing it.
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Joined: 3/11/2011
Posts: 156
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You don't have to have the internet on when you write to use dropbox. You're work is saved on your dropbox folder on your PC. You can work with no internet connection and then when you connect, it will automatically sync to update the document.
I had yet another writing friend go through panic this week with a computer crash. She was eventually able to recover everything, but not without some anxious moments on what version of the WIP would come back. Another friend once saved all her work on a thumb drive while working at a local coffee shop, then left the drive there. We never were able to find it. The problem with thumb drives is if I lose it, whoever finds it has a great deal of my work. I really don't trust them.
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Joined: 2/9/2012
Posts: 427
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Are you guys still using Dropbox, or are there better resources out there to back up your work?
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Joined: 8/21/2011
Posts: 394
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I purchased an external hard drive and routinely back up the entire contents of my laptop. The drive is stored on another floor of the house - no where near the laptop.
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I keep a portable drive hooked up to my laptop. This is where I backup my writing, pictures, music - my life, really - to as often as possible.
I can't stress the usefulness of Dropbox enough, though. I use it to backup my backups daily. It also backs up my Outlook datafiles and my OneNote notebooks. By sharing my referral link around, I currently have almost 7gig of storage space. For free.
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