Easy Cloud Backup with Dropbox

This week my family's iMac ran into some error messages that essentially made the computer unusable. At this point, we're taking the computer to a local certified Apple tech, because one of more of the RAM memory sticks is probably bad.

We've made no backups of any computer files since the iMac computer was setup at our house in August 2010. Luckily, even though error messages prevented the computer from being usable, I was able to transfer all the family's documents to my computer with Target Disk Mode and a Firewire cable. This also reminds me that I should have setup a separate "troubleshooting" account, which would have allowed me to test whether another account was also having problems loading the Finder.

With the near minor tragedy of loosing all of our family's documents, I remembered that I had not made a backup of my own documents in a few months. In comes Dropbox. The DMG installation file is 21.6MB as of version 1.0.28. The installation and setup is dead simple and fast. You get 2GB of storage with a free account and 250MB of extra space for each person you invite that signs-up for Dropbox.



Dropbox uses a folder on your computer to sync your files with their server. Any time you copy files or folders to your Dropbox folder, they are automatically backed-up to the Dropbox server. Your online Dropbox account gives you access to all these files from any computer or mobile device with web access.

While finishing my taxes, I copied my business report spreadsheet as well as my State and Federal tax returns to my Dropbox folder and they are now backed-up in case anything happens to my computer, and in case I don't make a regular backup to my external hard drive.

Why use Dropbox:

• Backup to an off-site location protects your files from fires, floods, and other acts of nature.
  
• Get peace of mind that the important document or project you are working on is backed-up.
• No log-in required for backups once Dropbox is installed on your computer
• Access your stored files from any internet connected computer or mobile device.