Goggle Drive Works Really Great For Sharing Chief Files

[dshall]

Scott
Are you saying that with everything on DB your disk drive is empty??
I currently cannot use a cloud server due to slow internet, but I believe from what I have read is the cloud servers act like any backup software in that they compare date stamps etc, and make a backup of the changed file in the cloud. then when you open that file on another computer it does a check with the cloud to see if there is a newer version. it then downloads the new version for you to use. so you have a copy on computer A, the cloud, and computer B. which if both computers are online will mean 3 copies of the same file.
I may however be totally wrong.

Yes, my hard drive is void of my files. They are all in drop box. I access all my files via drop box. Drop box is now my new 200 gig hard drive.

But i do not understand what happens if i open the same file on two different computers at the same time, have not tried it yet, it would probably be a mess.


I will do a vid in the morning.

[fcwilt]

If I create a file and save it in the DropBox folder I most certainly CAN (and WILL) find that file on my computer.

It will be in the DropBox folder where I put it.

The DropBox application will COPY that file out to the DropBox server but it will leave the "original" on my computer in the DropBox folder.

The only time the DropBox application will alter that local file is when it detects that the copy of that file, out on the DropBox server, is newer then the file on my computer. Then the DropBox application will download the newer file from the DropBox server and overwrite the out-of-date local file with the newer one from the server.

If I have two computers (A and B) (both connected to the internet) using the same DropBox account and I create ONE file on Computer A, in a short time I will have THREE instances of that file. The original on Computer A, the copy on the DropBox server and a copy on computer B. The files on Computers A and B are plain old local Windows files. The copy out "in the cloud" is a plain old file on the DropBox server. I do not know what OS is used on DropBox servers - perhaps Linux.


I really do not understand why you doubt what I am saying. As a retired computer programmer with some 35+ years experience and working also as a sysadmin for most of the years I really do know how this stuff works. Really. I'm not pulling your leg. This is the way DropBox works. Cross my heart. Really. Truly. Honest.

[dshall]

Okay Fred, I have file ZZZ on computer A, on computert B, on computer C and on drop box. They are all identical at all four locations.

On monday I go to computer A, open the file ZZZ on computer A and I change the front window to an arched window.

On tuesday I go to computer B, open the file ZZZ on computer B and I change the front window to a round window

On Wednesday I go to computer C, open the file ZZZ that is in drop box, what do I see, a round window or an arched window?

[fcwilt]

Okay Fred, I have file ZZZ on computer A, on computert B, on computer C and on drop box. They are all identical at all four locations.

On monday I go to computer A, open the file ZZZ on computer A and I change the front window to an arched window.

On tuesday I go to computer B, open the file ZZZ on computer B and I change the front window to a round window

On Wednesday I go to computer C, open the file ZZZ that is in drop box, what do I see, a round window or an arched window?

Assuming that all of the files are in a DropBox folder on the respective computers:

On Tuesday you would have opened the file on Computer B and seen the changes you made on Monday.

On Wednesday you would have opened the file on Computer C and seen the changes you made on Tuesday.

[Dave Pitman]

I was able to open some files that I guess were from drop box, however I could not save them back to drop box via the internet because I was offline. I could only save the edited file to my desktop.

But that is the problem, I have edited a file, saved it to my desktop, and I assume I can open the file back up on that particular desktop, but that is not what I want to do. I want to go to my office and now open the newly edited file, but I can't, because it has been saved on the desktop of my home computer.

You're just making it too complicated.

If you are offline, and you work on those files in your DB folder, you just save them as normal. You do not save them to a new location (desktop). When you go back online, the DB program will sync all of those files to the latest version it finds.

If it makes you more comfortable thinking that the files.only live in the cloud, then great, who cares!

[sutcac]

GETTING BACK TO THE O.P....... ;-)

I have been using Google Drive extensively for just about everything BUT Chief Files for a couple of years now, but may now explore using it for that too. I do like the idea of being able to access synced files from home or office. I do believe Google Drive has this feature, I was just a little nervous about actually activating it when I first installed it. To date, I have just been using a mirrored 2nd hard drive and Carbonite as a backup. Will let you know what comes of any experimenting I do. May be moving my office in the near future, so it might be a good time to give it a go.

[fcwilt]

Wait a minute.

Scott when you say you are saving files to DropBox just how are you doing that?

Are you saving them directly to the DropBox web site?

[dshall]

Wait a minute.

Scott when you say you are saving files to DropBox just how are you doing that?

Are you saving them directly to the DropBox web site?

Yes, I am saving directly to the drop box folder, i mean the drop box web site.

[fcwilt]

Yes, I am saving directly to the drop box folder, i mean the drop box web site.

Which is it? There is a DropBox folder on each computer on which you install the DropBox application.

That's where you keep you files that you want DropBox to manage.

You rarely need to go to the DropBox web site but you might do that to fetch a file while using a computer that did not have DropBox installed.

[Dave Pitman]

But i do not understand what happens if i open the same file on two different computers at the same time, have not tried it yet, it would probably be a mess.


I will do a vid in the morning.

Very simple. The DB program will keep a copy of both, and annotate one of the file names with"conflicted copy".

[dshall]

Very simple. The DB program will keep a copy of both, and annotate one of the file names with"conflicted copy".

Simple? Sounds like SNAFU, or is that AFUAN...... what is that darn army acronym, ALL F@#$% UP AS NORMAL.

[Dave Pitman]

Simple? Sounds like SNAFU, or is that AFUAN...... what is that darn army acronym, ALL F@#$% UP AS NORMAL.

It let's you decide which file.you want. Or you can keep both.

[HumbleChief]

Interesting discussion and am learning stuff. When I loaded Google Drive for the first time it created a folder under 'My Favorites' called Google Drive, on my hard drive, that I can access from my office machine at any time. That's where I put all the files I want to be accessible and sharable from Google Drive on the Interwebs.

As soon as I put a file in that Google Drive folder, on my computer's hard drive, then Google Drive sees it and loads it into its 'cloud' servers and I can now see it on the web through Google Drive from any computer.

If I remove the files from that Google Drive folder - on my hard drive - those same files disappear from the 'cloud' and the Google servers no longer have a copy that can be accessed from the 'cloud' or any other computer.

So at least in this case, from what I'm seeing, there's a folder 'on my hard drive' that contains all my Google Drive files. If I were to delete those files from my machine Google could no longer find them to put them on the cloud.

I'm not sure how DB works but is it possible to 'unsync' your files in such a way that they ONLY live in the 'clowd' on the DB or Drive servers?

It seems like that's what Scott's talking about, getting your files on DB only and not on your hard drive. Can't see how that works but I'm willing to learn if it's possible.

[dshall]

................It seems like that's what Scott's talking about, getting your files on DB only and not on your hard drive. Can't see how that works but I'm willing to learn if it's possible.

That is exactly what I am saying.

Here is the vid

http://youtu.be/XI9NGsj5fYE

[HumbleChief]

That is exactly what I am saying.

Here is the vid

http://youtu.be/XI9NGsj5fYE

Scott, you're killing me. You are reminding me so much of myself when my brain gets stuck on an idea and nothing is going to get me to budge.

I'm watching your video and you don't realize it but when you go to 'favorites' and click on your Drop Box folder, that folder is ON YOUR HARD DRIVE!!! Favorites is on your hard drive! That's where the folders live on your hard drive, under Favorites and in the Drop Box folder - again, on your hard drive.

The files live on your hard drive AND on the cloud. your video makes everyone's case - not yours. Sorry bout that.

Here's a quick pick of my file manager, probably very much like yours? You can see the Drop Box folder and the Google Drive folder under Favorites. If this is how you're getting to your Drop Box files then you are getting them from your hard drive. you just moved them from your 'Plans' folder to your Drop Box folder - again - on your hard drive. It really is how these services work.