Filed under: Business, OS Updates, Utilities, Productivity, Freeware, Open Source
No More Blocked Attachments
Have you tried to move big files by attaching them to email? Are your attachments disappearing? With the advent of reputable and long-needed antispam services, it's getting more difficult to move large files with email (as well it should be; email was never designed to transfer huge attachments or executables). Many email servers will block executable files (ending in .exe), Access (.mdb) and even compressed (.zip) files. It's time to get with the program and use free services to send big files or pay a small amount for a business account.
In the olden days, we "Old Net Folks" used FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and there are plenty of free apps still around if you're willing to learn something new and your recipient can get permissions set up for this method of transfer. Figuring that (a) you don't want to learn anything new and (b) your recipient's sysadmin raises one incredulous eyebrow at the request, here are some free or low-cost ways to move big files around the Internet.
In the olden days, we "Old Net Folks" used FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and there are plenty of free apps still around if you're willing to learn something new and your recipient can get permissions set up for this method of transfer. Figuring that (a) you don't want to learn anything new and (b) your recipient's sysadmin raises one incredulous eyebrow at the request, here are some free or low-cost ways to move big files around the Internet.On the Web
YouSendIt.com offers both a free service (you can send one file, up to 100Mb per transfer) and a low-cost professional choice that is browser-based and easy to use. Don't be afraid to sign up: they don't spam you with junk. With our free service, we received fewer than 2 emails per month from them. Clever users will zip (or sit) their multiple files and send one via this service. It's a good idea with all such services to password-protect your files prior to sending.
SendThisFile.com offers both free and subscription plans. Paid users can send multiple files per session and have a password-protection option, but you can do that yourself in Word, Excel, or any other common application (see above, "learning something new"). They claim to be faster for paid accounts but if you're an occasional sender, it should work fine.
SendSpace.com has free registration and offers "points" that help upgrade to a premium account. This is the only site requesting marketing information (my age) on the free signup. In addition, they have a free desktop wizard and a great FAQ section.
FTP Clients
There is even a blog about moving large files. The blogger lists a series of file-transfer methods, from good old WS_FTP to the newer-fangled file transfer applications. We're happy with the OS app Filezilla. A straightforward GUI, it's the easiest for civilians to understand to move files to our servers, but it still requires hand-holding setup.
By Foot
Get a Flash key [aka thumb drive] to move files where driving is involved. Some people are still burning CDs to transfer files (especially clients with lots of photos) but we stopped doing that a few years ago. The digital mantra is "My Flash key is smaller than yours!"
Choose a platform and make it company-wide. That way, one set of documentation will work for everyone and you won't have to listen to the inevitable, "But I SENT that file to you yesterday!"
YouSendIt.com offers both a free service (you can send one file, up to 100Mb per transfer) and a low-cost professional choice that is browser-based and easy to use. Don't be afraid to sign up: they don't spam you with junk. With our free service, we received fewer than 2 emails per month from them. Clever users will zip (or sit) their multiple files and send one via this service. It's a good idea with all such services to password-protect your files prior to sending.
SendThisFile.com offers both free and subscription plans. Paid users can send multiple files per session and have a password-protection option, but you can do that yourself in Word, Excel, or any other common application (see above, "learning something new"). They claim to be faster for paid accounts but if you're an occasional sender, it should work fine.
SendSpace.com has free registration and offers "points" that help upgrade to a premium account. This is the only site requesting marketing information (my age) on the free signup. In addition, they have a free desktop wizard and a great FAQ section.
FTP Clients
There is even a blog about moving large files. The blogger lists a series of file-transfer methods, from good old WS_FTP to the newer-fangled file transfer applications. We're happy with the OS app Filezilla. A straightforward GUI, it's the easiest for civilians to understand to move files to our servers, but it still requires hand-holding setup.
By Foot
Get a Flash key [aka thumb drive] to move files where driving is involved. Some people are still burning CDs to transfer files (especially clients with lots of photos) but we stopped doing that a few years ago. The digital mantra is "My Flash key is smaller than yours!"
Choose a platform and make it company-wide. That way, one set of documentation will work for everyone and you won't have to listen to the inevitable, "But I SENT that file to you yesterday!"
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
John said 11:07AM on 11-13-2007
My company's GigaTribe offers a terrific (and free!) alternative: http://www.gigatribe.com
With GigaTribe, your friend (or colleague, or whoever) downloads the file directly off of your computer. You decide what folders you share and who has access to them. There's no size limit on exchanges and interrupted exchanges resume with no data loss. Great way for someone to download an entire folder packed with large files without the need for email attachments or mailing a DVD through the post office!
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Khuffie said 12:12PM on 11-13-2007
EatLime (www.eatlime.com) is also a good, easy to use solution.
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Sue Polinsky said 12:19PM on 11-13-2007
John, how does your service work with firewalls? Do users have to punch a hole in them to make them function?
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collapsibletank said 12:52PM on 11-13-2007
File extension spoofing can be a nifty way of avoiding mail servers or clients stripping certain file types. I tend to rename files as ".jim" files and tell the recipient to rename it as ".exe", ".zip" or whatever it needs to be...
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Sue Polinsky said 12:54PM on 11-13-2007
Extension spoofing? Try THAT with non-geeky small business owners! The telephone time to explain it is hardly worth it to us.
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Doug Weglarz said 3:01PM on 11-13-2007
They can download a file from a website and figure out where they downloaded it to, but they could not figure out how to rename a file?
My biggest problem sending files to the *non-geeky* is they cannot figure out how to FIND a file after they saved it to their PC. They have ZERO idea on how the file structure works.
Much the same way that CDs are popular, they MIGHT be able to find the CD in windows explorer. And if auto-run works, they might actually find the files.
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Sue Polinsky said 3:09PM on 11-13-2007
Doug wrote, "They can download a file from a website and figure out where they downloaded it to, but they could not figure out how to rename a file?"
Sue: Right. You've got to remember, we're talking about small business people. They aren't computer gods (some are, but not most). We want to make it as easy for them as possible.
And yes, we've experienced that "can't find the d'loaded" file thing, too, with our clients. As time goes on, we're seeing a higher level of competence in our users (which is why we don't recommend Vista all the time).
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Jack said 4:04PM on 11-13-2007
Drop.io (http://drop.io) is a neat service. Just enter an address that you want the files stored at and an optional password to get to it and you're done. You don't even have to sign up!
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robotrock said 6:20PM on 11-13-2007
don't forget xdrive
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Xaero said 9:17PM on 11-13-2007
mediafire.com, divshare.com, mih.net.. they're quite popular..
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Ander said 11:22AM on 11-14-2007
www.mailbigfile.com
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Stuart Halliday said 2:56PM on 11-14-2007
Use WebDAV (Webfolders). You just need the url and it appears as a folder in your desktop.
Getting or giving a file is a simple as a drag and drop. Works a treat in XP.
No need to install anything.
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mtelesha said 4:33PM on 11-15-2007
I like box.net and I pay for it. The others are nice but box.net has a great GUI!
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jp said 5:50PM on 11-17-2007
I like senduit a lot, it's fast and idiotproof. Files expire after a predetermined time (up to a week). Nothing to install since it's all browser based.
http://www.senduit.com/
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