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A few years ago, I posted a long list of free online file sharing services. If you haven't used a sharing service to transport large files from one computer/location to another, you're missing out. It's a whole lot cheaper, and most times, faster than burning CDs or lugging around an external hard drive. It's also a little more secure than just tossing your document onto a "who knows how reliable" USB keydrive.
Rather than post an exhaustive list of services, I decided this time to focus on 20 of the better services I've come across. I have tried every one on this list and found the experience satisfactory to excellent.
As for me, I prefer two of these. MediaFire is fast and reliable. With its rather low 100MB file size limit, you might be turned off. But the simple site layout, speed and reliability, make MediaFire a gem. They make it as simple as it can possibly get to share your files. I also like the fact that they've been around for a long time. For files that are larger than 100MB (and that I don't want to bother splitting up), I use File Dropper. It's another simple to use site that I've had great luck with. Though the speed isn't quite as good as MediaFire, it's still better than most I've tried. And the large file size limit makes it perfect for transferring large video files when a DVD burner isn't available.
Keep in mind that the File Size Limit listed for each service is NOT the total storage space allotted, it's just the limit of each individual file you can upload. Most services offer anywhere between 2GB to unlimited.
Also keep in mind that free online storage services rely on advertising to pay the bills. When the ad clicks dry up, the service goes away. Many of these sites, such as MediaFire, have been in business for a long time. But many of the sites on my original list didn't last long. The moral of the story, don't rely on these "free" sites for important backups. They're for temporary storage and transfer use only.
Megashares
File Size Limit: 10GB* (with Custom Uploader, 1.5GB without)
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: Unlimited* (see FAQ for explanation)
URL: http://www.megashares.com
File Dropper
File Size Limit: 5GB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: Forever (deleted only if there is no download activity)
URL: http://www.filedropper.com
TransferBigFiles
File Size Limit: 1GB
Download Limit: 20 Downloads
File Life: 5 Days* (see FAQ for more details)
URL: http://www.transferbigfiles.com
SnapDrive
File Size Limit: 500MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: Unlimited
URL: http://www.snapdrive.net/
Driveway
File Size Limit: 500MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 90 Days (deleted only if there is no download activity in 90 days)
URL: http://www.driveway.com
zUpload
File Size Limit: 500MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 30 Days (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 30 days)
URL: http://www.zupload.com
Spread-It
File Size Limit: 500MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 14 Days
URL: http://www.spread-it.com
SendSpace
File Size Limit: 300MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: Unlimited (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 9 days)
URL: http://www.sendspace.com
RapidUpload
File Size Limit: 300MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 30 Days (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 30 days)
URL: http://www.rapidupload.com
FileFactory
File Size Limit: 300MB
Download Limit: Unknown* (per user download limit per 24 hours)
File Life: Unknown
URL: http://www.filefactory.com
MegaUpload
File Size Limit: 250MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: Unlimited (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 90 days)
URL: http://www.megaupload.com
divShare
File Size Limit: 200MB
Download Limit: 50GB per month
File Life: Unlimited
URL: http://www.divshare.com
Media Fire
File Size Limit: 100MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: Unlimited
URL: http://www.mediafire.com
MiHD
File Size Limit: 100MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: Unlimited (deleted 30 days after last download)
URL: http://mihd.net/
Easy Share
File Size Limit: 100MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: Unlimited (deleted 30 days after last download)
URL: http://www.easy-share.com
4Shared
File Size Limit: 100MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: Unlimited (deleted 30 days after last download)
URL: http://www.4shared.com
QuickSharIt
File Size Limit: 100MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: Unlimited* (see FAQ for more details)
URL: http://www.quickshareit.com/
Uploading
File Size Limit: 100MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 30 Days (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 30 days)
URL: http://www.uploading.com
Bigupload
File Size Limit: 50MB
Download Limit: Unlimited
File Life: 30 Days (Deleted only if there is no download activity in 30 days)
URL: http://www.bigupload.com
FileDen
File Size Limit: 50MB
Download Limit: 5GB per month
File Life: Unknown
URL: http://www.fileden.com
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Short list
you forgot XDrive. They are awesome. I would like to see a longer list of these sites.
YouSendIt
I can't believe you forgot YouSendIt. YouSendIt Plug in now available for CS3.
Danny, see this link:
Jim did a whole post on file-sending services back in December:
http://thegraphicmac.com/free-online-file-storage-and-file-sending
Hope that helps!
Work With Pete!
I didn't forget YouSendIt
YouSendIt isn't a file storage service, it's a file SENDING service. Though the lines get quite blurry with these services, I thought it important to **try** to keep the two separate. You will notice in my original post of a few years ago, I DID list YouSendIt.
Correction Acknowledged
Now that I think about it, this sight is probably where I learned about YouSendIt.
Re: MediaFire
Eff, Screw, and otherwise to Hell with MediaFire.
I had perhaps 180 MB of files stored across maybe 5 files. Multiple files—in different combinations—needed to go out to a bunch of different people over the course of about a month.
I return to their site to add a file after perhaps 3 days away, and ALL of my files stored there were gone.
My diplomatic, inquisitive emails to MediaFire's Admin contacts asking what happened—did my time expire, not enough recent activity, WHAT!?—were completely ignored.
Have a look at the "User" comments in this blog article:
http://blog.mediafire.com/quick-update-%e2%80%93-over-half-a-million-use...
All comments are overwhelmingly positive. My comments about dissatisfaction never were approved for release into that list off commentors.
I wouldn't recommend them to ANYONE, despite the alleged love being shown by so many others.
I like MediaFire
I haven't had any issues with MediaFire at all. I would guess that you'll have issues now and then with any service though.
"I haven't had any issues
"I haven't had any issues with MediaFire at all. I would guess that you'll have issues now and then with any service though."
Well, I'm glad for your good luck, WebGeek. And of course, every service and product may be expected to throw an error every once in a while. That's life, and we deal with it. That's not what bothers me.
What torques my carrot is that the Administrators at MediaFire don't even have an Auto-Responder set up for acknowledging inquiries, let alone the fact that I got NO response whatsoever about my inquiries.
That does NOT bode well for continued good service.
They're all the same
Most all of these web services are the same. It's usually just a guy or two who rent a dedicated server and have little time for things like customer service. Sad
...there is also Adobe Share
...there is also Adobe Share Beta, which is pretty good so far...
https://share.acrobat.com/adc/login.do
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