[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

I agree that Google Drive is a good way to store data in the cloud. But, Google Drive only provides 15GB of free storage. If you want more than that, you need to pay for a subscription. You can buy a thumb drive with as much permanent storage as you want, up to 1TB.

It's 15GB of free storage in addition to unlimited free photos. At least, that's the deal if you have an android phone or a google account.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

For those who don't know, OneDrive is a very good deal. For $70 per year, you get Microsoft Office on all of your devices and 1TB of cloud storage on OneDrive. You can go to the Microsoft 365 website to sign up.

I get LibreOffice free, and all of the Google products free. Of the 17GB of data I'm allowed, I'm using only 2. I ALSO have a copy of my entire hard drive on a thumb drive, zipped up nice and pretty, as a backup. I ALSO save all files to my thumb drive, which I keep in my desktop computer all the time except when I switch it to my laptop when I travel. I update all new and edited files to google cloud once a week, it takes seconds.

This way I'm covered whether there's internet or not. I have access to everything, all the time.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

I get LibreOffice free, and all of the Google products free. Of the 17GB of data I'm allowed, I'm using only 2. I ALSO have a copy of my entire hard drive on a thumb drive, zipped up nice and pretty, as a backup. I ALSO save all files to my thumb drive, which I keep in my desktop computer all the time except when I switch it to my laptop when I travel. I update all new and edited files to google cloud once a week, it takes seconds.

This way I'm covered whether there's internet or not. I have access to everything, all the time.

There are lots of options. I actually use about 500GB of space on OneDrive, most of which is for uncompressed music files. I also like the fact that anything I create on any device is automatically copied to OneDrive and immediately accessible anywhere. Unfortunately, a lot of people do not take advantage of any back up options and they sometimes lose valuable data.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

There are lots of options. I actually use about 500GB of space on OneDrive, most of which is for uncompressed music files. I also like the fact that anything I create on any device is automatically copied to OneDrive and immediately accessible anywhere. Unfortunately, a lot of people do not take advantage of any back up options and they sometimes lose valuable data.

I'm a founding member of the Department of Redundancy Department. Old-style computer tech, back in the days of component machines, before laptops were a thing.
DIP switches for life, baby.

[dadspet]

On the Google Play store there is a "Send anywhere" app. By putting this app on both laptops (or PC, smartphone) you can select which file/photos/video/document/spreadsheets/etc you want transferred from 1 device to the other device. Once you select the files you want to send, your given a code. On the device you want to receive the files you then open "Send anywhere" and put in that code and indicate you want to receive the files. The files are then transferred from one device to the other. There is a ad you may have to watch prior to the xfer which at one point was a bit much (free version). I believe they have minimized the ads. You don't have to buy a flash drive and can test it out with the free version.