Get More out of SkyDrive with SDExplorer
Written by Alan Tuesday, 8 November 2011 07:00
Cloud Storage is the latest and greatest thing according to many of today’s technology insiders. They call it the future of computing and rave about everything it can do for us. However, it’s still relatively new and has had occasional growing pains, or more to the point, it goes down every once in a while. Even the best systems like Amazon’s S3 has experienced downtime. It’s getting better all the time though and looking more and more like cloud storage really will be the future.
One of the fastest growing cloud services is SkyDrive, which is a part of Windows Live services. It has a couple of drawbacks, though. For one, while it’s free, it’s limited to 25 GB of storage with no option to pay for additional storage. For another, it doesn’t have it’s own desktop software, or app, to help users interact with it. Instead, everything must be done from the web interface. Still, it’s a worthwhile cloud storage service, and it has promise to get better over time.
Since the release of SkyDrive several services have popped up to offer desktop apps to make interaction easier for the users. One such app is called SDExplorer. It comes in two versions – free and advanced (meaning paid). I have been trying out the free version recently.
The free version comes with some nice features, including SkyDrive secure connection, the ability to to browse SkyDrive files and folders, create new folders, copy files and folders to and from SkyDrive, delete and rename files and folders, drag and drop support, and a bunch more.
The file is only a 1.5 MB download and a very quick installation. No crapware comes along with it, so don’t worry about browser toolbars and the like finding their way onto your system. Once installed, you will need to use your Windows Live ID to log in. If you choose, you can also check the boxes for “Remember me on this computer” and “Remember my password”. Be careful with these options if you share a computer or have a laptop that you travel with.
Once logged in, an SDExplorer option will appear when you click Start => Computer. Click it to see all of your SkyDrive files and folders.
From here you can add files via drag and drop, add folders, delete files and folders, and much more. When clicking a folder you will find that there is a bit of a lag in the response, but it’s only a couple of seconds and it’s due to the fact the file isn’t local, but instead stored in the cloud.
The Advanced version offers a few more features, and retails for $13.75 to $19.95, depending on if you want a single PC license or single user license. If you go that route then the single-user is certainly the better deal. It does give a few extra features like changing folder share options and background uploading.
We found the installation process simple and fast and the interface is very user friendly. Since it integrates fully with Windows’ “Computer” option it feels like it’s really another drive on your computer. You can download SDExplorer by visiting CloudStorageExplorer. You can check out the differences between SDExplorer Advanced and Basic by visiting here.
Related posts:
- Windows Live SkyDrive with Unlimited Space
- Windows Skydrive Storage
- Micosoft SkyDrive goes HTML5
- Office Web Apps for SkyDrive Gets an Update
- New Features In Gladinet 3.0
