Don't fear the cloud

How do I save to The Cloud?

An earlier column explained a little bit about The Cloud: http://rlis.com/columns/column498.htm.

That’s nice, Cate, but how do I use it?” I hear you say.

There’s more than one Cloud. We talk about The Cloud as if it’s one thing, but there are lots of Clouds. Apple maintains iCloud. Google has its own Clouds. There is the Dropbox Cloud and there is OneDrive from Microsoft. In some ways it would be nice if there were just one big place to store stuff. And you can do it that way if you want: Pick a Cloud and only use that one.

But the fact is each of those services has its own strengths and weaknesses. That’s why having a choice is a good thing. When choosing where to put something I have two rules of thumb:

Do not store sensitive information in The Cloud. Any Cloud. If you wouldn’t want your mother or the president of the United States to have access to something, don’t store it online.
Do not store the only version of something important in just one place, whether online or locally.

“How do you sue it?” you’re still saying, only this time louder.

You save a file to The Cloud pretty much the same way you save it to your computer.

Saving a document or a photo or any kind of file to Dropbox is straightforward. Install Dropbox on your computer. Create an account or sign in to your existing one. If you’ve already created a file, drag it into Dropbox. When you create a new file use Save as to navigate to your Dropbox. When you edit that file on your computer it will sync with the Dropbox Cloud and the newest version will be available to you wherever you access Dropbox.

Saving to OneDrive is just as easy if you are already using Windows 10 and Office 2013 or 2016. You already have OneDrive. Drag stuff or Save as in the same way as you did to Dropbox. If you are running Windows 7 you can install the OneDrive app on your PC to accomplish the same thing.

If you don’t want to install Dropbox or OneDrive, or if you’re working on someone else’s computer, use the web-based version of those services. You can access your stuff and you can upload more stuff

Google drive works the same way. You can install the app or simply use the web-based version.

Now, you know that saving something to The Cloud is easy.  We’ll talk about sharing in a future column.

How do I change my start page in Microsoft Edge?

What an unfortunate piece of junk the new browser in Windows 10 turns out to be. It looks like it was bolted together. It’s a good thing we can always install another browser like Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome. Or that we can bring back Internet Explorer if we miss the original crappy browser from Microsoft.

That said, if you enjoy living on the edge (See what I did there?) you’re probably wondering how you can ditch that ridiculous MSN page that opens up every time you fire up Edge. Well, it’s not as simple as changing that page in a real browser, but it can be done.

• Open Edge
• Click on the 3 dots in the top right corner
• Click on Settings
• Under Open with select A specific set of pages
• Select Custom
• In the field below, type in the URL for whatever page you want, perhaps http://castanet.net/
• Click on the + to Add the site

If you change your mind or if there are already sites there you don’t want, click on the x to remove them. Here’s a link to the official Microsoft Edge page which explains none of that: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/getstarted-get-to-know-microsoft-edge-cortana

What’s up with the Great Cycle Challenge?

I’m glad you asked! We’re still raising money to help kids with cancer. This week is when I get to start counting the kilometres toward the Challenge. If you’d like to help you can sponsor me by following this link: https://greatcyclechallenge.ca/Riders/CateEales. Any amount is appreciated!

Do you need help with your computer? I'm here to help you and your home or business computer get along!

Cate Eales runs Computer Care Kelowna (http://computercarekelowna.com/) a mobile service helping home users and businesses get along with their computers. To arrange an appointment phone her at 250-764-7043. Cate also welcomes your comments and suggestions. Send email to [email protected].

You can read previous columns here: http://rlis.com/column.htm. If you'd like to subscribe to this column by email, please visit this link:  http://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?Sub=20618. 

Links

The Cloud Explained http://rlis.com/columns/column498.htm

Get to know Microsoft Edge http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/getstarted-get-to-know-microsoft-edge-cortana

Sponsor Cate in the Great Cycle Challenge https://greatcyclechallenge.ca/Riders/CateEales

Computer Care Kelowna http://computercarekelowna.com/

Getting Along With Your Computer Column Archives http://rlis.com/column.htm

Get Cate's column by email http://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?Sub=20618

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.