Windows 7 Can Dropbox Sync My Inventory and Movie Catalog Databases Automatically?

seekermeister

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I have a small Dropbox account, which I can only think of a few ways to use. Before trying it out, I would like to get confirmation on whether the ideas will work? If I locate the database file for my inventory and movie catalog programs in the Dropbox folder on my computer, then remap those programs to that location, will Dropbox continuously sync those databases to the online storage, so that the info there is always up to date?
 
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Yes, the changes are saved to the db immediately and then once the program is closed I would expect that DropBox will be then be able to upload the db file. Any computers that you are syncing using DropBox will have the db file updated as long as they don't currently have the db open.

I'm just theorizing here, I have never tried this with Dropbox but I believe it should work. I use Dropbox with 3-4 computers and it syncs docs, pictures, videos, etc... fine but I have never tried syncing any dbs.
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seekermeister said:
Haven't used it, but I came across this article in reference to Google Drive:

https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2424384?hl=en

It's even bigger yet...15GBs free. I'm wondering what drawback(s) that there may be with it?
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Read these. You can google for more info. Please note that some of the articles are out-dated, particularly about Google Drive. Some of them still quote 5GB storage space for Google Drive instead of 15.

Comparison chart between SkyDrive and Google Drive
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Which is best with productivity
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badrobot said:
Your post reminded me of my free Dropbox account that I've not been using since Skydrive came out. I logged in and I was surprised to find out that I have 25+GB of space on it and I don't know why.


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When I bought my Nexus 7 tablet, I received a year of an additional 25GB of DropBox space. Maybe you got a similar promotion from something you purchased?
 
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badrobot,

That's an interesting article, but I found one of the reader's comments most interesting:


This goes back to my concerns about the installation options discussed earlier in the thread. I know that originally I had no intention of using the first option...to give it access to ALL files on the PC, but after being convinced that this only referred to the files placed in the Skydrive folders, I may have, but can't remember with certainty now. How much weight does that person's statement have? How could I check to see which option that I actually used?
 
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Well, it took "only" a little over 20 hours, but it finally finished syncing. I found how to check the settings for what it is able to sync, and reset it to only sync specific folders...which I hope are only those folders in the Skydrive, and not the similarly named folders on the PC.

Now to install Skydrive on the other two computers and see if they can gain full access to the files or not? Actually, they don't need full access, only the ability for them to be read, so that my movie catalog is usable on all three computers at the same time.
 
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Just open your skydrive account online and see if you can see anything else outside those Skydrive folders. Some people have the reason to be paranoid if they don't understand what they are doing.
 
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If you sign in with the same ID and password, you'll see the same contents in your skydrive folder.

I have one laptop with Win 7, and one with Win 8.
Both laptops can access the same folder in Skydrive, if I sign in with the same ID and p/w the skydrive account was created from.

In regards to the other post, yes, buy an external hard drive is a good option.
A 1TB ext. hdd can be had under $100 if you search or wait for sales from Staples, Walmart etc.
I have a Western Digital 1TB ext. hdd. I use it for my personal files as well as for weekly System Image Backup on my 2 laptops.
 
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badrobot said:
Just open your skydrive account online and see if you can see anything else outside those Skydrive folders. Some people have the reason to be paranoid if they don't understand what they are doing.
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From what I saw there, it appears that if a person opted to grant access to all files on the PC, that it could potentially give that ability to a hacker. I don't care to test that at this time, because it appears that the only files accessible are those in the Skydrive folders as hoped.

A little paranoia can be a virtue, whether knowledgeable or not.
 
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I already have more hard drives than I know what to do with, yet I know of no way to use them in a fashion that Skydrive, Dropbox, etc. affords.
 
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seekermeister said:
I already have more hard drives than I know what to do with, yet I know of no way to use them in a fashion that Skydrive, Dropbox, etc. affords.
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If you have spare hard drives, and if your router is capable of doing so, you can create your own FTP site that will enable you to access the contents of any hard drive from any computer. I haven't done it myself so I can't give you any tips but I know my ASUS RT-65U Dual Band Gigabit Router has 2-USB 3.0 ports where I can plug in a USB hard drive and share locally over home network or anywhere in the world via FTP. Right now I am only using it to share 1-1TB & 1-2TB hard drives over my home network through the router. Check the features of your router.
 
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This is a concept that never occurred to me, so I'm trying to imagine what you are saying. I have no desire to hard wire all three computers to a hard drive, so I'm guessing that you are suggesting doing that via WiFi. I'm uncertain what all that would entail, but I suspect that it would require another WiFi adapter that I don't currently have, which places a price I would have to justify to myself first. I have no need to connect anywhere except in my home, so I doubt that FTP would be needed. My router is a Cisco E3000, which I think would handle the wireless aspect just fine, but it would also require a properly functioning home network, which I have been having problems with getting it to work for me, which is why I have gone this route instead.
 
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I checked your router online and unfortunately it cannot handle USB sharing. But after reading all those negative reviews about it, I realized that may be the reason why you are having problems getting it to work. If this is something really important to you, you should invest a little bit. If not for premium cloud service, at least a router that will best serve your purpose. You should at least upgrade your router.

The most economical router that I can recommend to you that has USB sharing capabilty is this one: Link Removed

I had that same router last year and it works well for the network hard drive sharing aspect until I decided to upgrade to ASUS which has 2-USB 3.0 ports. This Netgear that I am recommending to you have only one USB 2.0 port but you can plug in a USB hub into it if you want to share more than 1 USB hard drive. Think about it.

This is a snapshot of my system showing 2 shared hard drives accessible from any PC over my home network:



Cheers!
 
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Again, I can't see any reason to buy another router at this point in time, because outside of the networking problem I alluded to, it seems to be serving my purposes okay. I don't think that the networking problem is due to the router, but to the way that my HTPC is setup, because I have opted to not have to use a login turning it on, so that I can control it remote from my bed, without having to stir myself. When I attempt to access that computer from my desktop, it requires a account name and password, and will not accept a blank login. I don't think that has anything to do with the router.

I wasn't really aware of the fact that the router even had a USB port on it, until you mentioned the possibility. I just plugged the docking station into it, and for about two seconds, it did show the contents of the drive in the docking station, but then changed to what I see when I select Network on the Start Menu, with no sign of the USB drive any longer. Also, when I plugged it in, I didn't hear the usual connect sound that Windows makes with a new device being connected, nor does TurboHDD see the drive, so I don't know why it even showed for those two seconds?

EDIT: I don't know that it would be called USB sharing, but if the drive isn't accessible even from the desktop via hard wires, what is that USB port good for?
 
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Okay. So it does have a USB port. When I googled your router, the one that came up didn't have a USB port. And when I tried again I came up with something with a USB port. So, yeah, your router is capable of sharing a hard drive over the network.




You won't hear a windows notification sound when you plug it in because you are connecting it through the router and not the to the computer itself. You will have to manually map the hard drive first before you can see it under "Network". On start menu, right-click on "Network" and then select "Map network drive..." and then navigate to the location of your router where you will see your hard drive connected to it.






Good luck!
 
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I have a feeling that something is awry, because while I can see the router when I select Network from the start menu, when I try using your instructions for mapping a network drive, I no longer see the router, nor anything connected to it, only the user account folders.

Of course there is provisions for mapping to a drive via it's letter ID, but since the computer doesn't see the drive, it hasn't assigned any letter to it.
 
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When you map your drive, part of the step is also manually assigning a letter to it. Power cycle your router (turn it off and back on) to establish connection with your hard drive. You may need to login to your router (192.168.1.1) and see if the USB feature is disabled or enabled.

Or if you see the router under Network, try double clicking on it to see if your hard drive is connected. But you still have to map it so that the drive letter will show on "My Computer".
 
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You have discovered my one of flaws, I do not have a very good memory, and even though I have tried every username/password combination that I remember ever using anywhere, it won't accept any of them. Therefore I'm unable to check or reset any of the router's configuration. I would try to configure it afresh, but I have not been able to get it to let me do that. I just keep running into dead ends.
 
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Unless you changed it manually, the default username is "admin" and the default password is "password" for all routers.
 
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I finally got into the configuration, because I had forgotten that I could use the "easy" setup key I put on a flash drive. It gave me the password, but it was nothing as simple as you suggested. It was one of those weird alphnumeric combinations that I would never have thought of myself.

I've been clicking through the configuration options, and haven't come across anything that even remotely looks like a means to enable or disable the USB port. However I understand so little about all of that, I may have looked squarely at it and not known what I was looking at. As good as this idea sounds, I have a feeling that it, or perhaps I should say, I am a lost cause.
 
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Here is my last attempt to help you out (don't mind the hard drive compatibility table). The last step was mapping the drive.

Quick USB storage setup guide for Linksys storage link routers

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Please do let me know of your success.


...
 
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I think that I'm sending up a white flag for the time being, because the first step it called for was to select the storage tab in the configuration, where it should list any drives connected, but it shows none, even after hitting the refresh button. I have no idea of why, except that it doesn't list either my hard drive or docking station on their compatibility list. The only thing that might possibly change that is that I found a firmware update for the router, which I will run on it a bit later. However I found no changelog or description of what the update would effect, and I somehow doubt that it would this.
 
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