Tip, Tricks and Articles for iPad, iPhone, Mac
iCloud, Windows, Android, Office 365, Dropbox, Apps, and more

I have been asked recently about an email doing the rounds, relating to changes to Dropbox - specifically, whether the email is legitimate and whether the recipient should do anything about it.

The email received contains something like the information shown in the image above.

The change that has been made by Dropbox in March is to limit the number of devices that can use a free Dropbox account to three. Their aim is to get you to upgrade to a paid Dropbox plan to unlock features like unlimited devices and more (which will cost users AU$152.90 per year for 1TB of Dropbox cloud storage).

Dropbox is a wonderful app that allows you share your files between all your devices - mobile devices of any type, and computers (Mac or Windows)

When the Dropbox app is downloaded and installed on a computer or mobile device, one of the steps in the setup is to select whether Dropbox should upload your photos to your Dropbox storage.

Many people inadvertently turn on this import setting, and then find that they quickly get a message saying that their Dropbox is full and that they need to buy more storage.

While it can be handy to have Dropbox sync'ing all your photos (if that's what you want), many people prefer not to use up the free allocation with photos.

So how do you stop your computer and mobile device from putting your photos into Dropbox?

Step-by-step instructions are provided in two handy hints for iTandCoffee Club members - one for Dropbox on the iPad/iPhone, and the other for Dropbox on your computer (Mac or Windows).

​Membership has great benefits!

Are you interested in learning more about The iTandCoffee Club and the great content, services and members-only offers that membership brings?

Every week, there are new reports of major security breaches. Recently, there were reports that cloud storage company Dropbox was a victim of a major hack in which 68 million account email addresses and passwords were potentially compromised.

Here is an article about this breach from Macworld.

If you have a Dropbox account and have received the notification to change your password, I would strongly recommend that you act on this as soon as possible. 

If you have not yet set up something called 'two-step verification' on your Dropbox account, now is the time to do this as well.  

What is two step verification?

Once again this week, I have been raving about how much I love Dropbox.  Twice this week, Dropbox has saved me so much time and aggravation.

I was working on a set of similar documents, so each time I created a new document, I was opening an existing document, and performing a 'Save As' to create a new version.

However, in my rush during the week, I had twice forgotten to perform the 'Save As' and had saved the new document 'over the top of' the old document.  So, when I went back to look a couple of the documents, they were not correct!

Never fear!  Dropbox to the rescue.  I was able to very easily retrieve and restore my 'previous version' of the document!

With the amount of articles I dedicate to Dropbox, it must be time to run a free one-hour information session on it for iTandCoffee Club members.  (Non members can attend for $30.)  

I have scheduled this for Monday October 12th at 9:30am.  If there is enough interest, I will look to book a further session in October.

Find out more and book here >>

Important:  Members will need to enter a members only Coupon Code, which can be obtained from 'The Club House' web page before you book.

This week, my little Macbook Air gave me a message that it was full.  It only has 128GB of hard drive storage, so I need to be very careful about what I store on that device.

When I looked at what was taking up a significant chunk of my storage, I found that one of the main culprits was my Dropbox folders and files.

I love my Dropbox for sharing files between my devices, but I do not need the put ALL Dropbox folders on my Macbook Air.  I only need my work folders, and even then I only need a selection of these folders.

It's very easy to do - as long as your Dropbox folders are well organised.

This iTandCoffee handy hint tells you how to go about selecting what Dropbox folders to sync with hour computer.

The hint is available to iTandCoffee Club members to view at any time.  

Not yet a member?  Why not join today for unlimited access to great tips and hints like this from iTandCoffee.  

Related Articles and Handy Hints 
(Note.  Handy Hints can only be viewed by iTandCoffee Club members.  Join today!  All other articles are free to all readers.)

• Handy Hint 110: How to access two Dropbox accounts at once
  
• How do I get Dropbox on my computer?   
• Dropbox saves the day - again!  
• Are you using Dropbox yet? 
• Keeping your valuable information and work safe 
• A timely warning for students (and the rest of us!)           

This question has been asked this week by someone who contacted iTandCoffee.

In this particular person's situation, he has a Dropbox account that he has previously used in his work.  But he now wants to set up his own personal Dropbox account while still retaining access to all his other Dropbox account's files and folders.

Is this possible?   Yes - this is certainly possible, and fairly easy to achieve.  

Find out how to 'combine' two Dropbox accounts in this Handy Hint, which is available any time for iTandCoffee Club members.

Non-members will have to wait to see if this hint appears as the free hint in a future iTandCoffee Handy Hint Newsletter.

Or, why not Join the Club today - find out more about The iTandCoffee Club, and how to join, here.

Want to find out more about Dropbox?  Then come along to one of the upcoming information sessions at iTandCoffee in June and July - here are further details.

Or, if you require one-on-one assistance with Dropbox, contact iTandCoffee at enquiry@itandcoffee.com.au or on 1300 885 420.

What do you do when that document that you have been working on for days - perhaps weeks -suddenly loses all its content.  Something you did resulted in the loss of every single word that you had written, and left you with an empty file.  Or perhaps you deleted the wrong file.

We all know that feeling.  The sick feeling in the pit of your stomach as you contemplate having to start all over again.

This very situation arose for an iTandCoffee client just this week.  On opening the file containing her 'work in progress' autobiography, she found an empty file - everything, apparently, gone!

Fortunately for this client, we had only the week earlier moved all of her important files to her Dropbox.  (She had previously set up Dropbox on her computer, but had never actually used it.)

Why was this significant?

One the most fantastic things about Dropbox (apart from the fact that it shares your folders and files with all your devices) is that it keeps previously saved versions of your files - even those you have deleted.

This meant that we could retrieve the last version of the file that she saved before she 'wiped' her content.   While she did lose her unsaved edits, this was so much better than having to go back to an older separate file that she had saved one month earlier!

The ability to easily retrieve lost files - or access your files if something happens to the device that you normally use - is something that I would never be without.  Other services offer similar cloud storage and version management, but Dropbox is my favourite at the moment.

So, tell your student children about this - they need to be sure that they have a 'backup plan' for the school work and Dropbox is an easy option to set up and use.  And think about setting up Dropbox for yourself (if you haven't already). 

If you are interested in coming along to an information session about Dropbox in June 2015, click here to check out the available dates and to book.

Wendy H says: We saved docs on Big Mac computer in Dropbox but I don't have Dropbox on my laptop. How do I get this?? Need to access it while away.

Click this link to download Dropbox for Mac.  

You will see a file drop it into your Downloads area in the dock of your Mac (usually found on the left of your Trash can).  Click on this Downloads folder and you will see a list of files that have been downloaded.

The file downloaded in this case will be DropboxInstaller.dmg.  Click on that file to open the Dropbox installer and just follow the instructions to install - just double-click on the 'box' icon to get started.  

You will have to log in with the same email address and password that you used when you installed Dropbox on the big Mac.  (Hopefully you will remember that password!)

Join iTandCoffee for an upcoming evening session, where we will look at these two great apps and how they can really help you keep on top of your busy life and all your important information.

Are you 'in the cloud yet?' I had a client last week who had deleted a whole folder of assignment work, just before the assignment was due.  We all know that feeling - it just makes your knees go weak!

Luckily she was using Dropbox, so it was so easy to get back the work she had deleted. 

If you or any of your children are studying, or if you are in business, Dropbox is a fantastic tool for keeping your hard work safe and accessible on all your devices! 

iTea&Coffee is here to help you get set up and sync'd - so that your files are available on ANY device.  We'll be running a session soon on this, so stay tuned ...

Here is a link to Dropbox - it's easy to download and install it on your computer (both Mac and Windows) and mobile devices.  Once you have it installed it on your computer, you can then install Dropbox App on your iPad and iPhone - it's available from the App Store.

And why not check out this article about 'backing up to the cloud' - published in The Age recently.