Dropload - Uploading ways

Most of you will recognize the name Ian MacMillan by now; he is an enthusiastic reader who has often suggested topics for me to cover in Click. A few days ago I received the e-mail below from him highlighting a useful free service which some of you may find of interest:

Just a quick e-mail to let you know about something I learned of a while back. Dropload is an unusual free service which allows you to send and receive files of up to 100MB in size. At present the top e-mail accounts are limited to a maximum attachment size of 10MB, and some offer far less than that. The service offers the additional benefit that files uploaded and downloaded are automatically scanned for viruses.

Dropload is free but you need to sign up for an account first, which is easy to do. Once a file is uploaded the recipient is then sent an e-mail telling them to go to Dropload to pick up the file. The only catch is that if the file is not picked up within seven days it will be deleted from the system regardless of whether it is picked up or not. This is service a useful way of sending people large files without clogging up their inboxes.

Now that broadband is becoming the standard, Dropload is worth a look for people who want to send or receive large files.
Ian MacMillan, via e-mail

I must be honest in saying that I´ve never had a need for such a service however I can easily see how some people would. If you have a large file to send then you would either not be able to send it because of limitations on your e-mail account or alternatively the recipient would have their e-mail inbox blocked up whilst they receive the huge file that you just sent them. I´ve seen people on dial up who have been sent 40mb files and since Outlook Express doesn´t allow you to delete messages without reading them they´ve had to spend literally hours online just to download this and their other e-mails.

Signing up to Dropload is incredibly simple and once you´re registered simply enter the recipients e-mail address and upload the file that you wish to send them. Once the transfer is complete they will receive an e-mail with instructions and a website address to go to in order to download the file.

It is worth noting that there are several alternatives to Dropload - One of the more promising ones that I came across was MegaUpload which allows you to send files up to 500mb in size. An additional advantage of MegaUpload is that they don´t delete the file once it´s been downloaded meaning that you can allow several people access to the same file rather than having to upload multiple copies for multiple recipients.

The advertising on Dropload is less than it is with MegaUpload but other than that the services work in very similar ways. Feel free to try out both services as they are both completely free of charge and then just stick with the one that you prefer.

Computer Articles 2007