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Why Use Free File Hosting Services?

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For the ever-growing army of internet users, free file hosting is essential, offering a range of benefits to suit every possible type of computer user. Whether you want to share files with friends and family, or find a secure place to back up your computer files, free file hosting is for you.

Some of the Benefits of Free File Hosting are:

  • Back Up: A free file hosting service allows you to back up and store data, accessing it whenever you want, quickly and easily. Free file hosting brings peace of mind, if your hard drive fails, and ensures that you don’t have to keep adding bigger and bigger hard drives.

Filedropper is one of the leading free file hosting services.
See all 3 photos
Filedropper is one of the leading free file hosting services.
  • Storage: For the modern businessperson, laptops and notebooks are a great way to work on the move. The downside is that the hard drives are limited in size, preventing you carrying all but the most basic data. The growth of mobile internet services now means that you can store your data with a free file host service, and access it from anywhere. Free online file storage and the virtual office are the future of computing.
  • Share Data: Free file hosting services allow friends, family and colleagues to download files, without the added hassle of attaching them to e-mails. Most e-mail providers limit attachments to 20MB, so you can forget sharing your family photo album or glossy business brochures.
  • Privacy: Many people have sensitive information that they do not want to store on a home computer or laptop. A free file uploading service will securely store data and allow you to access it from anywhere, without compromising your security.

How Does Free File Hosting Work?

The idea is simple; you upload a file, share the link with friends and colleagues, and they can download the file, easily and quickly. This avoids the 20MB limit imposed by most e-mail providers, and ensures that you only need to upload the file once, rather than repeating the painstaking e-mail process every time you want to share. You can forward the link by email, or even embed it in a social networking site, allowing friends and colleagues to access information, painlessly.

Free file hosting is a great option for people constantly on the move
Free file hosting is a great option for people constantly on the move

Common Problems With Free File Hosting Services

The problem with many of the mainstream free file upload sites is that they have become complacent, and trade off their name. They have become bloated, and impose harsh restrictions, such as imposing a countdown timer, or limiting file sizes. Many leave you stranded in a field of aggressive advertising, searching for the tiny, hidden download link. They have forgotten the end-user, who wants to upload and download files without having to jump through hoops.

As more people begin to understand the process, they have become switched off by the aggressive marketing tactics of the big players, and look for simplicity and elegance. Users want their free file hosting to have an intuitive interface, with no underhand tricks to second-guess their every move, and drive them towards a minefield of adverts and hidden charges.

Navigate the free file hosting maze
Navigate the free file hosting maze
Upload large files with filedropper
Upload large files with filedropper

Finding a Reputable Free File Hosting Service

There are many free file hosting services online, some god, some bad, and some just downright ugly. Navigating the maze can be a thankless task, and a little knowledge and forethought will help you to cut out the trash. With a few pointers, you can find a free online file storage service that does exactly what it promises.

  • Time Limit: Some ‘free’ file hosting services place a time limit on your file storage and, after a few months, they will expect you to pay money, tying you to their service.
  • Upload and Download Limit: Many file hosting services place draconian restrictions on the size of your upload and, especially if you are using the service for business purpose, this can be extremely frustrating.
  • Speed Limits: Many free file hosts restrict your speed, making a mockery of the broadband that you paid for. Usually, this is intended to force you to sign up for the ‘Premium’ service.
  • Registration: We all know how this works: You sign up, give them your email address, and then your spam filter has to work overtime. A good free file hosting service will let you share files, without the rigmarole of handing over your details.

A reputable free file host will be simple and clean, letting you get on with the job in hand, without having to register or pay the fees. Following these tips will allow you to find the best free file upload provider, ensuring that your data is safe and easily accessible.

skyfire 2 years ago

File hosting services like rapidshare, mediafire and mediaupload are seriously worst services when it comes to sharing files. They have slots as per region and also timelimit that makes it hard to share files. Personally i use sites scribd,docstoc to share some doc files.

Dame Scribe 2 years ago

I was curious about these sites and now I am at least armed with knowledge. Thank you, great info! :)

Hello, hello, 2 years ago

Thank you for teaching a good lesson, Thank you very much

Susana S 2 years ago

This looks interesting Sufi - I was just thinking to myself I need somewhere where I can store my files just in case my computers crashes (it's been doing some odd stuff!) I will check this out if you are personally recommending it :) Thanks

ethel smith 2 years ago

Still a bit of a mystery to me but your hub has helped

cally2 2 years ago

Am I being naive by using google.docs?They seem to provide good service for me as a teacher when I need to share stuff with other teachers and with kids. And I can get kids to upload stuff straight to google docs and to blogs which is very useful. What do the other sites offer that I might be missing out on?

Sufidreamer 2 years ago

@skyfire: Thanks for commenting, Skyfire. I became disillusioned with most of the big boys - I have a slow, mobile internet connection, and having to retry from the start every time the connection goes down is a pain. I haven't looked at docstoc, but that may change.

@Cally: You are certainly not naive. I use Google Docs; for sharing documents and text, it is a fantastic service. I have never had any problems and I can imagine that they are a great teaching resource.

The file hosting is great if you want to store and share a lot of photos and home videos, which are far too large for sending by e-mail. I am a little limited by connection speed, but I hope to try a few services and find somewhere to upload a few photos and home videos that I don't want to put on YouTube.

Sufidreamer 2 years ago

Thanks, DS - always a pleasure to have a visit from Hubpages royalty. Really glad that you enjoyed the Hub.

Cheers for dropping by hello, hello. I thoroughly enjoyed your interview, BTW :)

Sufidreamer 2 years ago

Thanks, Susana - Some of the services do impose restrictions - if there is no activity, they will delete after a set time. You might have to pay a subscription for peace of mind - that is something I am currently looking into :)

Thanks, Ethel - lovely to hear from you and I hope that you are through the worst of the winter!

fitman 2 years ago

Informative , thanks

gramarye 2 years ago

Sufidreamer - thanks for this. Just yesterday I went to a work session on using our sky drive and learned lots of new vocab such as cloud computing and biscuit crumb menu. This adds to my new knowledge! I am finding technology is now moving faster than I can keep up with!

Amber Allen 2 years ago

Thank you for sharing this knowledge with us all.

jill of alltrades 2 years ago

This is great information!

Yes, I am wary of sites that offer you something for free, then will charge you for premium accounts once you start using them.

Thank you for sharing Sufidreamer.

Sufidreamer 2 years ago

Thanks for visiting, Fitman :)

Hey Gramarye - It certainly is a new field. I am learning a lot about the various terms, too. Not bad for a slightly technophobic old hippy!

Sufidreamer 2 years ago

Thanks, Amber - Glad that you enjoyed the Hub.

Hey Jill - it is a jungle on the internet and it is increasingly difficult to find good services. Some things are worth paying for but, so often, they don't offer value for money.

Paul 21 months ago

Thanks for the great info..I'm still a very new user of these kinda website service. Now I think I know a lot more..thxs!

Diana 21 months ago

Thxs a lot..very useful information for end-user. I'm now using some simple filehosting like TooFiles and depositfiles. They were quite ok but I still need to learn a lot and keep finding some other useful site :)

Sufidreamer 21 months ago

Thanks for visiting, Paul and Diana :)

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