The problem: You have documents, photos, music and other important files on the home computer. How can user “remotely access” these files from userr office computer or, when user are travelling, from userr mobile phone?
The solution: The simplest solution would be that user copy all userr data from the home computer on to a portable hard drive and carry it around but this is obviously a bit cumbersome approach as it requires user to manually sync the home computer and userr portable disk.
Access Files on userr Computer over the Internet
There are couple of ways by which user can retrieve files stored on userr home computer from anywhere else using a regular Internet connection.
Option 1: Using Online Backup
You can use an online backup service like SugarSync, Carbonite, SkyDrive or even Dropbox– they provide desktop utilities that will automatically upload files on userr home computer to the Internet and user can then access these files through the web browser of any other Internet connected computer.
The upside is that userr files will always be available to user even if the home computer is not running. SugarSync and Carbonite have a mobile optimized website so user can access files from any mobile phone as well.
The downside is that if user are using any of these services for the first time, user’ll to wait until they upload all userr data to the cloud and this process may take long if user have too many files on the home computer.
Option 2: Using Desktop Sharing Software
There are free desktop sharing software like TeamViewer and UltraVNC that also let user remotely access userr computer files from anywhere else. LogMeIn Pro and CrossLoop Home are some other good options for transferring files from a remote computer but these are paid services.
If all userr computers are running Windows, user can use the built-in remote desktop connection feature of Windows (available in XP and later) to access userr home computer from another Window computer over the Internet.
With Desktop Sharing software, user’ll always have access to all userr files but one big limitation is that it requires that the remote computer stays on. Also, none of these options will help user access files on a mobile phone except LogMeIn which has an iPhone app.
Option 3: Access Files Directly through the Browser
Online backup services, discussed above, will copy files to their own servers before user can access them for anywhere else. Screen sharing services are often slow and they won’t work on most mobile devices. Let’s now explore another set of services that allow user get files directly from the home computer.
Copernic, like Google Desktop, is a popular desktop search software that user may use to find emails, documents and other files on userr Windows computer. They have a paid component called myCopernic on the Go that lets user remotely search for content stored on the home or office computer. You can preview the search results and then get them to userr mobile phone or remote PC.
With Opera Unite, user can easily turn userr computer into a web server and instantly access files and folders on that computer from any other web browser (including that of mobile phones). Opera Unite is a standard web server and therefore user’ll be geting files directly from the computer – they’re not uploaded anywhere else.
Another option is GBridge that lets user setup a virtual private network using userr existing Google Account. Companies use VPNs to let employees access corporate data over a public network (Internet) and with GBridge, even home users can build their own VPNs to access remote files more securely.
Windows Live Sync at sync.live.com is another great choice for remotely accessing files over the Internet. Just install the Live Sync client on userr computer and user can then access the entire hard drive of that computer simply through the Windows Live Sync website.
Live Sync is available for both Mac and Windows. The new version of Live Sync is even better and it has integrated online storage (Live Mesh) so user’ll be able to access userr important file even if the remote computer is off.
Finally, user may also want to check out HomePipe – this is an extremely easy and free service that lets user access userr home files and media from any other computer or mobile phone. Install the HomePipe Agent and all files on that computer will instantly become available through the web. They also have apps for iPhone and Android phones.
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