Sending large files to another person isn't as easy. Emails cannot hold large files easily: recipient's inbox gets easily full and deleting the attachment requires also to delete the whole email. Here are some things you can do to send a file to another person:
- Consider using FTP (File Transfer Protocol) to transfer pretty big files. FTP is quite convenient to use if the sender or the recipient have access to an FTP server. Usually the FTP address, the login and password are required to upload the file through an FTP client. Filezilla has a graphical interface and is cross-platform and open-source. A command-line FTP client is available on nearly all computers (including Windows, type ftp in the cmd shell). For Windows, Internet Explorer can act as a FTP client. However, interacting with FTP sites from Internet Explorer can result in a number of confusing and frustrating errors, unless you set it properly (if nothing works, try searching your error code in Microsoft support).
- Use an Online Uploading Service and link to them through email. There are some file hosting sites that allow free upload and link to those files. The only drawback is that anybody who finds out the link can access those files (if its a public search site) and that the site can be set to accept only certain files. Wikisend requires no registration and accepts files up to 100 Mb. It allows you to protect the file with a password, and to decide how many days the file has to be stored before deletion (default is 7 days, maximum is 90 days). Sendspace offers 300 Mb, but I have not tried it yet.
- Think of online storage as a personal hard drive on the Internet. The way it works is simple: You log on to your personal storage site via any Web browser and upload your files. Once on their servers, your data is not only accessible from anywhere, but will also be backed up on a regular basis. Box.net is a popular online storage service and is free up to 5 Gb. Windows Live SkyDrive also recently started offering 25 Gb for free. Both work within Google Chrome.
The bottom line is: use FTP, Wikisend, or any other service with easy access, but avoid emailing large files. |
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