Tips and tricks to navigate SkyDrive

The most recent cloud service that Microsoft has to offer is SkyDrive. Very advantageous to any user looking to storing data online should register for this service. This can again be done online with a Microsoft account. Your registration for the account can be done with your MSN, Hotmail, Xbox Live or any other e-mail account. Due to the new developments in Outlook, one can even register with their Outlook ID. SkyDrive offers you a storage space of 7GB and can be expanded by opting for a paid yearly service for fifty dollars.

However, using this new feature to your advantage is fully up to you. Some tips and tricks that might be useful while using SkyDrive are:

You have the option to store files and make adjustments to it. You can manage your file settings according to the content stored; it may be View only or Edit and View when you share it with someone. Else it can also be set for Public access. The same can be done for e-mail messages sharing settings.

If you need to see who recently made changes to the document that you shared, you have the option of adding the requirement of user to login to edit a file.

These adjustments are easy to make with the details panel located to the right hand side. It will make visible the number of users that have access to the file and the permissions that they have. It will give you the power to enable and disable any permission regarding any file for any user.

Earlier there was only the option to share a link to a file which could be later downloaded but now the users who have access to the files can add comments to it. The comment will be added with details like the profile picture. You have the option of changing your privacy settings to decide who can add comments by selecting either Everyone, Friends of Friends or Messenger Friends. Privacy related settings can also be changed in the Who Can Contact Me section by just dragging to the right side the comment bar. This way the users who have access to your files can add comments to it.

You can even synchronize your files so that you can access them from anywhere. To do this certain steps must be followed:

Go to Documents in Libraries and go to Properties. Once the properties window appears, you have the option to create a new folder. Then go to SkyDrive folder and click so as to include a folder in the Library Locations. To switch the primary drive, click on SkyDrive location folder and then Set Save Location. This gives you well organized folders to be accessed from any location at any instant.

You can easily edit files and to view them all you have to do is click on the save option and it will show the edited part highlighted along with the name of the person who edited it.

Files can easily be attached to your Gmail account via SkyDrive. All you have to do is download attachments which will be added as an extension to Chrome or Firefox. The files will have a read-only option; the originals will still be on the drive.

It also has the feature to keep a record of up to 25 changes that you may do to your file. The recycle bin will retain files up to 30 days but will delete the oldest file within 3 days when its limit exceeds 10%. Overall, SkyDrive is the best tool for cloud computing.