Common Problems in Online Storage Software and How to Fix Them

Online storage software is a service whose time has definitely arrived. Online storage lets you store and restore the entire digital contents of your computer or smart phone. If you’re looking to store music, video files, or large documents, online storage makes more and more sense. Compared to local hard drives and flash drives, there’s substantially less potential for data loss. And you have greater storage size capabilities, too. Online storage systems are changing the way people and businesses store data, share files, and collaborate.
Of course, even as the market and capabilities for cloud computing increases and improves, it’s not the perfect world.
And while a large percentage of computer savvy consumers use cloud services, only about a quarter of you actually understand how the service works. While cloud based services are relatively secure and trouble free, outages can happen – and it’s important not to panic, notify tech support, and allow a little time for the problem to be fixed.
Sometimes, common problems have little to do with service outages, and more to do with fairly minor personal issues. Simple user-based problems do arise, and you need to be able to fix them with a minimum of inconvenience.
Here are some basics. If you’re utilizing an online storage system for music or video files, and you’re finding that your storage service is not effectively backing up those files, take the time to make a simple check – make sure that the file extensions are not restricted. Whether the extension is .mp3 or .mov, restrictions can happen. The fix is simple: rename the file.
Another common issue: large files that are not backing up. If this occurs, you’ll want to be certain there’s no file size limit. And what if there is? Talk to your cloud server’s customer service and ask them to remove it. There are plenty of choices in the online storage marketplace, and letting them know that if the limit isn’t removed you’ll take your business elsewhere should get their attention.
Sometimes online storage software simply isn’t working after install – or it won’t install properly in the first place. If this happens, make sure you’re using an administrative account to activate. If you’re not, this can make the difference between smoothly working software and an unworkable install.
You should also be aware of server issues in regard to confidential data and hackers. Read your cloud based storage system’s agreement and don’t hesitate to question safety. Research what provider is best for you and what level of safety and storage capacity is right as well. Make sure you’re aware of the security level offered.
If you’re a gamer and storing games via the cloud, be sure that your cloud storage of a game doesn’t include game settings. If it does, launching the game on a computer with a different resolution screen from the one you’re originally played on creates an Unsupported Resolution error. To fix it, you’ll have to manually edit the configuration file for the correct screen resolution, then play, save and exit.
Another potentially common issue can occur if you never delete any files from an unlimited online storage system. Let’s say you want to restore your computer and you don’t want all that information back on it, or you want your computer to run faster without some files. Simple solution: spend a bit of time every month cleaning your online account. Not only will this prevent an accumulation of unwonted material, but it will also help you verify that your data is all being backed up and no glitches or lost files have occurred.
Eric Greenwood is a technophile whose interests range encapsulates all things related to the cloud computing movement which has led him to study everything from software as a service to online storage. Get more tips and advice on the blog Online Storage!