Seems like you don't wish you backed up until something crazy happens. I've lost countless pictures and files when my computer crashed. I use Filebig.com a lot to backup my stuff.

Thanks for this post, I probably need to back up some stuff now matter of fact.

Since I live on the road, backing up to CDs (or even flash drives at times) is difficult and impractical. If for whatever reason I physically lose everything, the CDs and flash drives will go with it.

So I use online storage (Xdrive and Mediamax). They do the trick, although I've intermittently had trouble with both. But hey - it's free - I won't complain! 

i would agree with the guy who said to avoid mediamax. it is unlimited file size/bandwidth only if you're uploading. the download file size limit is just 10mb (https://www.mediamax.com/Brands/MediaMax/home/pricing_comparison.aspx). if you backup something huge and try to restore it in the future, you'll be in for a nasty surprise. freedom certainly does not await, especially for your files that are "imprisoned" in mediamax's servers.

in addition, the site is freaking slow and the UI extremely user-unfriendly. and i've had a number of files that i can't download anymore - seems like they're corrupted or something, and i always encounter errors when downloading them.

paul, you may have a free account, but if you don't use it often or utilize it's full range of features, you definitely won't encounter any problems. hence, you're not in a position to recommend anything, much less call something as crappy as mediamax a "great choice".

i am referring to the free part. if you had made time to click the link i provided, you would've seen that the 10mb file size download limit is for the free service.

thanks for the link on the free USB drive.

What about the Windows Live Skydrive? 5GB of storage....not sure of any limitations.

skydrive.live.com

@ Vicki
I didn't know that Google offered storage. How do you get it?
Ray

Amazon's S3 storage is one of the only online data storage systems I can recommend, because it's aimed at serious users. Use something like JungleDisk to interface with it, and you're set.

I'll jump on the "let's bash MediaMax" bandwagon too - but that's only because I remember how good their service was when they were Streamload.

Honestly, even if you have just a free account, don't trust them with your data. There are plenty of horror stories of people not being able to download files after Mediamax took over. My own experiences tell me I can't trust them.

I'd also like to point out something to be cautious about - these online services can go out of business at any time and then what happens to your data? Several online photo places have done this already, and generally you are offered an opportunity to pay to get your data back, and you have to do so in a pretty short time period.

I'm not saying online storage is a bad idea - I still use some services, and you can get a lot for free - just make sure you understand the risks.

Gmail is great for file storage. You can also start a Google Group and upload your files to it.

I tried XDrive and it was terrible for my purposes. I needed it to back up files unattended on a schedule, and it simply failed more often than it worked. I switched to iDrive. They give you 2 GB free, but the best part is that they give you another 10 GB for referring them to five other people. They do respond to support requests, even from free accounts. The software is also updated on a regular basis.