How to add permanent captions to your photos, Part 2: Making them visible (and make them in XP)

<div class="imageContainer580xX" style="width:320px;height:auto;clear:both;margin:auto;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:19px"><img class="largeImage imgId100029462 " itemprop="image" src="http://zapt1.staticworld.net/images/article/2013/03/0328-photo-caption-thumb-100029462-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 320px; max-width: 100%;"></div> <div class="department" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;overflow:hidden"><a class="topCatLink" href="http://www.pcworld.com/category/software-photography" style="color:rgb(172,31,43);float:left;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px"><br> </a></div><span itemprop="articleBody description text" style><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Srinivasan was the first of many readers who complained about this, and I have no one to blame but myself. Although I intended to offer a digital equivalent of writing a description on the <em style>back</em> of a printed photo, the image I created to head that article (which also heads this one) suggested something different--the caption as part of the image.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">So this time, I'm going to talk about making that caption visible. I'll discuss setting up slideshows and screensavers with captioned photos, and inserting the caption into the actual picture.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"><br></p><a class="zoom cboxElement" href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/0418-xp-100032993-orig.jpg" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)"><img alt="" border="0" height="194" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/0418-xp-100032993-small.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="140"></a>Click for full size<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> But first, a quick note for XP users: Sorry that my original instructions didn't work in your operating system. Try this: Right-click a photo and select<em style>Properties. </em>Click the <em style>Summary </em>tab. Type your caption in the Title field.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Now back to the main issue: How to make the contents of your caption visible.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">As I mentioned in the previous article, the two most popular free photo-organizing programs, Microsoft's<a href="http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-live/photo-gallery-get-started" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Photo Gallery</a> and Google's <a href="http://picasa.google.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Picasa</a>, recognize the contents of the Title field as the photo's caption. But only Picasa really makes use of it. When you view a picture full-screen, the caption appears in tiny letters below the photo.</p> <a class="zoom cboxElement" href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/0418-picasa-caption-100032996-orig.jpg" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)"><img alt="" border="0" height="411" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/0418-picasa-caption-100032996-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="580"></a>Click for full size<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> It also shows up--with bigger text--in a Picasa slideshow.</p><img alt="" border="0" height="279" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/0418-picasa-slide-100033000-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="501"><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> You can also use Picasa to add captions to your photo screen saver. Inside Picasa, select <em style>Create>Add to Screensaver.</em> This will bring up Windows' Screen Saver Settings dialog box, with the Google Photos Screensaver already selected. Click the<em style>Settings </em>button, and make sure <em style>Show captions </em>is checked.</p> <img alt="" border="0" height="566" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/0418-picasa-screen-saver-100032994-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="580"><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> But what if you want the caption visible every time you view the photo? For that you need a photo-editing program. I've yet to see one without a tool for adding text. In fact, you can use Paint--the image editor that comes with Windows-provided you're using<span style="line-height:1.45em"> Windows 7 or 8. Early versions of Paint have some odd quirks with text entry.</span></p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Third-party image editors, many of them free, also offer this capability.</p><img alt="" border="0" height="155" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/0418-paint-100032992-medium.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="300"><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> With just about every one of these programs, click the tool with a big letter on it (usually <strong style>A</strong> or <strong style>T</strong>), then drag across the part of your photo where you want the text. This creates a rectangle in which you can type or paste the appropriate caption. You'll want to adjust the font size and color to make the text visible.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">I strongly recommend that you select your editor's <em style>Save As </em>option when you're done, and give your photo a new name (perhaps the original name plus the word <strong style><code style="font-family:monospace,serif;font-size:1em">caption</code></strong>). That way, you'll always have the unchanged original.</p> </span>

How to add permanent captions to your photos, Part 2: Making them visible (and make them in XP)

Srinivasan was the first of many readers who complained about this, and I have no one to blame but myself. Although I intended to offer ...

Read more »

How to add permanent captions to your photos, Part 2: Making them visible (and make them in XP)

<div class="imageContainer580xX" style="width:320px;height:auto;clear:both;margin:auto;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:19px"><img class="largeImage imgId100029462 " itemprop="image" src="http://zapt1.staticworld.net/images/article/2013/03/0328-photo-caption-thumb-100029462-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 320px; max-width: 100%;"></div> <div class="department" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;overflow:hidden"><a class="topCatLink" href="http://www.pcworld.com/category/software-photography" style="color:rgb(172,31,43);float:left;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px"><br> </a></div><span itemprop="articleBody description text" style><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Srinivasan was the first of many readers who complained about this, and I have no one to blame but myself. Although I intended to offer a digital equivalent of writing a description on the <em style>back</em> of a printed photo, the image I created to head that article (which also heads this one) suggested something different--the caption as part of the image.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">So this time, I'm going to talk about making that caption visible. I'll discuss setting up slideshows and screensavers with captioned photos, and inserting the caption into the actual picture.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"><br></p><a class="zoom cboxElement" href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/0418-xp-100032993-orig.jpg" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)"><img alt="" border="0" height="194" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/0418-xp-100032993-small.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="140"></a>Click for full size<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> But first, a quick note for XP users: Sorry that my original instructions didn't work in your operating system. Try this: Right-click a photo and select<em style>Properties. </em>Click the <em style>Summary </em>tab. Type your caption in the Title field.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Now back to the main issue: How to make the contents of your caption visible.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">As I mentioned in the previous article, the two most popular free photo-organizing programs, Microsoft's<a href="http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-live/photo-gallery-get-started" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Photo Gallery</a> and Google's <a href="http://picasa.google.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Picasa</a>, recognize the contents of the Title field as the photo's caption. But only Picasa really makes use of it. When you view a picture full-screen, the caption appears in tiny letters below the photo.</p> <a class="zoom cboxElement" href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/0418-picasa-caption-100032996-orig.jpg" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)"><img alt="" border="0" height="411" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/0418-picasa-caption-100032996-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="580"></a>Click for full size<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> It also shows up--with bigger text--in a Picasa slideshow.</p><img alt="" border="0" height="279" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/0418-picasa-slide-100033000-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="501"><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> You can also use Picasa to add captions to your photo screen saver. Inside Picasa, select <em style>Create>Add to Screensaver.</em> This will bring up Windows' Screen Saver Settings dialog box, with the Google Photos Screensaver already selected. Click the<em style>Settings </em>button, and make sure <em style>Show captions </em>is checked.</p> <img alt="" border="0" height="566" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/0418-picasa-screen-saver-100032994-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="580"><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> But what if you want the caption visible every time you view the photo? For that you need a photo-editing program. I've yet to see one without a tool for adding text. In fact, you can use Paint--the image editor that comes with Windows-provided you're using<span style="line-height:1.45em"> Windows 7 or 8. Early versions of Paint have some odd quirks with text entry.</span></p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Third-party image editors, many of them free, also offer this capability.</p><img alt="" border="0" height="155" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/0418-paint-100032992-medium.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="300"><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> With just about every one of these programs, click the tool with a big letter on it (usually <strong style>A</strong> or <strong style>T</strong>), then drag across the part of your photo where you want the text. This creates a rectangle in which you can type or paste the appropriate caption. You'll want to adjust the font size and color to make the text visible.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">I strongly recommend that you select your editor's <em style>Save As </em>option when you're done, and give your photo a new name (perhaps the original name plus the word <strong style><code style="font-family:monospace,serif;font-size:1em">caption</code></strong>). That way, you'll always have the unchanged original.</p> </span>

How to add permanent captions to your photos, Part 2: Making them visible (and make them in XP)

Srinivasan was the first of many readers who complained about this, and I have no one to blame but myself. Although I intended to offer ...

Read more »

Three great alternatives to Google Reader

<div class="imageContainer580xX" style="width:320px;height:auto;clear:both;margin:auto;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:19px"><img class="largeImage imgId100029181 " itemprop="image" src="http://zapt0.staticworld.net/images/article/2013/03/feedly-hfpc-100029181-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 320px; max-width: 100%;"></div> <div class="department" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;overflow:hidden"><a class="topCatLink" href="http://www.pcworld.com/category/websites" style="color:rgb(172,31,43);float:left;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px"><br> </a></div><span itemprop="articleBody description text" style><img alt="" border="0" height="236" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/03/skimr-100029182-medium.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="300">Skimr<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> Not again, Google!</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">First you announced plans to <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/259022/two_more_alternatives_to_your_igoogle_home_page.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">shut down iGoogle</a>, the popular but apparently not profitable Web portal, and now comes word that <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2030781/google-reader-is-dead.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Google Reader will be next to get the axe</a>.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">What's next: Gmail?!</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Yeah, I realize you're in the business to make money, and if Reader isn't adding to the coffers, it's gotta go. But it's hard on us customers when you give us such cool stuff for free, then decide a few years later to pull the plug.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">I guess we'll survive. And maybe we'll find an even better place to house and manage our RSS feeds, which Reader did well but not very prettily.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> For example, there's <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.netvibes.com/en" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Netvibes</a>, which was actually on my <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/258815/three_alternatives_to_your_igoogle_home_page.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">original list of alternatives to iGoogle</a>. Although it's more of a Web portal than a dedicated RSS reader, it's easy to stock with RSS feeds—great if you're looking to kill two birds with one stone.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">If you've already invested a lot of time in Google Reader, check out<a class="vt-p" href="http://www.feedly.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Feedly</a> (shown up top), which not only presents your feeds in a gorgeous, blog-style layout, but also imports from Reader. That means with just a few clicks, you can resurrect your existing feed library—and give it a sweet makeover in the process.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Feedly is available for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, and even has mobile apps for Android and iOS.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">If those options seem overly fancy and/or cluttered for your tastes, check out <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.skimr.co/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Skimr</a>, a bare-bones, mobile-friendly feed reader that's already stocked with popular tech sites (All Things Digital, the Verge, etc.—but no PC World?! Ahem!). Sign up for a free account and you can add sites of your own.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">By the way, if you are indeed migrating from Google Reader, Lifehacker explains how you can <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2013/03/how-to-export-your-google-reader-account/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">use Google Takeout export your Reader feeds</a>, which can then be imported into Skimr.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">So those are my picks. Now let's hear yours. If you've found an RSS reader that beats the pants off Google Reader, tell me about it in the comments!</p></span>

Three great alternatives to Google Reader

Skimr Not again, Google! First you announced plans to  shut down iGoogle , the popular but apparently not profitable Web portal, and n...

Read more »

Three great alternatives to Google Reader

<div class="imageContainer580xX" style="width:320px;height:auto;clear:both;margin:auto;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:19px"><img class="largeImage imgId100029181 " itemprop="image" src="http://zapt0.staticworld.net/images/article/2013/03/feedly-hfpc-100029181-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 320px; max-width: 100%;"></div> <div class="department" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;overflow:hidden"><a class="topCatLink" href="http://www.pcworld.com/category/websites" style="color:rgb(172,31,43);float:left;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px"><br> </a></div><span itemprop="articleBody description text" style><img alt="" border="0" height="236" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/03/skimr-100029182-medium.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="300">Skimr<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> Not again, Google!</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">First you announced plans to <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/259022/two_more_alternatives_to_your_igoogle_home_page.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">shut down iGoogle</a>, the popular but apparently not profitable Web portal, and now comes word that <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2030781/google-reader-is-dead.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Google Reader will be next to get the axe</a>.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">What's next: Gmail?!</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Yeah, I realize you're in the business to make money, and if Reader isn't adding to the coffers, it's gotta go. But it's hard on us customers when you give us such cool stuff for free, then decide a few years later to pull the plug.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">I guess we'll survive. And maybe we'll find an even better place to house and manage our RSS feeds, which Reader did well but not very prettily.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> For example, there's <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.netvibes.com/en" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Netvibes</a>, which was actually on my <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/258815/three_alternatives_to_your_igoogle_home_page.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">original list of alternatives to iGoogle</a>. Although it's more of a Web portal than a dedicated RSS reader, it's easy to stock with RSS feeds—great if you're looking to kill two birds with one stone.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">If you've already invested a lot of time in Google Reader, check out<a class="vt-p" href="http://www.feedly.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Feedly</a> (shown up top), which not only presents your feeds in a gorgeous, blog-style layout, but also imports from Reader. That means with just a few clicks, you can resurrect your existing feed library—and give it a sweet makeover in the process.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Feedly is available for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, and even has mobile apps for Android and iOS.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">If those options seem overly fancy and/or cluttered for your tastes, check out <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.skimr.co/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Skimr</a>, a bare-bones, mobile-friendly feed reader that's already stocked with popular tech sites (All Things Digital, the Verge, etc.—but no PC World?! Ahem!). Sign up for a free account and you can add sites of your own.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">By the way, if you are indeed migrating from Google Reader, Lifehacker explains how you can <a class="vt-p" href="http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2013/03/how-to-export-your-google-reader-account/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">use Google Takeout export your Reader feeds</a>, which can then be imported into Skimr.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">So those are my picks. Now let's hear yours. If you've found an RSS reader that beats the pants off Google Reader, tell me about it in the comments!</p></span>

Three great alternatives to Google Reader

Skimr Not again, Google! First you announced plans to  shut down iGoogle , the popular but apparently not profitable Web portal, and n...

Read more »

How to test-drive Office 2013 free for six months

<div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px"><div style="border-top-width:1px;border-top-style:solid;border-top-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(204,204,204);margin-bottom:20px;overflow:hidden;padding:5px 0px;font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px"> <br></div></div><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px"><img alt="" border="0" height="186" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/office-2013-trial-100034811-orig.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="267"><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> Back in November, I told you how to<a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2014303/take-microsoft-office-2013-for-a-60-day-test-drive.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">get a 60-day trial of the then-new Microsoft Office 2013</a>. That offer is still good, although it does require you to register with TechNet.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">If that's not an option, or you received an Office 2013 trial on a new PC or downloaded it via other channels, you're typically limited to 30 days to test-drive the suite.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">That's enough for some users, but to really see how it meshes with your operation, a longer trial would be better. Heck, maybe you just need some extra time to save up for the software, which isn't exactly cheap.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Fortunately, <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/196358/office_2010_make_your_free_test_drive_last_180_days.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">as you could with Office 2010</a>, Microsoft allows you to "reset" your Office 2013 trial as many as five times, effectively giving you six months (more precisely, 180 days) of free usage. Although this option was really intended for IT administrators, there's no reason you can't use it with your own installed trial.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">As explained by <a href="http://www.howtogeek.com/148347/how-to-extend-your-office-2013365-trial-to-180-days/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">the How-To Geek</a>, the process requires a short and simple visit to a command line. Here's the simplest way to go about it:</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">1. Open Explorer.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">2. Click inside the address bar, then paste in the following line:</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> <strong>C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\OfficeSoftwareProtectionPlatform</strong></p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">3. Click inside the address bar once again, then type in the following: <strong>OSPPREARM.EXE</strong></p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">4. Press <strong>Enter</strong> and you should be all set.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The key thing to remember is that you must do this every 30 days; because once your trial expires, there's no going back. So mark your calendar.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Because I'm already using the retail version of Office 2013, I haven't been able to put this to the test on my system. But based on anecdotal evidence I've read, it works. Your mileage may vary, of course.</p> </span>

How to test-drive Office 2013 free for six months

Back in November, I told you how to get a 60-day trial of the then-new Microsoft Office 2013 . That offer is still good, although it d...

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How to test-drive Office 2013 free for six months

<div style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px"><div style="border-top-width:1px;border-top-style:solid;border-top-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(204,204,204);margin-bottom:20px;overflow:hidden;padding:5px 0px;font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px"> <br></div></div><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;line-height:21px"><img alt="" border="0" height="186" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/office-2013-trial-100034811-orig.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="267"><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> Back in November, I told you how to<a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2014303/take-microsoft-office-2013-for-a-60-day-test-drive.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">get a 60-day trial of the then-new Microsoft Office 2013</a>. That offer is still good, although it does require you to register with TechNet.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">If that's not an option, or you received an Office 2013 trial on a new PC or downloaded it via other channels, you're typically limited to 30 days to test-drive the suite.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">That's enough for some users, but to really see how it meshes with your operation, a longer trial would be better. Heck, maybe you just need some extra time to save up for the software, which isn't exactly cheap.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Fortunately, <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/196358/office_2010_make_your_free_test_drive_last_180_days.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">as you could with Office 2010</a>, Microsoft allows you to "reset" your Office 2013 trial as many as five times, effectively giving you six months (more precisely, 180 days) of free usage. Although this option was really intended for IT administrators, there's no reason you can't use it with your own installed trial.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">As explained by <a href="http://www.howtogeek.com/148347/how-to-extend-your-office-2013365-trial-to-180-days/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">the How-To Geek</a>, the process requires a short and simple visit to a command line. Here's the simplest way to go about it:</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">1. Open Explorer.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">2. Click inside the address bar, then paste in the following line:</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> <strong>C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\OfficeSoftwareProtectionPlatform</strong></p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">3. Click inside the address bar once again, then type in the following: <strong>OSPPREARM.EXE</strong></p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">4. Press <strong>Enter</strong> and you should be all set.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The key thing to remember is that you must do this every 30 days; because once your trial expires, there's no going back. So mark your calendar.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Because I'm already using the retail version of Office 2013, I haven't been able to put this to the test on my system. But based on anecdotal evidence I've read, it works. Your mileage may vary, of course.</p> </span>

How to test-drive Office 2013 free for six months

Back in November, I told you how to get a 60-day trial of the then-new Microsoft Office 2013 . That offer is still good, although it d...

Read more »

Use SpeedTest to help diagnose Internet problems

<div class="imageContainer580xX" style="width:320px;height:auto;clear:both;margin:auto;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:19px"><img class="largeImage imgId100034450 " itemprop="image" src="http://zapt1.staticworld.net/images/article/2013/04/speedtest-download-100034450-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 320px; max-width: 100%;"></div> <div class="department" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;overflow:hidden"><a class="topCatLink" href="http://www.pcworld.com/category/networking-hardware" style="color:rgb(172,31,43);float:left;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px"><span style="line-height:1.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:15px">For the past week or so, I've been trying to pinpoint a problem with my Internet connection.</span><br> </a></div><span itemprop="articleBody description text" style><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Usually I blame Comcast, my ISP, but a typical Comcast outage is exactly that: a total interruption of service. I can tell from looking at the System Tray network icon that there's no connection.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">This time, however, the problem was intermittent. Sometimes my connection would slow to a crawl, other times it would disappear altogether for a few minutes. But the network icon didn't indicate a loss of service.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Time for some detective work. Sherlock Holmes has a magnifying glass; I use<a href="http://www.speedtest.net/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">SpeedTest</a>. This free service runs a quick, well, speed test on your Internet connection. It's a handy way to pinpoint the source of an Internet slowdown.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">First I ran it on my laptop, a new Samsung I've been road-testing the past couple weeks. Sure enough, my normally speedy Comcast connection proved very sluggish: Download performance ranged from around 2-8Mbps, and varied wildly each time I re-ran the test. Normally I see an impressive 30Mbps (or even higher).</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">That alone didn't help determine if the problem lay with Comcast, my router, my laptop, or something else, but this did: I then ran SpeedTest on my iPhone (which, at home, stays connected to the same Wi-Fi network, natch). The service offers <a href="http://www.speedtest.net/mobile.php" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">free mobile apps for Android and iOS</a>.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Lo and behold, the iPhone blazed through the test, posting the high numbers I expected. So the problem wasn't with Comcast or my router. The problem was with my laptop. Now I could focus on other possible culprits.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">SpeedTest is great for this kind of process-of-elimination troubleshooting. As long as you have another device in the house, be it a smartphone, tablet, or second PC, you can compare results side by side.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">By the way, my issue turned out to be a combination of Wi-Fi drivers and a Samsung-specific Google Chrome bug—but that's a hassle story for another day.</p></span>

Use SpeedTest to help diagnose Internet problems

For the past week or so, I've been trying to pinpoint a problem with my Internet connection. Usually I blame Comcast, my ISP, but a ...

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Use SpeedTest to help diagnose Internet problems

<div class="imageContainer580xX" style="width:320px;height:auto;clear:both;margin:auto;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:19px"><img class="largeImage imgId100034450 " itemprop="image" src="http://zapt1.staticworld.net/images/article/2013/04/speedtest-download-100034450-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 320px; max-width: 100%;"></div> <div class="department" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;overflow:hidden"><a class="topCatLink" href="http://www.pcworld.com/category/networking-hardware" style="color:rgb(172,31,43);float:left;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px"><span style="line-height:1.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:15px">For the past week or so, I've been trying to pinpoint a problem with my Internet connection.</span><br> </a></div><span itemprop="articleBody description text" style><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Usually I blame Comcast, my ISP, but a typical Comcast outage is exactly that: a total interruption of service. I can tell from looking at the System Tray network icon that there's no connection.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">This time, however, the problem was intermittent. Sometimes my connection would slow to a crawl, other times it would disappear altogether for a few minutes. But the network icon didn't indicate a loss of service.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Time for some detective work. Sherlock Holmes has a magnifying glass; I use<a href="http://www.speedtest.net/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">SpeedTest</a>. This free service runs a quick, well, speed test on your Internet connection. It's a handy way to pinpoint the source of an Internet slowdown.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">First I ran it on my laptop, a new Samsung I've been road-testing the past couple weeks. Sure enough, my normally speedy Comcast connection proved very sluggish: Download performance ranged from around 2-8Mbps, and varied wildly each time I re-ran the test. Normally I see an impressive 30Mbps (or even higher).</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">That alone didn't help determine if the problem lay with Comcast, my router, my laptop, or something else, but this did: I then ran SpeedTest on my iPhone (which, at home, stays connected to the same Wi-Fi network, natch). The service offers <a href="http://www.speedtest.net/mobile.php" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">free mobile apps for Android and iOS</a>.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Lo and behold, the iPhone blazed through the test, posting the high numbers I expected. So the problem wasn't with Comcast or my router. The problem was with my laptop. Now I could focus on other possible culprits.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">SpeedTest is great for this kind of process-of-elimination troubleshooting. As long as you have another device in the house, be it a smartphone, tablet, or second PC, you can compare results side by side.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">By the way, my issue turned out to be a combination of Wi-Fi drivers and a Samsung-specific Google Chrome bug—but that's a hassle story for another day.</p></span>

Use SpeedTest to help diagnose Internet problems

For the past week or so, I've been trying to pinpoint a problem with my Internet connection. Usually I blame Comcast, my ISP, but a ...

Read more »

21 tips for supercharging your cloud storage

<div style="width:320px;min-height:auto;clear:both;margin:auto;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:19px"><img src="http://zapt5.staticworld.net/images/article/2013/04/cloudsecrets_primary-100034887-gallery.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:320px;max-width:100%"></div> <div style="margin:0px 0px 10px;overflow:hidden"><a href="http://adfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/12309-189045-1105-2?mpt=%%CACHEBUSTER%%" style="color:rgb(51,51,51);float:none;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;font-size:10px;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase;background-image:url(http://csmb.staticworld.net/images/ads/DellLogo-Blu-54px.png);display:block;width:300px;min-height:30px;text-align:right;padding-right:30px;vertical-align:middle;line-height:30px;background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat" target="_blank">PRESENTED BY</a><a href="http://www.pcworld.com/category/business-marketing" style="color:rgb(172,31,43);float:left;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.7em;font-size:15px">Cloud storage isn't just for files and photos. With the right tools and services, you can do much more: organize data, or automate uploads and downloads. Synchronize, of course. Score extra space without paying an extra cent. Run a basic Web site from a cloud service, manage media, or even fax.</span><br> </a></div><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">Best of all, most of the following cloud secrets have a similar price tag: zero. Read on to learn how to leverage online storage services in ways you never dreamed possible.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)">ORGANIZE AND AUTOMATE</h2><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"> <strong style>1. IFTTT is your cloud-data gofer</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="388" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/03/ifttt-100030922-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="580">IFTTT<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> The amazing trigger service <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2029140/review-ifttt-connects-social-media-photo-and-other-web-services.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" title="Review: IFTTT connects social media, photo, and other Web services">If This Then That</a> was practically designed with cloud storage in mind. Like your own virtual gofer, you can set it to fetch and carry cloud-based data from one service to another. For example, it has a prewritten "recipe" that will<a href="https://ifttt.com/recipes/62844" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">automatically upload to SkyDrive any Facebook photos you've been tagged in</a>. It has another that <a href="https://ifttt.com/recipes/46553" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">archives Gmail messages to your Box account</a>. You can even <a href="https://ifttt.com/recipes/56" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">save all your Instagram photos to Dropbox</a>. Of course, those are just the recipes others have created. IFTTT also lets you cook up your own for just about any action/reaction you can imagine.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong style>2. One cloud service to rule them all</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="63" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/otixo-100034876-orig.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="219"><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> It's not uncommon to have different files spread across different cloud services. The hassle, of course, is finding the file you're after. <a href="http://otixo.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Otixo</a> makes this easier by giving you access to Amazon S3, Box, Dropbox, SugarSync, and other services under one roof. You can search across all your accounts, preview and share documents and photos, and even move or copy files from one cloud to another. Otixo costs $4.99 per month, or $47.90 annually.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong style>3. Email attachments to your cloud drive</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="61" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/sendtodropbox-100034873-orig.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="309"><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> Typically, when you want to add a file to your cloud account, you must jump through the hoops of uploading it via a browser or a desktop or mobile app. But there's another way: email. Evernote and SugarSync, for example, assign you a custom email address where you can forward any attachment. <a href="https://sendtodropbox.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Send to Dropbox</a> is a free service that forwards emailed attachments to your eponymous Dropbox folder. And <a href="http://drv.io/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Drv.io</a> (currently in beta) offers a similar capability for Google Drive users.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong style>4. Migrate your files from one cloud service to another</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> So you've run out of free storage space on Dropbox and want to move to SkyDrive's roomier digs. Just one problem: How do you get all your files from Cloud A to Cloud B? Try <a href="http://mover.io/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Mover</a>, a free app that helps you transfer data from one storage service to another. It supports Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, SugarSync, company FTP servers, and just about every other online storage source. There's a bit of a learning curve, though, so you might need your local IT guru to get started.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong style>5. Make the cloud your default download destination</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> By default, most Web browsers deposit files in your Downloads folder, and then you turn around and upload those files to a cloud service. You can take out the middleman (i.e., you) by venturing into your browser's download settings and changing the destination to any folder that's already set to sync. Now you've got an easy, automated way to back up or share your downloads.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong style>6. Autosave Gmail attachments to the cloud</strong></h2><span><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"> <span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.7em;font-size:15px">You already know that some online drives let you forward email attachments, but that's an extra step.</span><a href="http://attachments.me/" style="font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.7em;font-size:15px;color:rgb(37,167,215)">Attachments.me</a><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.7em;font-size:15px">, a free browser plug-in for Chrome and Firefox, offers one-click attachment uploading to Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, or SkyDrive. You can also set up rules so that future emails from, say, a particular contact get automatically routed to a specific service.</span></h2> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><span style="font-size:15px">SYNCHRONIZE</span><br></h2><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"> <strong>7. Sync unlimited folders among PCs<img alt="" border="0" height="405" src="http://images.pcworld.com/images/article/2012/04/cubby-11347903.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="750"></strong></h2> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Cloud storage service <a href="http://www.cubby.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Cubby</a> operates much like Dropbox and its kind, but with one key advantage: It lets you sync unlimited folders between your PCs. You can use that feature to, say, share photo albums with family members or business documents with coworkers, or to back up important data to a spare PC. Everything you add to designated share folders gets automatically synced to your remote "cubbies."</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong>8. Sync any folder to your SkyDrive account</strong></h2><a href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/skydrive-100034825-orig.jpg" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="167" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/skydrive-100034825-medium.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="300"></a>Microsoft SkyDrive<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> Microsoft's SkyDrive gives you 7GB for free, but there's one catch: Only files contained in your SkyDrive folder get synced to the service. Software developer Jan Hannemann's<a href="http://ssx.codeplex.com/releases/view/101941" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">SkyShellEx</a> works a little behind-the-scenes magic to let you sync any folder to your SkyDrive account. This trick does require letting it move your files from their original locations, but from your perspective, your folder structure will remain the same. (Read<a href="http://janhannemann.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/sync-any-folder-to-skydrive-reloaded/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Hannemann's blog post</a> for a more detailed explanation.)</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong>9. Sync browser settings across all devices</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">You've probably spent years building a library of bookmarks, so it makes sense to back them up. Chrome and Firefox offer built-in bookmark syncing, which preserves your favorites (and passwords) in the event of data loss and also syncs them to other PCs running the same browser.</p> <img alt="" border="0" height="388" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2012/11/xmarks00-58-100012170-large.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="580">Xmarks<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> If you use Internet Explorer or Safari, check out <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2013681/review-xmarks-works-in-various-browsers-and-oss-to-sync-your-bookmarks.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank" title="Xmarks review and download">Xmarks</a>, a free sync tool that works the same way, but it also lets you access your bookmarks in any Web browser on any device.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong>STORAGE AND MORE STORAGE</strong></h2><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong>10. Get extra free space</strong></h2> <img alt="" border="0" height="352" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/dropbox_free_space-100034870-large.png" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="580">Get more gigabytes.<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> A free Dropbox account entitles you to 2GB of cloud storage, while SugarSync gives you 5GB. Not bad, but you can always use more. Thankfully, both services allow you to earn extra space without opening your wallet. For example, for each <a href="https://www.sugarsync.com/referral-invite" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">friend you refer to SugarSync</a>, you get an extra 500MB. Dropbox matches that offer, but<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/getspace" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">rewards you with even more space</a>when you complete a "getting started" checklist, connect to your Facebook and/or Twitter accounts, and perform various other tasks.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong>11. Create your own cloud storage service</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="248" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/owncloud-100034877-orig.png" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="280">OwnCloud<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> If you run a website, you might have copious amounts of spare online storage. <a href="http://owncloud.org/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">OwnCloud</a> helps you turn it into your own private Dropbox, able to sync and share files, calendars, notes, and more. You can use it with an existing domain or even a spare Linux machine in your home or office, and from there the sky's the limit. Setup does require a bit of technical savvy, but Lifehacker has a great tutorial on<a href="http://lifehacker.com/5993596/how-to-set-up-your-own-private-cloud-storage-service-in-five-minutes-with-owncloud" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">getting started with OwnCloud</a>.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong>12. Share some space, get some space</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"><a href="http://www.symform.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Symform </a>works off the idea that you have to give some cloud storage to get more cloud storage. The service gives you 10GB to start with, and you can earn lots more by contributing extra gigabytes from your own hard drive to its distributed network. Give 100GB of local storage, for example, and get 50GB of Symform storage. It's all secure, encrypted, and totally free.</p> <a href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/symform-100034925-orig.jpg" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="387" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/symform-100034925-large.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="580"></a>The more cloud storage you share via Symform, the more you can get for yourself.</span> <div><span><br></span></div><div><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>13. Save Web content to read later</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="388" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/instapaperandpocket-100032895-large.png" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="580">Instapaper and Pocket<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> It happens all the time: You notice a great review or feature story on PCWorld.com (or some other site), but you don't have time to read it right now. With one click of a bookmarklet, you can "clip" that page for later viewing. Both <a href="http://www.instapaper.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Instapaper</a> and <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2030081/review-pocket-lets-you-shelve-items-to-read-and-watch-when-the-time-is-right.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank" title="Pocket review and download">Pocket</a>can store your clips in the cloud and format them for easy, clutter-free reading on mobile devices.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>14. Stream your music library</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="343" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/google-play-music-100034822-large.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="580">Google Play<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> Liberate your music library from your PC by sending it to the cloud, making it available anywhere you go (and also acting as a handy backup). One of the best options is Google Play, which lets you upload up to 20,000 songs—including any you might have in iTunes—and stream them to other PCs and devices. Its Windows client automatically syncs newly added music, and there's a download option in case you need to restore your library.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>15. Publish a blog or website</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="83" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/pancakeio-100034874-orig.png" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="303"><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> Whether you need a quick-and-dirty website or you simply want to avoid paying domain and hosting charges, check out <a href="http://pancake.io/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Pancake.io</a>. This free tool turns your text files into webpages, and then it uploads them to your Dropbox account, which effectively serves as the host. For more advanced Web spinners, Pancake.io supports CSS, Markdown files, PDFs, GIFs, and other common file types.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>16. Back up your blog or website</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> Whether you blog about cupcakes or run an online cupcake business, it's vital to back up your site. You never know when a hacker might attack or a server might melt, destroying your hard work in the process. If you're a WordPress user, the <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-backup-to-dropbox/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">WordPress Backup to Dropbox plug-in</a> does exactly what its name suggests. For everyone else, <a href="https://mybackupbox.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Backup Box</a> can archive Drupal, Joomla, WordPress, and other sites to just about any cloud storage service. Both options are free.</p> <a href="https://mybackupbox.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="206" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/backup-box-100034927-large.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="580">Backup Box can archive Drupal, Joomla, WordPress, and other sites to just about any cloud storage service.</a><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"> <strong>WORK OFFLINE</strong></h2><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>17. Make your Google Docs available offline</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="390" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/googledriveoffline-100034814-large.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="580">Google Drive<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> Google Docs is great for creating and editing documents of all stripes, but if you're cut off from the Internet, you're cut off from your files, right? Wrong:<a href="https://tools.google.com/dlpage/drive" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Google Drive for Windows</a> syncs your cloud drive to your local drive, making documents available even when you're offline. However, you'll need to use Chrome for your Web browser, at least for Docs purposes, add the Google Drive Chrome app, and <a href="http://support.google.com/drive/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2375012&topic=2375002&ctx=topic" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">enable offline access</a>.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>18. Access your favorite Dropbox files offline</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> If you use the Dropbox app on your phone or tablet, there's a crafty way to make select documents available for offline viewing. Just open any given document, than tap the star icon to add it to your favorites list. The app stores those favorites locally, so you can access them even when there's no Internet connection—like when you're on a flight or subway train.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>FAX, PRINT, SCAN UTILITIES</strong></h2><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"> <strong>19. Send and receive faxes</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif">You can finally put the old fax machine out to pasture. Web-based <a href="http://www.hellofax.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">HelloFax</a>can integrate with most cloud storage services. Newly received fax pages will land right in your account for easy viewing, sharing, and archiving. Better still, you can fax documents directly from your cloud, meaning no more printing pages and then walking them to the fax machine or scanner.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>20. "Print" documents from your iDevice to Dropbox</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> Collobos' <a href="http://www.collobos.com/index.php" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">FingerPrint software for Windows</a> allows your iPhone or iPad to print to any connected printer, but it also supports virtual printing to cloud services like Dropbox and Evernote. That means you can route pretty much any email, photo, webpage, or other printable item from your iDevice directly to an online account. The only rub: FingerPrint isn't free. It'll cost you $19.95.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><strong>21. Turn your phone or tablet into a scanner</strong></h2><img alt="" border="0" height="233" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/04/genius-scan-100034926-small.jpg" style="border-width:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:auto;min-height:auto;max-width:100%;float:left" width="140">Genius Scan creates document images to store in the cloud.<p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif"> The camera built into your smartphone or tablet probably has sufficient resolution to capture documents. All you need is the right app to deliver those "scans" to the cloud-storage service of your choice. For example,<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doc-scan-scanner-to-scan-pdf/id453312964?mt=8" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Doc Scan</a> (iOS, Free), <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thegrizzlylabs.geniusscan" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Genius Scan</a>(Android, $1.59) and <a href="http://handyscan.jdbpocketware.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)" target="_blank">Handyscan</a>(Windows Phone, $2.99) will take a snapshot of any document, convert it to PDF if needed, and sync it to Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive, or a similar destination.</p> </div>

21 tips for supercharging your cloud storage

PRESENTED BY Cloud storage isn't just for files and photos. With the right tools and services, you can do much more: organize data...

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