An Easy Way To Transfer Large Files To Yourself

I am constantly having to do work on client systems and many times this requires me to transfer large files to and from my computer and theirs. While FTP works great, many times there are firewall/IT restrictions which can make this more trouble than it is worth. Additionally, emailing files to myself usually has a limit on the file size.

The solution I have been working with for some time now is using my email drafts to transfer the files. Basically, I compose a message on one system and upload the files I need and then save the draft. I then open my email (web interface) on the other machine and download the files from my draft. Since I never send the email, the limitation doesn’t kick in. I have been able to successfully transfer over 200 MB of files in one swoop doing this.

I really have become fond of this method because it doesn’t require the client machine to have any software installed. I’m curious if anyone else has any other methods they can suggest.

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11 thoughts on “An Easy Way To Transfer Large Files To Yourself”

jim says:

September 9, 2009 at 3:13 am

try http://file-post.net/. It is much functional and easy to use.

Manish M. Shah says:

June 25, 2009 at 8:22 am

An option is File Apartment (http://www.fileapartment.com):

– Up to 1 GB
– Easy to use
– Free, Safe and secure
– No software to download or registration required
– Fast

Jerry Thomas says:

March 10, 2009 at 6:43 pm

I just tried to attach a file to an email I was composing in Gmail and it told me my file was over 20 meg and was too large so this did not work for me.

Gordon says:

March 6, 2009 at 12:31 am

what i’ve used is called adrive.com
it gives you 50gb of storage and i find that the folders and other such things are very user friendly.
also, unlike skydrive (or at least the last time i used it), it has an upload bar so i can actually see if it’s working…(skydrive never actually worked for me)

Steven Hammons says:

March 5, 2009 at 8:23 am

I have been using the draft e-mail method for file transfer with Gmail for over a year now, but I haven’t tried anything over 300 MB.

Another alternative I have been using is USB drive adapters. I use them to transfer files and folders that exceed 1 GB. Regardless, I think they should be a part of any IT technician’s tool bag.

Dean Pugh says:

March 5, 2009 at 5:15 am

Why don’t you just use the online storage that are available from places like SkyDrive in Windows Live, I don’t use it myself as I have a webserver, but I know of a few that are free and allow you to store around 5GB of data.

Works the same as your email suggestion, but this is designed for what you are after.

Probably people who use this service could give you more information on it than I can, but I am sure I have read an article or a recommendation on this site about these sorts of services.

Peter Srinivasan says:

March 4, 2009 at 10:52 pm

@LuisR Yeah that’s what I do. But, again, FTP issues? i.e. if you’re on a system who’s admin disabled ftp (college campus :< ) So, Box.net or similar is useful as well. I usually use a combo of my domains ftp, box.net, and gmail drafting.

Jon M. says:

March 4, 2009 at 10:01 pm

I have been using a website called filemail.com. It let’s you send up to 2gb of data for free!!! If you need to send more than 2gb at a time, there is a small monthly fee. But for most people the 2gb limit will do.

LuisR says:

March 4, 2009 at 9:01 pm

If the machines were local to each other there are better ways such as the local network if there is one or some form of storage media such as USB flash drives which are dirt cheap lately.

This is most useful for computers far apart from each other.

Another way of doing something like this is if you have a web site with large amounts of server space. You could upload very large files to your own web space and then download from any other place.

Bill says:

March 4, 2009 at 7:47 pm

I haven’t found the limit on Goggle docs. But it was designed for doing exactly what you are talking about. I upload to my Goggle docs and then can even share with others in/out of the organization.

If someone knows the size limitations please post.