Sg3 on 5/5/2011 at 07:59
Can anyone recommend a good file hosting site? I used Mediafire until recently, when people reported that the Mediafire link I sent them infected their computer with malware. I don't know if it did or not, but I'm switching sites just in case.
Anyone know of one that doesn't have misleading popup ads, is simple to download from (i.e. your grandfather could download a file if you sent him the link), and doesn't charge money?
Koki on 5/5/2011 at 10:55
Quote Posted by Sg3
(i.e. your grandfather could download a file if you sent him the link)
Your post had a lot of wishful thinking until this part where it crossed into the realm of Oz
Sg3 on 5/5/2011 at 23:21
Heh-heh. I mean, a single clear download link instead of a bunch of misleading links saying "DOWNLOAD NOW," all but one of which lead to some ad site or malware or something.
Nameless Voice on 5/5/2011 at 23:41
I never had trouble with Mediafire, but then again I haven't seen ads in a
long time. Blocked and good riddance.
There used to be a really nice little service called senduit, which had no registration and let you upload 100mb, but would only keep it for up to 7 days. Really simple, no hassle site. Unfortunately, it has since broken, and will always report an error if you try to upload a file (wasting your entire upload time first, of course). I'd love to find another quick-and-simple site like that.
If you regularly share fairly small files and speed isn't a huge issue, you could consider setting up a server on your own computer and making it remotely accessible. Apache is fairly easy to set up, and there are pre-made WAMP server packages that would probably make installation even easier. The downsides are that a) the maximum download speed that people will get is the upload speed on your connection - usually fairly low (e.g. it might be 30KB/s), b) the server will only be accessible while your computer is on, and c) you will have issues with dynamic DNS if your IP address changes each time you connect.
You'll need to set up a dynamic DNS name for your server if you go with that approach - I use (
www.afraid.org) myself, as they have a lot of choice for different domains that you can choose a subdomain of for yourself. I never had much luck with the automatic DNS updated programs, though, so ended up doing it manually via their update URL. In turn, that means that my DNS was often out-of-date and people couldn't access my server, which was a pain.
I now have a router that runs TomatoUSB and can automatically update the Dynamic DNS every time its IP address changes, plus it also hosts the server itself so that it's accessible while my computer is off. :cool:
doctorfrog on 6/5/2011 at 00:04
Mediafire's always worked great for me, but I also have Adblock, like NV. Dropbox has a 'public folder' that allows you to create quick download links, which makes it pretty handy for distributing small files amongst a small circle of friends. I've used both of these with nary a complaint with people of varied backgrounds.
Got large files, or want to distribute among a larger number of people? Getting your own web space doesn't cost that much. There's only so much you can get for free.
edit: one thing I might add is that with any free service, you should always encrypt sensitive data, since you can never be sure about privacy.
PeeperStorm on 6/5/2011 at 01:14
What kind of files? Images? Video? Just general files? The dedicated services for various types tend to be less obnoxious.
BTW, check with your current service provider. You may already have some space included with your account.
Koki on 6/5/2011 at 09:01
It's been ages since I actually had to upload something, but what about Megaupload? It used to put you in nonexistant queues unless you were from the USA, but that's been solved for years. One advantage it certainly has over Mediafire is, it works with cookies disabled.
Sg3 on 6/5/2011 at 17:07
Thanks for the suggestions, folks.
Frog, I use Firefox so I've never had a problem using Mediafire, but apparently I.E. still has some issues.
Peeper, they're files which require a specific program to open them, so I can't host them on an image, video, or audio site.
Zerker on 6/5/2011 at 21:40
You can always sign up for (
http://www.dropbox.com) Dropbox and take advantage of the Public and Photo folders (as needed). It's free, you get 2 GB, and you can put whatever you want with no ads or any BS. You can then send them the "public link", which lets them instantly download the file without any wait screens or anything.
As a bonus, you can also use it for your own stuff and auto-sync said files between multiple PCs.
Sg3 on 6/5/2011 at 23:00
Dropbox does seem to be popular. Any criticisms? The Wikipedia page for it said nothing about any negatives, but one never knows what's been edited out.
Can you hotlink to Dropbox? You know, post a link to a picture hosted there, and the picture shows up in the browser instead of having to be downloaded by hand?
