Sometimes readers ask questions that I just can answer, like this one: “I have been using Carbonite for a few years and after reading your article on OneDrive, I am considering changing to OneDrive. Is this the right thing to do? Currently using 25 GB for files, photos, and music.”
I’m afraid I just can’t answer that question for you. Both are perfectly good services. If you aren’t familiar with Carbonite, it’s a service that offers cloud backups of your files, much in the way that OneDrive and DropBox do. OneDrive offers 5 GBs of storage for free. You can purchase an additional GB for $1.99 monthly. If you already have an Office 365 subscription, you’ll get 1 TB of storage included. I’m not sure which Carbonite plan you have, so I can’t be sure how the cost stacks up.
Are you pleased with Carbonite’s services? I will say that OneDrive is seamlessly integrated into Windows and I like that feature a lot.
One suggestion I might have is to try out OneDrive free plan for backing up some of your files while your yearly Carbonite subscription is still good. That way you can get some idea of how well OneDrive might work for you.
~ Cynthia
Carbonite, not sure about the others, but you need to consider just exactly what you want – mirror image of your computer or storage of your media. By that I mean storage so you can delete info from your pc (say to free up memory space) or just to keep a back up for your pc media. I wanted storage of my media, not a back up of what was on my pc – with Carbonite I discovered that if I deleted say photos, they were also deleted from Carbonite. Not what I wanted – so I decided on external hard drives. So decide your actual intention when getting these services. Good question, though, Trish
Carbonite seem like a better fit for someone that have actually have something that needs to be secured. OneDrive is as you said integrated into window which is what most people want. Quick access to your files. I would prefer that over anything. Its all the cloud either way you look at it. Only difference is what you want to pay for security.
OneDrive has taken over my photos. Every photo opens to OneDrive. This is recent and I don’t want it. I used to open them in Photo Gallery where I could edit them. In OneDrive I can’t. The screen I get doesn’t allow me to do anything. It indicated the photo is sending to One Drive, but none ever arrive plus I am locked out of accessing the photos or albums that are indicated photos are. How did I get into this and mostly how do I get out?? If I R clk and select Photo Gallery to open the photos, they never do open. It’s a real fix and I am baffled. Trish