External hard drives crash eventually, and that’s the truth. That’s why it’s more important than ever to switch to cloud-based backup like Dropbox. All you have to do is sign up for the service and then move the backup files to a specific folder on your Windows computer and they will be synced to Dropbox. Simple, right?
Well, this method has a few drawbacks. First, it’s a single-threaded system, which means only one file will be synced to Dropbox at a time. Also the speed is not that outstanding and can take a long time for large files.
Second, you should keep all your important files and folders in one folder under one drive. This way, your entire file organization goes in a throw.
So there should be a more viable system that allows you to seamlessly upload files to Dropbox without sacrificing speed or time. That’s where the direct method of uploading files (no syncing) to Dropbox comes into play.
You will need two tools for this method. One of the tools is RaiDrive and the other is TeraCopy.
RaiDrive lets you create a virtual drive on your PC running Windows 10 (without taking up real space), while the other helps you seamlessly copy files to Dropbox.
Advantages of This Method
- First of all, you will taste the advantages of uploading multiple files. Unlike the traditional sync method, here you can upload multiple files and folders to Dropbox. And you get good speed compared to Dropbox sync.
- Second, you can copy files from multiple locations/drives of your PC. And the best part is that you have to right-click on a file to copy it to Dropbox.
- It also has the advantage of checking the file checksum at the end of each upload. This way you will know if the installation you started was successful or not.
- More importantly, with this method you don’t need to create additional drivers on your Windows PC. And compared to selective syncs, this is a much better option.
Now that we’ve identified the advantages, let’s see how to upload files to Dropbox without syncing.
1. How to Create a Network Driver
As mentioned above, we will take the help of RaiDrive. Creates a network drive from Dropbox’s storage on your Windows 10 PC. This way, you can explore all your files from the comfort of Windows Explorer.
Stage 1: Once RaiDrive is installed, click the Add icon at the top and select Dropbox from the list.
Step 2: Here you can also select the name of the network drive by clicking the drop-down menu for Drive.
Stage 3: Once done, you need to grant access to your Dropbox account.
Your account will be linked after the app authenticates your credentials.
Initially, you will not see any progress as the tool will index first and then pull the contents of your Dropbox folder to that drive.
Quickly Upload Files to Dropbox
For the next step, we will use a third-party tool called TeraCopy. It is a free tool designed to seamlessly copy content at the highest possible speed.
Unlike the usual copy and paste, you get a lot of easy-to-use options.
Stage 1: After installing the tool, copy the file you want and press the Ctrl+V key combination. Windows will now give you two options – Copy with TeraCopy or Copy with Explorer.
Select the previous one and the installation process will start instantly. You will be able to see the progress of all the files you selected, as shown in the screenshot below.
So what difference does it bring to the table? For starters, you can have multiple install sessions.
All you have to do is tap the little Plus icon in the lower left corner and you will see a mini copy window. Now, simply drag and drop your files into this window; You need to be sorted.
Yes, it’s that easy.
Step 2: Other than that, you can set up a few checks to notify you when a file collision occurs. Error messages will be displayed directly in the window. To see all the copy options, simply click the Unattended checkbox on the right side of the screen.
Once the files are uploaded, you will be able to see the same in your Dropbox account. Just like you see it in the virtual drive of your Windows PC. You can thank me later.
Stage 3: To calculate the size of a file or folder, select the folder and tap the three-dot button. Then click Calculate size to check the size.
Note that for this to happen, the default Sort must be set to Size.
Limitations of This Method
This method is not without its limitations. First, the entire load fails in the event of a network connection failure. In this case, you will have to redo the whole process.
The solution is to start the process over. Next, click the Unattended checkbox and select ‘Replace all files if size is different’.
And it will handle all collisions and file mismatches.
Upload Files, Remove Issues
The combination of TeraCopy and RaiDrive gives you a hassle-free copying process. And the best part is that the process happens silently in the background. And the best part is that you can see the remaining space directly from your computer. If you found another method to move several GB/TB of data from Windows PC to cloud storage using multiple threads, share the details in the comments below.
Next: Want to download albums of all your Google Photos to your computer? Read the post below to discover how.
