Despite the growing popularity of portable USB memory devices, some people still prefer to store their files online so that they are available from any PC. If you're among them, then this program is for you.

IDrive is a free online storage service that grants you up to 2 GB of space to store any kind of files. Its main purpose is to create backup copies of your most important documents, but I guess you can use it to save just about anything. It's a great way to share files between remote computers, or a desktop and laptop PC.

IDrive is very easy to use because its interface is very similar to that of Windows standard File Explorer. Data is categorized in a tree-like structure, and you only need to check those folders and files that you want to backup. The backup process can take a while (we uploaded about 45 MB in 20 minutes during our tests) but the good thing is that you can leave the program running in the background and even limit the amount of bandwidth used by it. Besides the Explorer-like interface, IDrive also adds a new mapped drive to your "My PC" folder where you can check the contents uploaded to the IDrive storage service.

Generally speaking, IDrive is a great idea. I think it's a good alternative to offline backups and other removable storage solutions such as USB devices or even recordable CD. On the downside, the program lacks a faster response when moving between options and menus.

A free, easy tool that enables you to have a backup copy of your files always available.