In my earlier posts "UMPC "First Impressions" and "Getting it set up" I discussed my initial impressions about the tabletkiosk eo™ UMPC v7110 and some software installation topics as I began integrating a ultra mobile PC into my appraisal and data collection work flow.
Now that I've got my tablet PC connected to the Internet and to my office peer-to-peer network via WiFi, I'm able to start installing appraisal and productivity software. For me that means applications like MS Office 2003, Apex MSTT v3, and a la mode Aurora.
Since the tabletkiosk eo™ UMPC v7110 does not have a CD drive one has to come up with other ways to install software applications. In the case of Apex MSTT, I was able to download that directly from their web site, but MS Office and WinTOTAL are a bit large for that method.
So how do I load my software CD onto my tablet PC? The answer is simple. Find a desktop or laptop computer on your network and make it's CD/DVD drive "shareable" across the network. Then put your CD into the drive, and click on [Add New Software] in the tablet's Windows Control Panel, browsing to the shared drive. Once you find the set-up file on the CD, the software will install just like the drive was in your tablet.
How do I keep my tablet and office computer files in sync? The eo™ UMPC v7110 "Looks" like a big PDA but it's not. It's a for-real computer running the Tablet version of Windows XP. That means that it's not going to be able to use ActiveSync to keep your file folders in sync.
So NOW WHAT? Read on . . .
You might remember that yesterday, I installed Folder Share on both my eo and my desktop computers. FolderShareTM is a service that allows you to securely keep files synchronized between your devices, share files with friends or colleagues, and remotely download your files from any web browser. NOW you're beginning to understand why I installed it . . .Right?
- FolderShare does much more than move files from computer A to computer B. Unlike FTP programs, FolderShare allows you to create a library of your files that you can download and modify from anywhere without having to use a special program.
- FolderShare can automatically keep the contents of folders on multiple computers synchronized.
- FolderShare works in the background to automatically recognize modified files and auto-upload them to other computers connected to your library.
What does all that mean to ME? That means that I can set up a file sharing relationship between my office computer and my tablet (across the Internet) so that my appraisal files are always in sync. That also means that one could establish a file sharing relationship with other appraisers that are in training or that are independent contractors.
In MY case, I want to start out slowly and see how this will work out for me. I've decided to set up a simple single-folder file sharing of my 2006 appraisal files in WinTOTAL. That's relatively simple for me as I set up a new folder each year (2206, 2005, 2004) and then all files for that year are placed into the the folder.
To Get Started . . . I downloaded and installed the FolderShare Satellite. During the installation, I created an account. Once the Satellite was installed and running, I clicked the FolderShare icon in my system tray and selected My FolderShare to login to the FolderShare website to start using the service.
With the devices on-line, you'll be able to see them sort of like you can when you click on [Network Places] in Windows explorer. Each screen will guide you through the simple process of selecting folders that you want to keep in sync.
In my case I'm wanting to select the appraisal files in my desktop computer. Folder Share will help you select files by type or (as in my case) allow you to browse to a specific folder.
Once I selected my "Host" file folder, I was prompted to find my eo Tablet PC and browse to a folder that I wanted the selected file to be placed.
Once I had browsed to the eo, I found a folder I had set up in WinTOTAL. Folder Share allows me to name the "Library" folder so that I can easily find it later on. It will also give me the options to have the files "automatically" stay in sync or to do it manually when I make the choice.
CAUTION!! This is a bi-directional file sharing! That means that if you DELETE a file on the tablet (remote computer) it will also be deleted on the host (desktop) computer!!
Author: Brian J. Davis, RAA - Brian Davis & Associates - Brian has over 22 years of appraisal experience in Central, IL and hosts the Appraisal Scoop blog and the WinTOTAL Users Group an email forum for appraisers.
Recent Comments