I’ve been using Dropbox to sync my PersonalBrain between multiple computers for a few weeks now. Dropbox copies files via the internet. As long as you follow the rule of ensuring you’re not running two copies of PB simultaneously — in other words, let the sync finish before firing up PersonalBrain— it’s robust. Keep up the practice of regular brainzips just in case.

For your initial load I suggest you try:

  1. Leaving a comment below requesting that I refer you to Dropbox. Click here as my referral to Dropbox. As a pro member the company provides me 50GB of space plus and additional 500mb for each referral for each party (up to an addition 16.0gb). So if I refer you then you will have 2.5gb to start with and I’ll gain as well. Enter your email address in the appropriate field. It’s not publically displayed and you’ll receive an invitation from my personal address.
  2. Register and install Dropbox on Computer A and Computer B.
  3. Practice with some non-brain files until you’re happy and understand the mechanics.
  4. Turn off Dropbox on Computer B.
  5. Copy (not move) your brain to the My Dropbox folder on Computer A.
  6. Let the sync finish — could be hours depending on bandwidth and size.
  7. Copy the same files to Computer B — or in other words, pre-load the files. This saves bandwidth and time.
  8. Start Dropbox on Computer B.
  9. Wait for the sync to finish before starting PB — it will be quicker because many of the files are already there.
Usual disclaimers about you being responsible for your data and adequate backups apply. Keep original copies until you’re sure and then keep them anyway. I’d hate for you to lose your brain. Yesterday I setup a new PC and thought it was right using the above method. Somehow I’d missed something but was able to recover by reloading a brainzip over the Computer B files.

You can have Dropbox running while you are using PersonalBrain. It will be able to update most files but not all. These will update as soon as you close out of PB (usually within a minute or two). If you shut down your PC before checking at the end of the day you risk getting out of sync so be diligent. It will take only a moment.