Hack 8. Transfer a File Using Skype
Using Skype, you can transfer files quickly and securely, even while you talk or chat. Works with: Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X versions of Skype. You can use Skype to transfer files to other Skype users who have already authorized you. Indeed, it can be an easy way to transfer files among different machines in your own home or business (see "Transfer Files Among Diverse Machines" [Hack #57]).
You can initiate a file transfer in several different ways, as shown in Table 1-7.
Figure 1-10. Icons for sending a file to one Skype user, or to many at onceYou can initiate file transfers at any time, but they will not start until the recipient of a file accepts the transfer (see Figure 1-11). You can carry out several file transfers at the same time, but each will open a new window on the recipient's machine, asking to accept the file transfer. Having to confirm each file transfer can become tiresome very quickly if you have a large number of files to transfer. So, if you have large numbers of files, or whole directories to transfer, you might want to consider "Transfer Folders, Not Just Individual Files" [Hack #84] instead. Figure 1-11. A recipient of a file transfer must accept it before the transfer can beginLike all Skype traffic, file transfers are encrypted end to end, so they are secure while in transit. But remember, once downloaded to your machine, they are again in unencrypted form. Moreover, downloading files even from people you know and trust poses the threat of infecting your machine with a virus, so it's always a good idea to scan all incoming Skype file transfers (see "Scan Files Received via Skype for Viruses" [Hack #75]). Skype is rather tolerant of a less-than-perfect Internet connection between sender and recipient, and a file transfer will continue even in the face of interruptions and congestion on the Internet. But the speed at which a file will transfer from sender to recipient depends on several factors, not least the lesser of the bandwidths of the sender and recipient and whether you're in a call or otherwise using your Internet connection. Having a Skype-unfriendly connection might also slow file transfers to a crawl (see "Test Your Connection for Skype Friendliness" [Hack #38]). Having a Skype-friendly connection, or reconfiguring your Internet connection to get one, is one of the best ways to improve slow file-transfer speed. Even though Skype puts no limits on the types or sizes of files you can transfer, bear in mind that extremely large files will take a long time even if you and the recipient have a decent amount of bandwidth, and that a transfer might fail if the destination machine has insufficient disk space. The great virtues of Skype file transfer are that it's easy, it's secure, it works among different machines running different operating systems, and it will often work behind a firewall/Network Address Translation (NAT)/router and other obstacles when other methods simply won't. |