09-09-2017, 11:08 AM
GMail Drive was a free third-party Windows Shell namespace extension ("add-on") for Google's Gmail. GMail Drive was not compatible with Google. It allowed a user to access a virtual drive stored in a Gmail account by making the contents of the Gmail account appear as a new network share on the user's workstation. To use this add-on, the user needed a Gmail email account. The plug-in enabled the user to use the standard copy and paste commands of the Windows desktop file to transfer files to and from the Gmail account as if it were a drive on the user's computer. Gmail Drive was based on GmailFS, a file system developed by Richard Jones. GMail Drive was released in 2004 and ran in 2005, which is prior to Google's later implementation of Google Drive launched on April 24, 2012. Starting in 2015, the official extension page declares the project dead.
Functions
For GMail Drive to work, the computer must be connected to the Internet and the user must have a Gmail account. A broadband connection is preferable, although it is not necessary, since all the operations are done through Gmail and, consequently, through Internet. GMail Drive uses the inbox of the Gmail account to store files and creates a virtual file system above the Gmail account, allowing the user to save and retrieve files stored in the Gmail account directly from the Windows Explorer. GMail Drive adds a new virtual drive to the computer in the My Computer folder, where the user can create new folders, copy and drag and drop files, but does not give an actual drive letter, such as C :, avoiding its use in all console applications, and some older Windows applications.
When the user creates a new file with GMail Drive, it generates an email message and posts it to the inbox of the Gmail account. The e-mail appears in the normal Inbox folder when you use the normal Gmail interface and the file is attached as an e-mail attachment. GMail Drive periodically checks the email account (using the Gmail search function) to see if new files have arrived and rebuild the directory structures of the virtual drive.
Several computers can connect to a Gmail account allowing GMail Drive to act as a multiuser file server. As a result, restrictions on the Gmail service also apply when using GMail Drive. For example, files larger than 25 MB can not be loaded, since the maximum file size of Gmail attachments is 25 MB. In the past, Gmail also prevented users from transferring certain types of files, such as executable or ZIP files that contained an executable file. Some users ignored this restriction by renaming the file extension or by placing it in a RAR or 7z file. This restriction has been lifted. A GNU software package called PhpGmailDrive even allows you to link different Gmail accounts and, with some manual changes, you can have a Gmail unit built from multiple Gmail accounts.
Functions
For GMail Drive to work, the computer must be connected to the Internet and the user must have a Gmail account. A broadband connection is preferable, although it is not necessary, since all the operations are done through Gmail and, consequently, through Internet. GMail Drive uses the inbox of the Gmail account to store files and creates a virtual file system above the Gmail account, allowing the user to save and retrieve files stored in the Gmail account directly from the Windows Explorer. GMail Drive adds a new virtual drive to the computer in the My Computer folder, where the user can create new folders, copy and drag and drop files, but does not give an actual drive letter, such as C :, avoiding its use in all console applications, and some older Windows applications.
When the user creates a new file with GMail Drive, it generates an email message and posts it to the inbox of the Gmail account. The e-mail appears in the normal Inbox folder when you use the normal Gmail interface and the file is attached as an e-mail attachment. GMail Drive periodically checks the email account (using the Gmail search function) to see if new files have arrived and rebuild the directory structures of the virtual drive.
Several computers can connect to a Gmail account allowing GMail Drive to act as a multiuser file server. As a result, restrictions on the Gmail service also apply when using GMail Drive. For example, files larger than 25 MB can not be loaded, since the maximum file size of Gmail attachments is 25 MB. In the past, Gmail also prevented users from transferring certain types of files, such as executable or ZIP files that contained an executable file. Some users ignored this restriction by renaming the file extension or by placing it in a RAR or 7z file. This restriction has been lifted. A GNU software package called PhpGmailDrive even allows you to link different Gmail accounts and, with some manual changes, you can have a Gmail unit built from multiple Gmail accounts.