If absolute control is your bag, you'll love i-drive. You set the schedule by which i-drive synchronizes files on your PC with those on the Web. Plus, i-drive gives you total control over which files and folders you share and with whom. But because i-drive's missing a way to access online files from within applications, it's not a good fit for all-around, everyday use. For that kind of functionality, sign up with X:drive or netdrive instead.

Infinite Storage Space--Sort Of
You don't need much brainpower to work with i-drive's interface, primarily because the front page lists the most recently uploaded files so that you don't need to hunt for them. Our only complaints: i-drive's main page doesn't show you how much storage space is still free, and you have to click through your i-drive home pages before you reach a page where you can upload files.

Speaking of space, don't let i-drive's "infinite drive" tag line fool you: it allocates only 50MB of storage space for your files. The "infinite" part comes into play only for files you download from one of this service's partners, including the Scour search engine and ZDNet. You can store an unlimited number of files from those sources.

Superior File Sharing
i-drive does everything you'd expect from an online file warehouse: it lets you upload files to the Web, retrieve files by downloading them, and share some (or all) of those files with friends or coworkers. And i-drive's file sharing is the most complete and flexible we've seen. It allows you to set access to entire folders or individual files either as public (anyone can access them) or private (only you can).

Smart Synchronization
But with its Sync and Filo features, i-drive really goes beyond the call of duty. Sync is a 923K download, available only for Windows. It does just what it says: synchronizes a folder on your PC's hard drive with an i-drive folder according to a schedule you set. It'll even dial up your Internet connection, log on to i-drive, synchronize the folders, and log off again. Very, very cool.

Filo, a download of less than 200K, is available for both Windows and the Mac. Think of this gizmo as a Web page capture service. After you install Filo, it will save any Web page with a right-click of the mouse. The pages land in your i-drive, where you can view them later.

Slow on the Uptake
Don't expect i-drive to perform quickly, however. It was one of the slowest services we tested, even when opening folders. But what really turned us off is that i-drive doesn't let you access online files from within applications or Windows Explorer. To edit a file stored on i-drive, you must download it from the online site using the Web interface, launch the application (Word, for example), then open the document from within Word. That adds to the hassle of using online storage.

i-drive is the right choice when you want to guarantee that your online files match those on your PC, but its inability to access files from standard desktop apps makes it hard to recommend. For everyday storage needs, it's not as sweet as X:drive or netdrive.