<s>
GMail	B-Protocol
Drive	I-Protocol
was	O
a	O
free	O
third-party	B-General_Concept
Windows	B-Application
Shell	O
namespace	O
extension	O
(	O
"	O
add-on	O
"	O
)	O
for	O
Google	B-Application
's	I-Application
Gmail	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
GMail	B-Protocol
Drive	I-Protocol
was	O
not	O
supported	O
by	O
Google	B-Application
.	I-Application
</s>
<s>
It	O
allowed	O
a	O
user	O
to	O
access	O
a	O
virtual	O
drive	O
stored	O
in	O
a	O
Gmail	B-Application
account	O
by	O
causing	O
the	O
contents	O
of	O
the	O
Gmail	B-Application
account	O
to	O
appear	O
as	O
a	O
new	O
network	B-General_Concept
share	I-General_Concept
on	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
workstation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
order	O
to	O
use	O
this	O
add-on	O
,	O
the	O
user	O
needed	O
a	O
Gmail	B-Application
e-mail	O
account	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
add-on	O
enabled	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
use	O
the	O
standard	O
Windows	B-Application
desktop	O
file	O
copy	B-General_Concept
and	I-General_Concept
paste	I-General_Concept
commands	O
to	O
transfer	O
files	O
to	O
and	O
from	O
the	O
Gmail	B-Application
account	O
as	O
if	O
it	O
were	O
a	O
drive	O
on	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gmail	B-Protocol
Drive	I-Protocol
was	O
based	O
upon	O
GmailFS	O
,	O
a	O
file	O
system	O
developed	O
by	O
Richard	O
Jones	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GMail	B-Protocol
Drive	I-Protocol
was	O
published	O
in	O
2004	O
and	O
functional	O
as	O
early	O
as	O
2005	O
which	O
predates	O
Google	B-Application
's	I-Application
later	O
implementation	O
of	O
Google	B-Application
Drive	I-Application
released	O
on	O
April	O
24	O
,	O
2012	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
order	O
for	O
GMail	B-Protocol
Drive	I-Protocol
to	O
operate	O
,	O
the	O
computer	O
must	O
be	O
connected	O
to	O
the	O
Internet	O
and	O
the	O
user	O
must	O
have	O
a	O
Gmail	B-Application
account	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
broadband	O
connection	O
is	O
preferable	O
,	O
though	O
not	O
necessary	O
,	O
as	O
all	O
operations	O
are	O
done	O
through	O
Gmail	B-Application
and	O
consequently	O
over	O
the	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GMail	B-Protocol
Drive	I-Protocol
uses	O
the	O
inbox	O
of	O
the	O
Gmail	B-Application
account	O
to	O
store	O
files	O
and	O
creates	O
a	O
virtual	O
filesystem	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
the	O
Gmail	B-Application
account	O
,	O
enabling	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
save	O
and	O
retrieve	O
files	O
stored	O
on	O
the	O
Gmail	B-Application
account	O
directly	O
from	O
inside	O
Windows	B-Application
Explorer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GMail	B-Protocol
Drive	I-Protocol
adds	O
a	O
new	O
virtual	O
drive	O
to	O
the	O
computer	O
under	O
the	O
My	O
Computer	O
folder	O
,	O
where	O
the	O
user	O
can	O
create	O
new	O
folders	O
,	O
copy	O
and	O
drag-and-drop	O
files	O
to	O
,	O
but	O
does	O
not	O
give	O
an	O
actual	O
drive	O
letter	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
C	O
:	O
,	O
preventing	O
its	O
use	O
in	O
all	O
console	B-Application
applications	O
,	O
and	O
some	O
older	O
Windows	B-Application
applications	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
the	O
user	O
creates	O
a	O
new	O
file	O
using	O
GMail	B-Protocol
Drive	I-Protocol
,	O
it	O
generates	O
an	O
e-mail	O
and	O
posts	O
it	O
to	O
the	O
Gmail	B-Application
account	O
's	O
inbox	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
e-mail	O
appears	O
in	O
the	O
normal	O
Inbox	O
folder	O
when	O
using	O
the	O
normal	O
Gmail	B-Application
interface	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
file	O
is	O
attached	O
as	O
an	O
e-mail	O
attachment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GMail	B-Protocol
Drive	I-Protocol
periodically	O
checks	O
the	O
mail	O
account	O
(	O
using	O
the	O
Gmail	B-Application
search	O
function	O
)	O
to	O
see	O
if	O
new	O
files	O
have	O
arrived	O
and	O
to	O
rebuild	O
the	O
virtual	O
drive	O
's	O
directory	O
structures	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Multiple	O
computers	O
can	O
connect	O
to	O
one	O
Gmail	B-Application
account	O
thus	O
allowing	O
GMail	B-Protocol
Drive	I-Protocol
to	O
act	O
as	O
a	O
multi-user	O
file	O
server	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Consequently	O
,	O
restrictions	O
on	O
the	O
Gmail	B-Application
service	O
are	O
also	O
enforced	O
when	O
using	O
GMail	B-Protocol
Drive	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
files	O
larger	O
than	O
25	O
MB	O
cannot	O
be	O
uploaded	O
,	O
as	O
the	O
maximum	O
file	O
size	O
of	O
Gmail	B-Application
attachments	O
is	O
25	O
MB	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
past	O
,	O
Gmail	B-Application
also	O
prevented	O
users	O
from	O
transferring	O
certain	O
file	O
types	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
an	O
executable	B-Application
or	O
ZIP	B-General_Concept
archives	I-General_Concept
that	O
contain	O
an	O
executable	B-Application
within	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
GNU	O
software	O
package	O
named	O
even	O
makes	O
it	O
possible	O
to	O
link	O
different	O
Gmail	B-Application
accounts	O
together	O
,	O
and	O
with	O
some	O
manual	O
changes	O
you	O
can	O
have	O
a	O
Gmail	B-Protocol
Drive	I-Protocol
built	O
out	O
of	O
several	O
Gmail	B-Application
accounts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GMail	B-Protocol
Drive	I-Protocol
is	O
an	O
experimental	O
package	O
that	O
depends	O
on	O
but	O
is	O
not	O
provided	O
by	O
Google	B-Application
.	I-Application
</s>
<s>
Changes	O
in	O
Google	B-Application
's	I-Application
Gmail	B-Application
system	O
may	O
render	O
GMail	B-Protocol
Drive	I-Protocol
temporarily	O
or	O
permanently	O
inoperable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
current	O
GMail	B-Protocol
Drive	I-Protocol
does	O
not	O
support	O
accounts	O
that	O
are	O
hosted	O
with	O
Google	B-Application
Apps	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Gmail	B-Application
Program	O
Policies	O
do	O
not	O
explicitly	O
ban	O
GMail	B-Protocol
Drive	I-Protocol
,	O
shell	O
namespace	O
extensions	O
,	O
or	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
Gmail	B-Application
storage	O
space	O
for	O
files	O
other	O
than	O
e-mail	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nonetheless	O
,	O
immoderate	O
use	O
of	O
GMail	B-Protocol
Drive	I-Protocol
may	O
trigger	O
Google	B-Application
to	O
temporarily	O
suspend	O
a	O
Gmail	B-Application
account	O
.	O
</s>
