Does anyone actually understand Onedrive?
Discussion
Part question, part rant... but does anyone actually understand how Onedrive works?
I need to sort out some robust backup for my data and get everything organised and in order once and for. Since I have Office365 it seems natural to make use of the Onedrive storage included.
However having dabbled with it, I can't get my head around what its doing. I've had an account set up on my main pc (PC1) for a while which seems to behave itself, having just the folders I have created (excluding personal vault which I understand cannot be deleted). I recently set up a second pc (PC2) with onedrive so I could check the functionality only to find that showing desktop/pictures etc even though I asked it not to sync those. So I deleted them as they were empty - all good it seems.
I open the PC2 again last night, only to find "attachments" and "attachments1" folders. I check on my phone and sure enough they are there. I check on PC1 - no folders. So I delete them as they are empty only to find one has respawned there this evening, again only visible on PC2 and phone.
If I can't predict what it will do one day to the next, how can I trust it with my files! I use (free) dropbox and that seems to make a more sense, but I'm reluctant to pay again for the kind of product I already have.
Anyone have any tips to make Onedrive make sense?
I need to sort out some robust backup for my data and get everything organised and in order once and for. Since I have Office365 it seems natural to make use of the Onedrive storage included.
However having dabbled with it, I can't get my head around what its doing. I've had an account set up on my main pc (PC1) for a while which seems to behave itself, having just the folders I have created (excluding personal vault which I understand cannot be deleted). I recently set up a second pc (PC2) with onedrive so I could check the functionality only to find that showing desktop/pictures etc even though I asked it not to sync those. So I deleted them as they were empty - all good it seems.
I open the PC2 again last night, only to find "attachments" and "attachments1" folders. I check on my phone and sure enough they are there. I check on PC1 - no folders. So I delete them as they are empty only to find one has respawned there this evening, again only visible on PC2 and phone.
If I can't predict what it will do one day to the next, how can I trust it with my files! I use (free) dropbox and that seems to make a more sense, but I'm reluctant to pay again for the kind of product I already have.
Anyone have any tips to make Onedrive make sense?
Firstly, I wouldn't trust OneDrive as a backup solution - historically, Microsoft always had some T&C's which stated it wasn't a backup, always backup elsewhere etc, but they've since introduced versioning, ransomwhere detection and so on, so they now push it more as a backup solution.
But...all things considered, if it's important stuff, make sure you're backing up elsewhere with a proper solution.
In your case, PC2, assuming logged in as the same account, will have a copy of all your files from PC1 (Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Videos, Music) kept on there if you ticked the box in OneDrive to sync those folders - but they'll probably be empty placeholders (with little white cloud icons) to show they're available 'on demand' so will only download when you need them.
If you don't need them, turn off the backup on PC2 by moving the sliders over - or when you install OneDrive in future, turn off the backup so you don't get a copy on each machine.
Personally, I've found OneDrive to be brilliant. It means I can use multiple devices and get access to all my stuff and just 'works'. If I don't need it on a new device, I just log in and just never enable the backup and it just sits in the background doing nothing. That being said, like Christmas lights, once it gets in a mess it can be a pain to put right.
But...all things considered, if it's important stuff, make sure you're backing up elsewhere with a proper solution.
In your case, PC2, assuming logged in as the same account, will have a copy of all your files from PC1 (Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Videos, Music) kept on there if you ticked the box in OneDrive to sync those folders - but they'll probably be empty placeholders (with little white cloud icons) to show they're available 'on demand' so will only download when you need them.
If you don't need them, turn off the backup on PC2 by moving the sliders over - or when you install OneDrive in future, turn off the backup so you don't get a copy on each machine.
Personally, I've found OneDrive to be brilliant. It means I can use multiple devices and get access to all my stuff and just 'works'. If I don't need it on a new device, I just log in and just never enable the backup and it just sits in the background doing nothing. That being said, like Christmas lights, once it gets in a mess it can be a pain to put right.
Matty_ said:
Firstly, I wouldn't trust OneDrive as a backup solution - historically, Microsoft always had some T&C's which stated it wasn't a backup, always backup elsewhere etc, but they've since introduced versioning, ransomwhere detection and so on, so they now push it more as a backup solution.
But...all things considered, if it's important stuff, make sure you're backing up elsewhere with a proper solution.
In your case, PC2, assuming logged in as the same account, will have a copy of all your files from PC1 (Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Videos, Music) kept on there if you ticked the box in OneDrive to sync those folders - but they'll probably be empty placeholders (with little white cloud icons) to show they're available 'on demand' so will only download when you need them.
If you don't need them, turn off the backup on PC2 by moving the sliders over - or when you install OneDrive in future, turn off the backup so you don't get a copy on each machine.
Personally, I've found OneDrive to be brilliant. It means I can use multiple devices and get access to all my stuff and just 'works'. If I don't need it on a new device, I just log in and just never enable the backup and it just sits in the background doing nothing. That being said, like Christmas lights, once it gets in a mess it can be a pain to put right.
For sure I don't see this as the ultimate backup, more of an intermediate stage that I can occasionally archive to an external disc or whatever. I'm more aiming to build a bit of resilience into my data and also get it accessible from multiple locations.But...all things considered, if it's important stuff, make sure you're backing up elsewhere with a proper solution.
In your case, PC2, assuming logged in as the same account, will have a copy of all your files from PC1 (Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Videos, Music) kept on there if you ticked the box in OneDrive to sync those folders - but they'll probably be empty placeholders (with little white cloud icons) to show they're available 'on demand' so will only download when you need them.
If you don't need them, turn off the backup on PC2 by moving the sliders over - or when you install OneDrive in future, turn off the backup so you don't get a copy on each machine.
Personally, I've found OneDrive to be brilliant. It means I can use multiple devices and get access to all my stuff and just 'works'. If I don't need it on a new device, I just log in and just never enable the backup and it just sits in the background doing nothing. That being said, like Christmas lights, once it gets in a mess it can be a pain to put right.
Yes, its the same account, and yes the sliders are all set to off so its annoying that they are there in the first place. I don't use the windows documents folders anyway - my PC use pre-dates such things and I never found the need!
OneDrive. Hate it. We have it for work (after we were bought by another company) where it replaced our infinitely better Google Mail and Google Drive. Now we have this turd of Outlook, OneDrive and SharePoint. We can't use the latter two for a lot of stuff because cloud based storage is not allowed for the technical data that we have, so instead we save all that local documents, which is actually stored on a server in the US and my laptop is actually not much more than a networked terminal. It's all like some massive Beta tech project.
It seems pretty simple - you have a OneDrive folder and underneath sub-folders. Anything in this section of Windows Explorer is copied to your M365 Cloud account. Create or edit a document within these folders and it's instantly synched to the cloud version.
It's not backing-up as in a proper backup, it's synching your One Drive folders with the cloud version. If you delete a file or folder it's deleted in the cloud version and vice versa. You have the option to highlight your OneDrive files and mark them as 'Always keep on this device' which downloads a copy to your device.
You can always move files into other folders outside the OneDrive section so they don't synch just to work out what's in OneDrive on your machine and what's synched in the Cloud.
It's not backing-up as in a proper backup, it's synching your One Drive folders with the cloud version. If you delete a file or folder it's deleted in the cloud version and vice versa. You have the option to highlight your OneDrive files and mark them as 'Always keep on this device' which downloads a copy to your device.
You can always move files into other folders outside the OneDrive section so they don't synch just to work out what's in OneDrive on your machine and what's synched in the Cloud.
bigpriest said:
It seems pretty simple - you have a OneDrive folder and underneath sub-folders. Anything in this section of Windows Explorer is copied to your M365 Cloud account. Create or edit a document within these folders and it's instantly synched to the cloud version.
It's not backing-up as in a proper backup, it's synching your One Drive folders with the cloud version. If you delete a file or folder it's deleted in the cloud version and vice versa. You have the option to highlight your OneDrive files and mark them as 'Always keep on this device' which downloads a copy to your device.
You can always move files into other folders outside the OneDrive section so they don't synch just to work out what's in OneDrive on your machine and what's synched in the Cloud.
It seems pretty simple...It's not backing-up as in a proper backup, it's synching your One Drive folders with the cloud version. If you delete a file or folder it's deleted in the cloud version and vice versa. You have the option to highlight your OneDrive files and mark them as 'Always keep on this device' which downloads a copy to your device.
You can always move files into other folders outside the OneDrive section so they don't synch just to work out what's in OneDrive on your machine and what's synched in the Cloud.
What you have described is exactly how dropbox works for me. Onedrive on the other hand generates all manner of spurious folders, some of which I can vaguely understand (ie Desktop or Documents, although I don't ask it to backup those), and some of which I don't (like attachments)
egomeister said:
bigpriest said:
It seems pretty simple - you have a OneDrive folder and underneath sub-folders. Anything in this section of Windows Explorer is copied to your M365 Cloud account. Create or edit a document within these folders and it's instantly synched to the cloud version.
It's not backing-up as in a proper backup, it's synching your One Drive folders with the cloud version. If you delete a file or folder it's deleted in the cloud version and vice versa. You have the option to highlight your OneDrive files and mark them as 'Always keep on this device' which downloads a copy to your device.
You can always move files into other folders outside the OneDrive section so they don't synch just to work out what's in OneDrive on your machine and what's synched in the Cloud.
It seems pretty simple...It's not backing-up as in a proper backup, it's synching your One Drive folders with the cloud version. If you delete a file or folder it's deleted in the cloud version and vice versa. You have the option to highlight your OneDrive files and mark them as 'Always keep on this device' which downloads a copy to your device.
You can always move files into other folders outside the OneDrive section so they don't synch just to work out what's in OneDrive on your machine and what's synched in the Cloud.
What you have described is exactly how dropbox works for me. Onedrive on the other hand generates all manner of spurious folders, some of which I can vaguely understand (ie Desktop or Documents, although I don't ask it to backup those), and some of which I don't (like attachments)
I can't cut and paste anymore I have to use short codes.
I seem to have somehow got two Onedrives, which is illogical.
Also search doesn't work sometimes. I can search for "ABC Doc 123" and it won't find it. But if I drill down on the folders it will be there.
Rich Boy Spanner said:
OneDrive. Hate it. We have it for work (after we were bought by another company) where it replaced our infinitely better Google Mail and Google Drive. Now we have this turd of Outlook, OneDrive and SharePoint. We can't use the latter two for a lot of stuff because cloud based storage is not allowed for the technical data that we have, so instead we save all that local documents, which is actually stored on a server in the US and my laptop is actually not much more than a networked terminal. It's all like some massive Beta tech project.
Google drive is in the cloud as well so your criticism there seems a little over zealous.Gmail is s
t in a corporate environment and I just don't understand why anyone with more than 5 users would bother, along with Google Workspaces, that can fk off and when it gets there it can fk off some more.Even on Mac now there is very little reason to move your identity services away from Microsoft, and Office on MacOS is very good indeed as well, I know some people complain about Excel but I have never had an issue with what I do and a majority of my customers as well.
All that said, bad setup/IT departments equal a bad user experience, there is a high number of organisations that don't put the user front and centre of the technology strategy and they are the same ones that can't work out why they have a staff retention issues..
Edited by geeks on Friday 16th May 11:54
Edited by geeks on Friday 16th May 11:55
egomeister said:
Part question, part rant... but does anyone actually understand how Onedrive works?
I need to sort out some robust backup for my data and get everything organised and in order once and for. Since I have Office365 it seems natural to make use of the Onedrive storage included.
However having dabbled with it, I can't get my head around what its doing. I've had an account set up on my main pc (PC1) for a while which seems to behave itself, having just the folders I have created (excluding personal vault which I understand cannot be deleted). I recently set up a second pc (PC2) with onedrive so I could check the functionality only to find that showing desktop/pictures etc even though I asked it not to sync those. So I deleted them as they were empty - all good it seems.
I open the PC2 again last night, only to find "attachments" and "attachments1" folders. I check on my phone and sure enough they are there. I check on PC1 - no folders. So I delete them as they are empty only to find one has respawned there this evening, again only visible on PC2 and phone.
If I can't predict what it will do one day to the next, how can I trust it with my files! I use (free) dropbox and that seems to make a more sense, but I'm reluctant to pay again for the kind of product I already have.
Anyone have any tips to make Onedrive make sense?
OneDrive isn't a backup solution. It's just storage sat in a data centre you can access from anywhere. I need to sort out some robust backup for my data and get everything organised and in order once and for. Since I have Office365 it seems natural to make use of the Onedrive storage included.
However having dabbled with it, I can't get my head around what its doing. I've had an account set up on my main pc (PC1) for a while which seems to behave itself, having just the folders I have created (excluding personal vault which I understand cannot be deleted). I recently set up a second pc (PC2) with onedrive so I could check the functionality only to find that showing desktop/pictures etc even though I asked it not to sync those. So I deleted them as they were empty - all good it seems.
I open the PC2 again last night, only to find "attachments" and "attachments1" folders. I check on my phone and sure enough they are there. I check on PC1 - no folders. So I delete them as they are empty only to find one has respawned there this evening, again only visible on PC2 and phone.
If I can't predict what it will do one day to the next, how can I trust it with my files! I use (free) dropbox and that seems to make a more sense, but I'm reluctant to pay again for the kind of product I already have.
Anyone have any tips to make Onedrive make sense?
OneDrive is as much a backup solution as any other online 'cloud' offering. This is just terminology. Any online storage should not be used as the only backup for important data - a static offline copy in a different physical location is the best and most robust backup for most users.
I use OD it and have used it for many years, however I agree that it's somewhat clunky in the way it works and sometimes gets in a muddle in terms of the synching across multiple machines. I tolerate this as, like the OP, I'm paying for M365 anyway, so you get 6TB OD included and I don't want to pay someone else for something I already have. And I have my static offline copy for true backup resilience.
Microsoft has, frustratingly, adopted the apple approach to their M365/OD offering - it all just magically works if you agree to everything and let it do what it does but only to the pattern they recommend and only for the functionality it offers. If you want to deviate from that one bit, there be dragons.
I use OD it and have used it for many years, however I agree that it's somewhat clunky in the way it works and sometimes gets in a muddle in terms of the synching across multiple machines. I tolerate this as, like the OP, I'm paying for M365 anyway, so you get 6TB OD included and I don't want to pay someone else for something I already have. And I have my static offline copy for true backup resilience.
Microsoft has, frustratingly, adopted the apple approach to their M365/OD offering - it all just magically works if you agree to everything and let it do what it does but only to the pattern they recommend and only for the functionality it offers. If you want to deviate from that one bit, there be dragons.
Also worth looking at stablebit cloud drive.
You can mount that on onedrive, but have it appear locally on machines as an actual drive.
In theory you could then symlink the integrated data storage locations to that virtual local drive (my pictures, my music etc)… that’s if you use them.
I’m not sure what person does, it’s a one size fits one person approach.
Oh for the paradigm of metadata locating files to become a thing eh…? No folders, just metadata. Then the structure you can all see is an easily tweaked function of each users permissions/settings.
You can mount that on onedrive, but have it appear locally on machines as an actual drive.
In theory you could then symlink the integrated data storage locations to that virtual local drive (my pictures, my music etc)… that’s if you use them.
I’m not sure what person does, it’s a one size fits one person approach.
Oh for the paradigm of metadata locating files to become a thing eh…? No folders, just metadata. Then the structure you can all see is an easily tweaked function of each users permissions/settings.
Don’t get started on Microsoft, I have multiple inboxes I have to monitor, yet outlook will randomly ’hang’ at the most inoportune times, the search function doesn’t find documents/emails I literally just handled, so I know they are supposed to be there., even closing it doesn’t do anything, I have to task manager kill it every time 😡
Arnold Cunningham said:
Zio Di Roma said:
I seem to have somehow got two Onedrives, which is illogical.
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