Skydrive Desktop "app"

[Som]

Can anyone get the skydrive desktop app to work in windows 8.1, this was a problem in the preview and it hasn't been fixed it the latest release either.

 

I can't use the build in app because it's a business account and I shouldn't have to anyways, plus I prefer the way the desktop app worked...

 

any help would be appreciated :) 

[dingl_]

SkyDrive is built into 8.1 both in Desktop and Modern, if you look in File Explorer you should have a SkyDrive Folder. Its unnecessary to install the prior Desktop app. The app worked in Win8 because SkyDrive was not fully baked in, which it is in 8.1

[Som]

SkyDrive is built into 8.1 both in Desktop and Modern, if you look in File Explorer you should have a SkyDrive Folder. Its unnecessary to install the prior Desktop app

 

ya that's all good an well but as I stated my skydrive is a business account, not personal, so I'm not having two accounts to log in and I'm not using my business account for my home PC, 

 

the way it worked before you could just install skydrive and log in with the appropriate email address, I wondering is there a way back to that method

[dingl_]

I don't think so, its all Microsoft account oriented now.. Far as I know the older Desktop app is obsolete in 8.1. I haven't looked at Windows8.1 and won't until its final but have you looked in PC settings? To see if you can link up a different SkyDrive account than what you're logged in your PC under? Also since you're probably on the Preview... I'd say a few settings have been changed/added since

[Som]

ack it's so incredibly stupid, i hate how MS is dumbing down so much.  Just last week I had a problem installing MS Office 2013 for a customer.  Instead of a helpful error code, it just said a problem has occurred with installation, which is useless, I fixed it in the end, no help from Microsoft... I see other's having similar problems with installing 8.1, who thought not showing error codes was a good idea....

 

i'm ranting now :P

[articuno1au]

Have you tried Skydrive pro in the office installer suite?

[dingl_]

I don't know, Its not really dumbing down much... just making things cohesive and a complete experience. I have 1 Microsoft account, 1 SkyDrive account... both are the same account, my work stuff is in my personal SkyDrive in a work folder, in turn that folder is synced to File explorer(i'm using the Desktop app in Windows8 atm), but I actually look forward to it being all baked in.. it even works kind of differently too.

"SkyDrive has a trick up its sleeve: The files you see in your SkyDrive folder aren?t automatically synced to your local computer. They?re stored in the cloud and will be downloaded to your computer when you open them. This allows SkyDrive to function on tablets and other devices with limited storage, even if you have 100 GB of personal files in your SkyDrive account"

"If you want to make files or folders available offline ahead of time, you can right-click them and select Make available offline. This works similarly to the way you?d pin files offline in apps like Dropbox and Google Drive for smartphones and tablets."

http://www.howtogeek.com/166996/how-windows-8.1-integrates-skydrive-everywhere/

[Som]

Have you tried Skydrive pro in the office installer suite?

 

is that in office 2010 or just 2013? I might try it out and see ...

I don't know, Its not really dumbing down much... just making things cohesive and a complete experience. I have 1 Microsoft account, 1 SkyDrive account... both are the same account, my work stuff is in my personal SkyDrive in a work folder, in turn that folder is synced to File explorer(i'm using the Desktop app in Windows8 atm), but I actually look forward to it being all baked in.. it even works kind of differently too.

"SkyDrive has a trick up its sleeve: The files you see in your SkyDrive folder aren?t automatically synced to your local computer. They?re stored in the cloud and will be downloaded to your computer when you open them. This allows SkyDrive to function on tablets and other devices with limited storage, even if you have 100 GB of personal files in your SkyDrive account"

"If you want to make files or folders available offline ahead of time, you can right-click them and select Make available offline. This works similarly to the way you?d pin files offline in apps like Dropbox and Google Drive for smartphones and tablets."

http://www.howtogeek.com/166996/how-windows-8.1-integrates-skydrive-everywhere/

 

 

 

again that's all good and well but I have more than one Microsoft account and a business partner with the same, it would be nice for the option if you didn't want everything integrated.  also I've noticed that you have to have a MS account when setting up windows 8.1 now, it was optional before.  You can disable it afterwards but it's a nuisance ..

[articuno1au]

Office 2013.

 

Also, if you unplug your net, you can use an offline account straight up.

[Som]

Is that on setting up? handy tip cause I set up new laptops for my customers and it would be a pain in the neck having to set up a MS account for them too...

 

 

Also, if you unplug your net, you can use an offline account straight up.

[articuno1au]

Yep.

[Skiver Veteran]

I raised a thread a while ago for the very same thing, I had my personal skydrive but with the way Windows 8.1 is working I didnt want to mix both personal and business "live" accounts. Because of this I've had to switch around where files were stored including a One Note which basically meant copying and pasting things which was a pain. Seems they really missed out on how some people use their desktop.

 

I like windows 8.1 but I think forcing Metro apps onto people was stupid.

[Som]

Have you tried Skydrive pro in the office installer suite?

 

didn't work unfortunately

 

I raised a thread a while ago for the very same thing, I had my personal skydrive but with the way Windows 8.1 is working I didnt want to mix both personal and business "live" accounts. Because of this I've had to switch around where files were stored including a One Note which basically meant copying and pasting things which was a pain. Seems they really missed out on how some people use their desktop.

 

I like windows 8.1 but I think forcing Metro apps onto people was stupid.

 

guess their aren't many people like us with this problem, it's silly though and will prevent me from upgrading until there s a solution

[Taym]

Guys, I am confused. I ran in the same problem, but could link my Microsoft account to my windows corporate account. Now Skydrive is working again but:

1. there's no more traybar icon. I found it useful.

2. I had to manually go to c:\users\myaccountname\skydrive to find my files. For some reason, there's no default shortcut tog et there in file explorer, which makes me suspicious that somwthing went wrong.

 

Most important:

 

3.where are all skydrive settings I used to love? Chosing what to synch, and how, and when?!

 

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Taym]

Ok, I found all settins in the Modern interface. It's great they are there, but I wish they were ALSO on the desktop, somewhere.

 

I now have a much bigger problem.

 

On my laptop, I have two accounts. A domain account I use in the office. And a local, personal account, I use at home. This model has worked beautifully for years.

 

With the old Skydrive desktop app, I could use the same Skydrive in both accounts.

 

Since I installed windows 8.1, this happened:

 

1. In order to access Skydrive from my office (domain) account, I had to LINK such domain account to my Microsoft Account - and not simply authenticate to Skydrive -. That was done successfully, see above, and I understand that now my Domain account is in many way linked to my Microsoft account, but still, is is a separate entity from it.

 

2. In order to access Slydrive from my personal, local account (same PC, but non-domain account), again I cannot simply authenticate to Skydrive. But, unlike the above case with the domain account, I can't simply link my local laptop account to Microsoft Account. The system is requiring me (unless I am missing something) to switch  to a Microsoft account! In other words, my local account will be replace by my Microsoft account! Now, this won't work for me because my local laptop account has access to specific resources of my home LAN (I have a server, etc), and changing credentials would be a major issue for me.
So, it seems that Microsoft understands that a domain account cannot be turned into a Microsoft account, but expects any local non-domain account to instead turn into a Microsoft account, otherwise, no skydrive. Am I correct? Am I missing something? This is bad design, as it is decreasing my configuration flexibility, instead of adding more options.

I understand the benefit of a centralized Microsoft account, but we all have many accounts, and we all have our own design in terms of networks, computers, credentials.

Why is this becoming so rigid and unflexible?
Am I supposed to stop using Skydrive and move entirely to Dropbox?

 

Any help on this is very welcome!

[cooky560 Veteran]

You can add a microsoft account to local user names without replacing your local account, but the process is a little unintiutive. 
 
1. Open gpedit.msc
2. Go to Windows Settings/Security Settings/Local Policies/Security Options
3. Open "Accounts: Block Microsoft Accounts"

4. Select "Users can't login with Microsoft Accounts"

 

This results in the following:

 

 

 

:) I imagine this works for skydrive also.

[Taym]

Thank you. This is interesting. I'll try it and let you know. Also, a million questions now spring from this.

 

1. What if I ALSO want, on that machine, some users that logon with their Microsoft accounts? My gf uses a ms account on her surface pro, and occasionally I let her use my laptop.

 

2. What happens to my domain account which I have associated to a MS account, once I enable this policy?

 

 

I'll test and let you know.

 

 

Am I using the most complicated logon patter of the planet, or, are there Others like me? :)

 

I DO want to use Microsoft cloud services, and I actually like them. This is preventing me from doing so, though.

[Faber Mago]

Create a new user account in Windows 8.1 and link it to the Outlook account you use at work.