Backup - OneDrive Issues

telboy911 · Mar 3, 2024

markw51 said:
Rubbish, no-one hijacks your files. They would only be removed locally if you selected the 'Files on demand' feature or right-click on a folder/file and select 'Free up Space'. If you lost files and several months of work that's down to your own incompetence and lack of understanding as to how things work. I use OneDrive extensively and despite reinstalling Windows multiple times I have NEVER lost a file that has been on OneDrive.

"Down to your own Incompetence" "Lack of understanding of how things work"...Somewhat harsh I feel, some might say rude even. The guy may well lack a full understanding, but then that's why many of us are on here right?

Dru2 · Mar 3, 2024

TraderGary said:
Even today with my 1 TB of cloud OneDrive I have with Microsoft 365, I’m only using 204.5 GB of my 1 TB. That’s only about 20% of my available 1 TB.

I'm only using 12.5gig of my 1TB. I mainly use OneDrive to sync my Office docs. I don't even have the base folders (Documents, Pictures, Music, etc.) sync'd. I store more on my NAS than OneDrive. My music and photos are on my NAS. Of course all backed up.

ThrashZone · Mar 3, 2024

Hi,
At one time MS and skydrive or what ever ms called it was pretty much destroying photo files by compressing them low quality
I learned then not to mess with cloud nonsense for anything I cared about.

TraderGary · Mar 3, 2024

Dru2 said:
I'm only using 12.5gig of my 1TB. I mainly use OneDrive to sync my Office docs. I don't even have the base folders (Documents, Pictures, Music, etc.) sync'd. I store more on my NAS than OneDrive. My music and photos are on my NAS. Of course all backed up.

We differ there. I keep all my data and photos in OneDrive and always have.

A very important part of OneDrive for me is that it is offsite storage. Our home was robbed some years ago and all computers and backup drives were stolen. Offsite OneDrive was the only data backup I had left. I'm a believer in offsite backups.

I also turn OFF the Files On Demand option. That keeps all my data local so that I have real-time mirroring with cloud OneDrive. This allows me to simultaneously use Microsoft File History and Macrium Reflect Images for local backups.

TraderGary · Mar 3, 2024

ThrashZone said:
Hi,
At one time MS and skydrive or what ever ms called it was pretty much destroying photo files by compressing them low quality
I learned then not to mess with cloud nonsense for anything I cared about.

This is not true for the 15 years I've used OneDrive. During that time all my data and photos were kept in OneDrive and my photos have always been processed in the OneDrive folder with Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom.

Dru2 · Mar 3, 2024

TraderGary said:
We differ there. I keep all my data in OneDrive and always have.

That's the thing about choice - the ability to do what works for our needs

TraderGary said:
A very important part of OneDrive for me is that it is offsite storage. Our home was robbed some years ago and all computers and backup drives were stolen. Offsite OneDrive was the only data backup I had left. I'm a believer in offsite backups.

That's why I also use cloud storage - offsite backups

TraderGary said:
I also turn OFF the Files On Demand option. That keeps all my data local so that I have real-time mirroring with cloud OneDrive. This allows me to simultaneously use Microsoft File History and Macrium Reflect Images for local backups.

I also turn off Files On Demand as I also like to keep my files local to my desktop.

But yeah, everyone has a reason for doing what they do, and thus not everyone will operate in the same way.

Edwin · Mar 3, 2024

Well..., it's been an education!
Thanks to all for your contributions!

Winuser · Mar 3, 2024

ThrashZone said:
Hi,
With that MS giveth and then taketh away typical MS policy
Get people to rely on free storage/... and warn them all because it will be deleted tomorrow

I don't blame MS. It all falls on those who thought they could take advantage of the the unlimited OneDrive space and use it to stream their media content.

Winuser · Mar 3, 2024

ThrashZone said:
Hi,
Pretty useless for any type of media like movies/ tv series.
But then again this stuff would eat through 15gb onedrive pretty fast hehe

That's were streaming programs like Mezzmo and Plex come in. I never tried Plex so I can't comment good or bad about it. I do use Mezzmo for local streaming. As I understand it the paid version of Mezzmo and Plex allows users to access their media content stored on their personal drives over the internet.

Winuser · Mar 3, 2024

TraderGary said:
I love having all my documentation for everything readily available everywhere on OneDrive.

It makes it a whole lot easier to find them when needed.

TraderGary said:
I also turn OFF the Files On Demand option. That keeps all my data local so that I have real-time mirroring with cloud OneDrive.

I'm not understanding the disadvantages of using Files On Demand.

Dru2 · Mar 3, 2024

Winuser said:
That's were streaming programs like Mezzmo and Plex come in. I never tried Plex so I can't comment good or bad about it. I do use Mezzmo for local streaming. As I understand it the paid version of Mezzmo and Plex allows users to access their media content stored on their personal drives over the internet.

Can't speak on Mezzmo, but yeah, with Plex Media Server, you can stream content from your PC, provided you have it properly setup. My WD NAS (PR4100) supports Plex Server natively, so I use it there and stream to my Android phone (Samsung S23 Ultra) via Plexamp to my car's infotainment system.

That said, I only stream music. Not interested in video streaming. That's me.

Dru2 · Mar 3, 2024

Winuser said:
I'm not understanding the disadvantages of using Files On Demand.

Rather that trying to explain it and botching it...

Save disk space with OneDrive Files On-Demand for Windows - Microsoft Support

Learn how to use OneDrive Files On-Demand to sync your OneDrive files and save disk space in Windows 10.

support.microsoft.com

Basically Files On Demand keeps the files in the cloud instead of being stored locally on the PC. This help with saving local storage space. You can also select which files you want stored locally, and which simply stay in the cloud. Th

TraderGary · Mar 3, 2024

Winuser said:
I'm not understanding the disadvantages of using Files On Demand.

For me the disadvantage of using Files On Demand is that not all my files are local. If my files aren't all local, I cannot back up all my files using Microsoft File History or using Macrium Reflect Imaging.

Winuser · Mar 3, 2024

TraderGary said:
For me the disadvantage of using Files On Demand is that not all my files are local. If my files aren't all local, I cannot back up all my files using Microsoft File History or using Macrium Reflect Imaging.

I have a very limited understanding of OneDrive. I found that my local OneDrive was on my C: drive and moved it to my D: drive. When I for example save a file to my Document folder it is saved to my D: drive and my online OneDrive. You have a better understanding of OneDrive so I have to ask. Is this OK or should I turn off Files On Demand?

TraderGary · Mar 3, 2024

Winuser said:
I have a very limited understanding of OneDrive. I found that my local OneDrive was on my C: drive and moved it to my D: drive. When I for example save a file to my Document folder it is saved to my D: drive and my online OneDrive. You have a better understanding of OneDrive so I have to ask. Is this OK or should I turn off Files On Demand?

What happens with Files On Demand turned ON or OFF is really quite simple.

Files On Demand turned ON = you control if cloud files are also duplicated locally. You can right-click on a file and choose if it appears locally or not. If you want to do something with a cloud file and it isn't already there locally, you click on it, and it immediately downloads to your local drive.

Files On Demand turned OFF = all files are mirrored in real-time locally and in the cloud at all Times. Files are always in BOTH places. Files are always in a real-time mirror with cloud and local. If you want to back up with Macrium Reflect for example, the files must all be physically there on your local drive, or they won't be part of the backup.

The default option is Files On Demand turned ON. Again, if you want to do something with a cloud file and it isn't already there locally, you click on it, and it immediately downloads from the cloud to your local drive to work with. If you right click on the file, you have an option to keep the file locally or not.

Dru2 · Mar 3, 2024

TraderGary said:
For me the disadvantage of using Files On Demand is that not all my files are local.

If your Cloud data is backed up this shouldn't be a worry,

TraderGary said:
If my files aren't all local, I cannot back up all my files using Microsoft File History or using Macrium Reflect Imaging.

but I also get the point of the files being included in a backup or image.

Dru2 · Mar 3, 2024

Winuser said:
I have a very limited understanding of OneDrive. I found that my local OneDrive was on my C: drive and moved it to my D: drive. When I for example save a file to my Document folder it is saved to my D: drive and my online OneDrive. You have a better understanding of OneDrive so I have to ask.

If you're really interested, you should view the link I left, and it might answer questions you have. It's not a long read.

Winuser said:
Is this OK or should I turn off Files On Demand?

And the short answer is do you want the files online only or on your desktop? If you want them on your desktop turn off

Winuser · Mar 4, 2024

TraderGary said:
What happens with Files On Demand turned ON or OFF is really quite simple.

Files On Demand turned ON = you control if cloud files are also duplicated locally. You can right-click on a file and choose if it appears locally or not. If you want to do something with a cloud file and it isn't already there locally, you click on it, and it immediately downloads to your local drive.

Files On Demand turned OFF = all files are mirrored in real-time locally and in the cloud at all Times. Files are always in BOTH places. Files are always in a real-time mirror with cloud and local. If you want to back up with Macrium Reflect for example, the files must all be physically there on your local drive, or they won't be part of the backup.

The default option is Files On Demand turned ON. Again, if you want to do something with a cloud file and it isn't already there locally, you click on it, and it immediately downloads from the cloud to your local drive to work with. If you right click on the file, you have an option to keep the file locally or not.

Now I have a better understanding on how it works. Apparently I did turn Files On Demand off and don't remember doing it. When I save a file to one of the folders in OneDrive It gets saved to my OneDrive folder on my D: drive and Online.

pparks1 · Mar 4, 2024

Yeah, Files on Demand is really a personal choice.

By turning it off, you can ensure that your files are always on your local drive as well as in the cloud. Therefore, in the event that one side or the other goes down...you have your files and they are physically in 2 places.

The advantage of having files on demand turned on, is that you can save yourself disk space on your local computer as well as bandwidth if you don't need all of your files on your local drive. I have files on demand turned on, because I have onedrive setup on my desktop, my beelink mini-pc, my mac mini and my macbook pro. I don't need/want my files on all of these devices. I have nearly 150GB of stuff in my OneDrive account online...and my mac mini, macbook pro and beelink mini pc have between 256GB and 512GB of total disk space.....so OneDrive would chew up 1/2 to 1/4 of each of these machines.

I'm 100% comfortable that Microsoft is taking the steps to ensure that their backend storage systems are redundant and backed up. I've not lost any files in years of using OneDrive that I could attribute to a data center failure at Microsoft. Therefore, I don't feel it's necessary to have a full and complete copy of everything I have online, on a local machine as well.

MaryJo · Mar 18, 2024

cereberus said:
This thread is going around in circles.

Let me make it totally clear.

Learn how to use onedrive properly and it is great.

Don't learn how to use it properly, and it can be a nightmare.

The problem is people just do not want to put the effort in to learn, and justify.that by blaming onedrive or MS.

The old phrase "A bad workman blames their tool“ is so true for onedrive.

So, either learn how to use it properly, or uninstall it but if you do not want to learn, look in a mirror and be honest with yourself!

How does one learn how to use OneDrive properly?

I have my "real" documents at D:\Documents. All I want to do is have a copy of my documents in OneDrive and sync the two so I can access them from anywhere. After unlinking and re syncing One Drive I now have my "real" documents at D:\Documents plus files at D:\Documents\OneDrive, and in OneDrive. I thought I understood how OneDrive worked, but now I don't seem to have a clue how it works. I've managed to get myself very confused and very frustrated.

I'm open to any and all suggestions on how to use and understand OneDrive.