Solved Onedrive issues

Hi folks
I am not a technical person just a user
Getting a new PC this week with Windows 11 Pro installed. My current Windows 10 machine is no longer viable but on top of that last week for some unknown reasons it started backing up onto Onedrive and created all sorts of new folders but managed to lose some folders. I managed to retrieve everything but it was a stressful situation.

I do my own back ups onto an external drive so two questions if I may.
How do I ensure when I switch the new PC on and start to install my folders that Onedrive won't do the same again or can it be removed?

Is there a simple way of backing up to an external drive where only the changes or additions are changed.

Many thanks

John Edgington

To not be tied to Onedrive you have to use a local account, not a MS account
It's very simple to create a local account rather than a MS account during windows setup of a new computer. Here's how.

Do not connect to internet until afterward.

During setup, when you reach the second keyboard layout screen DO NOT SELECT SKIP.

Hit Shift+F10 keyboard combination to open a Windows command prompt.

At this prompt, type start ms-cxh:localonly

and press Enter on your keyboard to open a create user account window where you can create a new local user.

After filling in the information and clicking the Next button, the Windows 11 setup will continue

@johne

Welcome to Eleven Forum.


Then after you do that, and before you connect the internet...

Use REVO Uninstaller free (which you already downloaded), and on the Windows Apps tab, uninstall OneDrive and make sure you also do the "scan" for leftovers and delete them as well.

Then... you won't have OneDrive or all the problems that come with it.






If... you ever decide you want OneDrive back, it's more than easy to get.

Thank you. Will this affect reinstalling microsoft 365 and getting updates

johne said:

Thank you. Will this affect reinstalling microsoft 365 and getting updates

Click to expand...

I don't know about that. I don't use 365.
But I do know this... $39.97

johne said:

Will this affect reinstalling microsoft 365 a

Click to expand...

Yes it will. MS365 MUST be installed using a MS account. (This is no different even with newer standalone versions of Office) Can Microsoft 365 Personal be used with a LOCAL (non MS) account? - Microsoft Q&A

In that case you would have to set up your computer using a MS account, install 365 using that account and then go thru the procedure of switching your user account from a MS account to a local account afterwards. During this interim time you will be right back into the Onedrive trap. So if files in Onedrive are screwed up now, they will be screwed up then. If you have all your files saved to external media, if it were me, I would be precautionary and go to Onedrive on the web and delete all the files there and don't create or change any more using your current 365 until setting up the new computer is all said and done.

You will have to sign in to 365 using your MS account occasionally for it to continue to work.

Before you move your files from external media into the local account, be precautionary and do 4 things:
1. Verify for sure that no folders are marked for syncing.

2, Verify for sure that the PC is not linked to Onedrive. Unlink Account and PC from OneDrive in Windows 11

3. Check your local account folders to make sure they are empty.

4. Since Ofc365 i involved I would NOT uninstall Onedrive. I would stop it's process and disable it from autostart in task manager>startup apps.

Then copy your files from external media into your personal folders..

This is the way it is supposed to work, but Onedrive is an integral part of 365 so I won't guarantee that you won't experience unforeseen issues. 365 automatically saves its files to Onedrive by default. You have to change the settings in Word and Excel to save files to your computer by default. I can't guarantee at some point an update to 365 won't undo those changes.

Blimey what a pain in the rear. Onedrive really messed up my current and quite old PC. Created new folders and duplicated lots of stuff. I have un synced it for the time being so the drives no longer show up in file explorer

johne said:

I have un synced it for the time being so the drives no longer show up in file explorer

Click to expand...

You will need to leave the old computer unsynced. Those 4 steps I listed in the above post pertain to the new computer. Any syncing goes thru onedrive.

Excellent Thank you. I really apreciate your help

I reckon that I should not connect the new pc to the Internet until I have unlinked it from onedrive before I do anything at all

johne said:

I reckon that I should not connect the new pc to the Internet until I have unlinked it from onedrive before I do anything at all

Click to expand...

Yep. OneDrive is vicious. Give it an internet connection and it's "hold 'er Newton, she's going for the oats".

Ghot said:

Use REVO Uninstaller free (which you already downloaded), and on the Windows Apps tab, uninstall OneDrive and make sure you also do the "scan" for leftovers and delete them as well.

Click to expand...

Or use Wise Program Uninstaller (free) to force an uninstall. There is a portable version as well.

Either way, using Revo or Wise will still leave you with some leftovers. They won’t affect the performance on your computer but if you want to be completely rid of these orphans, then I will have to search my memory bank for the details.

On the same note, doesn’t the same problem recur on your next Windows update?

Thank you. I really don't know if an update will screw things up but I can check after each on just to be sure

johne said:

Blimey what a pain in the rear. Onedrive really messed up my current and quite old PC. Created new folders and duplicated lots of stuff. I have un synced it for the time being so the drives no longer show up in file explorer

Click to expand...

This will not help, but I hate onedrive with a fiery passion

I'm rapidly feeling the same way. Hoping that my new PC behaves itself but the first thing that zi will do is switch off the offending drive system. My old PC seems to be behaving itself now.

I prefer to manage my own backups, I don't need big brother screwing around with my important files!

Sounds good to me. MS make everything sound so simple, child's play but it isn't. In fact it's a long way from being simple and easily understood and when sh#t happens it becomes a real problem.

A follow up to this thread. My version of Windows 11 Pro updated yesterday and I reinstalled Office 365. Whilst looking at stuff in settings I had the option to delete Onedrive. I had already stopped it from syncing and disabled it in startup but the removal option was very welcome. I know that this thread was marked as solved but I felt that this update was worth sharing

Many thanks guys