Solved OneDrive Setup on Windows 10/11 is ridiculous!!!

pparks1 · May 3, 2023

Dru2 said:
It was there when I did a clean install a few months ago. And I've been running 22H2 since release last year.

I'm running the RTM version, NOT Insiders. I also don't do VMs.

Wonder if @Brink knows if this is a recent change or not?

Hmmmm, I'm going to run through the install again. I'm using the 22H2 release that I got from the media creation site back in Sept of 2022.

I don't use VM's for long term, I mostly set them up for testing something or running a quick test. Like this install, rather than repeating it on an actual machine, I'll just spin up a VM and see how it goes.

pparks1 · May 3, 2023

Setting up again. I'm using the Media Creation Windows 11 22H2 release from Sept of 2022.

Hyper-V Vm, 8GB of RAM, Generation 2. Connected to Internet.
Installed using no product key, as this VM will live for only about 20 minutes.
Installed Windows 11 Pro
Named my device
Selected Setup for Personal Use
Added my Microsoft Account
It saw my other device on this account, so I choose to Setup as a new Device.
It asks me to create a PIN
Privacy settings came up, I accepted defaults
It then gave me options to tick about how I plan to use my device, I hit skip
It asks me to use my Android phone from my PC, I said skip.
It offered a free trial of office365. I said decline
It offered me 100GB more cloud storage space, as I said decline.
It offered me a month of PC Game Pass for $9.99, I said Skip for Now.
It checked for updates
It started the Hi, Getting things ready for you, building my profile screen.
It brought me into my desktop.

Never said anything about being able to store my files only on the PC.

Dru2 · May 4, 2023

glasskuter said:
On a personal note @Dru2, I do not know what I have said in the past that got me on your bad side. It must have been something from the very first post I made on this forum because ever since your attitude towards me usually comes across as either hostile or condescending whenever our points of view differ, as they sometimes will. But, whatever it was, I sincerely apologize.

@glasskuter, You don't need to apologize to me because I never felt like you did anything to me. I'm sorry to have given you that impression.

That said, I'm just answering the posts. And if it seems my comments are aimed at you, yeah, because you're the loudest voice. It ain't personal.

And I've been at this PC / Windows thing for a long time, and the reason I remain is because I embrace technology. And with that, I also have an opinion. Again, nothing personal.

Haydon · May 4, 2023

pparks1 said:
Setting up again. I'm using the Media Creation Windows 11 22H2 release from Sept of 2022.

Hyper-V Vm, 8GB of RAM, Generation 2. Connected to Internet.
Installed using no product key, as this VM will live for only about 20 minutes.
Installed Windows 11 Pro
Named my device
Selected Setup for Personal Use
Added my Microsoft Account
It saw my other device on this account, so I choose to Setup as a new Device.
It asks me to create a PIN
Privacy settings came up, I accepted defaults
It then gave me options to tick about how I plan to use my device, I hit skip
It asks me to use my Android phone from my PC, I said skip.
It offered a free trial of office365. I said decline
It offered me 100GB more cloud storage space, as I said decline.
It offered me a month of PC Game Pass for $9.99, I said Skip for Now.
It checked for updates
It started the Hi, Getting things ready for you, building my profile screen.
It brought me into my desktop.

Never said anything about being able to store my files only on the PC.

So much for OneDrive yessayers mobbing help seeking individuals of being mindless clickers and what not

Dru2 · May 4, 2023

pparks1 said:
Hmmmm, I'm going to run through the install again. I'm using the 22H2 release that I got from the media creation site back in Sept of 2022.

@cereberus pointed it out the difference - Microsoft Account you get it, Local Account, you don't. But that makes sense on a local machine because you aren't being signed into any Microsoft services where an account is needed. OneDrive requires sign-in. Hence the "no option".

cereberus · May 4, 2023

glasskuter said:
The last time I went through OOBE on a Windows11 22h2 laptop, that "only save files to this PC" was no longer there.

The post was mean to be flippant; you know..funny HaHa. I am capable of reading the screenshot for myself and see an option is not found. I wasn't asking a question.

On a personal note @Dru2, I do not know what I have said in the past that got me on your bad side. It must have been something from the very first post I made on this forum because ever since your attitude towards me usually comes across as either hostile or condescending whenever our points of view differ, as they sometimes will. But, whatever it was, I sincerely apologize. Know that I truly respect your knowledge and experience and always appreciate you sharing it. My own may not be as extensive, but I do try. As such, I feel my opinions have as much worth as anyone else's. I strive to be respectful of yours and everyone else's whenever our views differ. If I am ever not, please let me know.

As I said above, you only see the option if setting up with an MS account.

Unless you state what type of account you were using using oobe, your statement that the link was not there may or may not be true - hence pointless without proper context.

The link is definitely there, and to be fair is more obvious in Windows 11. In Windows 10, it was even more obscure.

cereberus · May 4, 2023

pparks1 said:
Setting up again. I'm using the Media Creation Windows 11 22H2 release from Sept of 2022.

Hyper-V Vm, 8GB of RAM, Generation 2. Connected to Internet.
Installed using no product key, as this VM will live for only about 20 minutes.
Installed Windows 11 Pro
Named my device
Selected Setup for Personal Use
Added my Microsoft Account
It saw my other device on this account, so I choose to Setup as a new Device.
It asks me to create a PIN
Privacy settings came up, I accepted defaults
It then gave me options to tick about how I plan to use my device, I hit skip
It asks me to use my Android phone from my PC, I said skip.
It offered a free trial of office365. I said decline
It offered me 100GB more cloud storage space, as I said decline.
It offered me a month of PC Game Pass for $9.99, I said Skip for Now.
It checked for updates
It started the Hi, Getting things ready for you, building my profile screen.
It brought me into my desktop.

Never said anything about being able to store my files only on the PC.

Were you installing Home or Pro in vm?

I do not get options to install test of office 365, gamepass etc. when installing Pro.

Something funny is going on here if it is Pro.

My vms are activated as well.

glasskuter · May 4, 2023

Yes, exactly as @pparks1 says when setting up Home OOB with MS Account.. I've seen it on 2 brand new laps and one reset and keep nothing. All were Home.
Thank you pparks for going to so much trouble to test this.

cereberus · May 4, 2023

glasskuter said:
Yes, exactly as @pparks1 says when setting up Home OOB with MS Account.. I've seen it on 2 brand new laps and one reset and keep nothing. All were Home.
Thank you pparks for going to so much trouble to test this.

Well, I just tested it for Home, and I got this screen

The only thing I can think of is whether pc vendors have set a registry edit that bypasses this screen in oobe ($ from MS).

They do this with device encryption. So oobe from a new pc may well not show this screen, I suppose. Equally with reset, same could happen.

I am 100% certain that the screen shows in Home or Pro if using the standard download iso from MS and an MS account - I have tested it twice just to make sure.

I smell a sneaky move by (some) oem vendors (presumably at MS behest)?

pparks1 · May 4, 2023

Dru2 said:
@cereberus pointed it out the difference - Microsoft Account you get it, Local Account, you don't. But that makes sense on a local machine because you aren't being signed into any Microsoft services where an account is needed. OneDrive requires sign-in. Hence the "no option".

I was installing using a Microsoft Account.

cereberus said:
Were you installing Home or Pro in vm?

I do not get options to install test of office 365, gamepass etc. when installing Pro.

Something funny is going on here if it is Pro.

My vms are activated as well.

I was installing Windows 11 Pro. And I was using a brand spanking new Microsoft account that I setup purely for testing and playing around with logging on with a Microsoft account.

Jamis · May 4, 2023

Patient: Doctor, It hurts when I do this.
Doctor: Don't do that.

I much preferred to spend $50 on a 1TB drive and backup to it. No MS involvement, No complicated set up, No worries.

TraderGary · May 4, 2023

Jamis said:
Patient: Doctor, It hurts when I do this.
Doctor: Don't do that.

I much preferred to spend $50 on a 1TB drive and backup to it. No MS involvement, No complicated set up, No worries.

Yes, as long as one of your backup methods is offsite, there are no worries.

pparks1 · May 4, 2023

I just tested again using Windows 11 Home and had the same experience.

Windows 11 VM, on Hyper-V, connected to Internet, 8GB of RAM, 2 CPU's and TPM enabled
Booted from the Windows 11 ISO from Sept of 2022, 22H2.
Installed using no product key, as this VM will live for only about 20 minutes.
Installed Windows 11 Home
Named my device
Selected Setup for Personal Use
Got to this screen to sign in with my Microsoft account and Signed in with my account

It saw my other device on this account, , and I didn't want to restore from a previous VM, so I clicked on View More options.

I choose to setup as a new device.

I got the accept screen for the privacy settings and I just accepted what was there.

Here was the screenshot for customizing my experience.

Here was the Android setup question.

Here was my Free Offer for Office 365.

And my option for paying for more storage

Then my game pass option.

After that, i hit the Hi, Getting things ready for you, building my profile screen.

Clearly, with the same product, and different Microsoft Accounts, and getting updates during the install process itself, and using a product key or not, we all seem to have different experiences.

pparks1 · May 4, 2023

Jamis said:
I much preferred to spend $50 on a 1TB drive and backup to it. No MS involvement, No complicated set up, No worries.

Everybody has different wants or needs.

There are many naysayers of the cloud, and people who hate subscriptions. I'm totally fine with people who have these opinions. On the flip side though, there are lots of blatent statements of "Office 365 is overpriced for what it is", or "it's much better to buy a cheap key and just be done with it, don't pay monthly"

As you stated above, you prefer to just spend $$ on a hard drive and handle it all on your own. That's your preference and it's cool. I too have an 8TB external drive in the house that I use to store Macrium images of machines. (but in all honestly, this is more for convenience for me, and not critical....so offsite isn't too big of a priority for me...and my images take up lots of space and I don't have enough upload bandwidth from my ISP to make it practical.

But some of us have other preferences. Getting to our files from other locations, backing up photos and videos from our cell phones, having our data in a remote location in the event that our computer is lost, stolen or burns to the ground. For me, OneDrive covers these desires better than a stand-alone hard drive in my house. OneDrive isn't universally bad, but it may just not be the technology for your particular needs.

MiguelAngel11 · May 4, 2023

Reading from the posts I see there are clearly two kinds of users. Who use and like OneDrive because is useful to them. And there is the other group , who does not use OneDrive (including me). And both views for me are fine.

It's all OK, the thing that happens to me is the fact that OneDrive was designed to work entwined with the OS. Should be an standalone application. Why it appears as shortcuts in Home within File Explorer is that bothers me. For a new Windows installation it's the same old story. If you don't pay attention you'll be storing inadvertently in OneDrive folders, and in a moment you will realize that you filled all the space.

pparks1 · May 4, 2023

MiguelAngel11 said:
It's all OK, the thing that happens to me is the fact that OneDrive was designed to work entwined with the OS. Should be an standalone application. Why it appears as shortcuts in Home within File Explorer is that bothers me. For a new Windows installation it's the same old story. If you don't pay attention you'll be storing inadvertently in OneDrive folders, and in a moment you will realize that you filled all the space.

I do see why you like the concept of the stand-alone application. I do think from Microsoft's viewpoint, the benefit they have from storing your documents, your desktop, and your pictures in the cloud is that they are providing a safeguard to users who aren't diligent about doing their own backups. So I see value in both types of configurations.

There is a legitimate concern that with a free account only getting 5GB of cloud space could certainly fill up. Probably not so much from the My Documents part, but rather from files stored on the desktop, or that pictures folder. Pictures can chew up a lot of space fast. There is an option for $1.99 a month to get 100GB of space. For those who aren't diligent about doing backups, $24 a year to have their documents and pictures in another location might be worthwhile. If not, they can always move their data out of those locations and store them on C:\]data instead (or whatever folder they create).

TraderGary · May 4, 2023

pparks1 said:
I do see why you like the concept of the stand-alone application. I do think from Microsoft's viewpoint, the benefit they have from storing your documents, your desktop, and your pictures in the cloud is that they are providing a safeguard to users who aren't diligent about doing their own backups. So I see value in both types of configurations.

There is a legitimate concern that with a free account only getting 5GB of cloud space could certainly fill up. Probably not so much from the My Documents part, but rather from files stored on the desktop, or that pictures folder. Pictures can chew up a lot of space fast. There is an option for $1.99 a month to get 100GB of space. For those who aren't diligent about doing backups, $24 a year to have their documents and pictures in another location might be worthwhile. If not, they can always move their data out of those locations and store them on C:\]data instead (or whatever folder they create).

I choose to subscribe to Microsoft 365. A $69/year subscription to Microsoft 365 gets you 1 Terabyte of cloud OneDrive and all of Microsoft Office.

MiguelAngel11 · May 4, 2023

Unfortunately not all the users cares about their personal information until they lost it.

pparks1 · May 4, 2023

TraderGary said:
I choose to subscribe to Microsoft 365. A $69/year subscription to Microsoft 365 gets you 1 Terabyte of cloud OneDrive and all of Microsoft Office.

I too have Microsoft 365. Had it for about 6 years. I have the $99 family plan, but with a discount from work, I get it for $69 a year with 6 accounts and 1TB each. It's a no-brainer for me for all that storage. I'm using about 150GB of my 1TB. So, plenty more space available.

Dru2 · May 4, 2023

TraderGary said:
I choose to subscribe to Microsoft 365. A $69/year subscription to Microsoft 365 gets you 1 Terabyte of cloud OneDrive and all of Microsoft Office.

I actually don't use OneDrive for "backup" purposes, but rather a convenient way to access files accross my various PCs, to also include my Android phone with the OneDrive app.

If I'm in class working on a project from my laptop, I just drop the files in the OneDrive folder and access from my desktop without ever having to touch the laptop.

I have backup provisions (to include cloud) but I don't rely on OneDrive as there's not enough space. But yes, whatever is in the OneDrive folder is backed up to the cloud, so that's a side bonus for how I use OneDrive.