OneDrive will not start?

SonicMojo · Dec 31, 2023

Just built a new Windows 11 PRO 23H2 workstation using a custom ISO built and heavily tested using NT Lite.

The install is very stable and I am slowly adding my software back in today. The biggest oddity is one I thought would be totally uneventful - OneDrive.

My usual treatment of OneDrive is to strip the version that ships and automatically installs with a WIndows ISO and I always install the latest package manually after the OS is up.

So today - I download the latest OneDrive build and fire it up. Installer appears, everything seemed to go fine. But then no typical “startup” where OneDrive asks you to sign in to you MS account, setup your folders etc.

When I go to the icon on the Win 11 start menu - the icon is there but if I click it - nothing. Restarted the machine. Nothing. No little cloud icon in the tray. Nothing anywhere.

Read a ton of posts around the web where specific registry keys are “supposed” to exist but I see none of these.

What am I missing here? Anything I can try would be appreciated.

Sonic.

TairikuOkami · Dec 31, 2023

SonicMojo said:
What am I missing here? Anything I can try would be appreciated.

There are 3 versions of OneDrive.
1. The default version starts in appdata folder.
2. Updated version starts in C:\Program Files (x86)
3. The latest updated version starts in C:\Program Files
If you skip the updating process Windows 11 will get confused.
I tried updating onedrive to the latest x64 version, it was a mess.

Berton · Dec 31, 2023

TairikuOkami said:
There are 3 versions of OneDrive.
1. The default version starts in appdata folder.
2. Updated version starts in C:\Program Files (x86)
3. The latest updated version starts in C:\Program Files
If you skip the updating process Windows 11 will get confused.
I tried updating onedrive to the latest x64 version, it was a mess.

My Microsoft 365 also has a version.

SonicMojo · Dec 31, 2023

TairikuOkami said:
There are 3 versions of OneDrive.
1. The default version starts in appdata folder.
2. Updated version starts in C:\Program Files (x86)
3. The latest updated version starts in C:\Program Files
If you skip the updating process Windows 11 will get confused.
I tried updating onedrive to the latest x64 version, it was a mess.

Mine is in -

C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive

On all machines here.

You mention" skipping" the updating process? What "updating" process?

I simply installed OneDrive using the download available here:

OneDrive release notes - Microsoft Support

Learn about the latest feature updates and bug fixes for the OneDrive sync app across all devices.

support.microsoft.com

It is the standalone exe package - which appears to install fine and put everything where it needs to go - exactly like all my other machines - but no amount of hammering the icon will get Onedrive.exe to start.

Even if I double click the actual file (OneDrive.exe) - nothing happens?

What up?

Sonic.

zebal · Dec 31, 2023

SonicMojo said:
But then no typical “startup” where OneDrive asks you to sign in to you MS account, setup your folders etc.

Just open OneDrive settings from tray icon and link you account to onedrive.

TairikuOkami · Dec 31, 2023

SonicMojo said:
You mention" skipping" the updating process? What "updating" process?

OneDrive will eventually update to x64 version, since Windows 11 is x64 OS only.
I am not sure, why it takes a sweet time, but there are some internal processes involved.
OneDrive is an integrated part of OS, when I tried speeding up the process, 11 did not like it.

Code:

reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" /v "OneDrive" /t REG_SZ /d "C:\Program Files\Microsoft OneDrive\OneDrive.exe /background" /f

garlin · Dec 31, 2023

I'm confused. You removed OneDrive client from the Windows image. It's outdated, but by design, OneDrive's updater task will automatically download the latest version after Post-Setup completes. Why not allow Windows to do its normal job?

glasskuter · Dec 31, 2023

TairikuOkami said:
OneDrive is an integrated part of OS,

Yes and becoming more baked in with every feature package and in ways we're probably not even aware of yet.. I don't use it, but I don't uninstall it either.

glasskuter · Dec 31, 2023

garlin said:
Why not allow Windows to do its normal job?

Amen.

SonicMojo · Dec 31, 2023

garlin said:
I'm confused. You removed OneDrive client from the Windows image. It's outdated, but by design, OneDrive's updater task will automatically download the latest version after Post-Setup completes. Why not allow Windows to do its normal job?

No sign of any "post-setup" or anything else if OneDrive was stripped via NT Lite.

The OS installs and that is it. There are no "OneDrive updater tasks" or anything else - which is the way I want it. To start with.

When I do want OneDrive - I have always installed it manually as needed. (and when needed)

Never ever had an issue with this with Win 10 - but this is my first Win 11 build (ever) and you would think that downloading the OneDrive installer and running it - would you know - setup OneDrive.

Not so it seems

S

SonicMojo · Dec 31, 2023

zebal said:
Just open OneDrive settings from tray icon and link you account to onedrive.

Oh - I would do that - if I had a OneDrive icon. But I do not.

That is the reason for this post.

S

TairikuOkami · Dec 31, 2023

NT Lite is clearly the culprit here, it ignores dependencies. That is the reason I stopped using it.

SonicMojo · Dec 31, 2023

TairikuOkami said:
NT Lite is clearly the culprit here, it ignores dependencies. That is the reason I stopped using it.

Well - I get that. But this ability to "remove" OneDrive via NT Lite has been there for several years now - have to assume that someone other than just me - would notice this by now if key dependencies were being stripped.

And I am certainly not "crying" about it.

The NT Lite crowd is quite fanatical about testing (and raising a ruckus) when this kinda stuff does not work.

S

TairikuOkami · Dec 31, 2023

SonicMojo said:
The NT Lite crowd is quite fanatical about testing (and raising a ruckus) when this kinda stuff does not work.

MS changes dependencies at will. Like I used to disable DHCP to make the network stable.
Then MS made windows updates dependent on it, then the next update removed that.
To make things worse, MS releases out-of-band updates just to change something.

Dru2 · Dec 31, 2023

TairikuOkami said:
There are 3 versions of OneDrive.
1. The default version starts in appdata folder.
2. Updated version starts in C:\Program Files (x86)
3. The latest updated version starts in C:\Program Files

Not clear on how you figure 3 versions of OneDrive get installed. There are just basically only two versions of OneDrive.... Personal OneDrive, and OneDrive for business.

The OneDrive folder in AppData is the same folder everywhere else. I don't have any OneDrive folder in C:\Program Files (x86), the OneDrive folder in C:\Program Files, in clicking the link there takes you to the same OneDrive folder. In short, all the OneDrive links and folders leads to the same single OneDrive folder.

What happens is OneDrive is automatically installed via Windows. And/or via Office app with OneDrive. The only difference between those is how much storage you initially get. Windows = no Office = 500gig of free storage. Office = 365 = 1TB of free storage. Outside of that they are exactly the same and work the same way. The difference is OneDrive for Business.

OneDrive for business is usually for those with school of business accounts and basically works the same works new the same as OneDrive personal, except the storage is dependent on what the school or business departments set.

As for the OP's issue - I suggest they NOT strip OneDrive from the initial OS install, and just let it install, and go from there. I've been using OneDrive since it was SkyDrive and don't ever remember having to setup different install procedures to keep it updated.

SonicMojo · Dec 31, 2023

Just checked Task Scheduler and the usual OneDrive updater tasks are there. A manual run gives an error code of 0x8004EE06

Dru2 said:
As for the OP's issue - I suggest they NOT strip OneDrive from the initial OS install, and just let it install, and go from there. I've been using OneDrive since it was SkyDrive and don't ever remember having to setup different install procedures to keep it updated.

Understood. However this is the first time I have ever seen issues running the standalone installer and see nothing happen.

Will dig into this a bit more and if there is no resolution - I will simply move on without it.

S

garlin · Dec 31, 2023

This isn't a NTLite question. The solution for removing OneDrive from the image, has been presented elsewhere:
- remove System32\OneDriveSetup.exe
- remove a registry run command from LocalService & NetworkService accounts
- remove a run command from Default User

Chocolatey suggests you use the "/allusers" option when installing the client.

TairikuOkami · Dec 31, 2023

garlin said:
This isn't a NTLite question.

NT Lite messes up Windows so much, that any support is pretty much useless.
It is like someone removing the wheel from the car and then asking how to steer?

SonicMojo · Dec 31, 2023

garlin said:
Chocolatey suggests you use the "/allusers" option when installing the client.

Interesting. Just tried this via Admin CMD:

OneDriveSetup.exe /allUsers

It installs fine but no dice getting it to run.

There is clearly more missing here than the three items you listed.

S

Dru2 · Dec 31, 2023

SonicMojo said:
Understood. However this is the first time I have ever seen issues running the standalone installer and see nothing happen.

Will dig into this a bit more and if there is no resolution - I will simply move on without it.

If this is a fresh OS install, suggest you reinstall and leave OneDrive as is being you're going to be using it anyway