So if I wanted to Sync my entire Pictures, Documents and Downloads folders to Skydrive, how would I do this besides moving them into Skydrive? If I drag My Documents into Skydrive it uploads only what is in that folder at the moment, not going forward.
I work differently. I don't use the My.. folders to store my data. I set up data folders on other partitions/drives and use libraries to draw them together. If you use a two folder structure at the root of each included folder they appear in the libraries as folders. You include the top folder and any folders below that appear in the library root. I use a lot of different libraries for different purposes and I find this works for me and keeps the image of my C: drive relatively small. These are my libraries ATM.
OK I think I've got it:
Place the documents I want uploaded to Skydrive in a Skydrive Documents subfolder in Skydrive folder. Do the same for any other libraries.
Then rightclick that Skydrive Documents subfolder to add it to Documents Library.
Is there any way to channel all Documents into the Skydrive documents folder, perhaps removing My Documents and Public Documents from Documents library? When I click on Documents in Start Menu it then only shows Skydrive Docs.
Any downside except possibly to eliminate duplicates in the original Documents folder?
Yes you can do that and make it the default save location. But don't forget the Skydrive storage is limited so you probably don't want all your documents on there just those you want to sync.
You also have to bear in mind the fragility of SkyDrive sync. It is vey easy to delete something that is needed and have that deletion sync to SkyDrive and any other devices you sync. SO DO NOT TREAT IT AS A BACKUP SOLUTION.
Last edited by kado897; 14 May 2012 at 10:54. Reason: A warning
This is reason I am not sold yet. With a sync to the cloud as we have now, a simple "goof" and accidentally removing a file locally deletes it immediately from the cloud. And with Skydrive, unlike others, there is no "previous versions" or "recycle bin" in Skydrive to get the file back. Thus, you are relying on local backups still.
My typical method for backups is to use a utility like robocopy to "synchronize" my files at a time of my choosing to an external hard drive. And then I keep that external hard drive offsite in the case my house burns to the ground, floods or I am robbed. So, a cloud service like "skydrive" is an alternative to having to physically lug around my external hard drive. However, I don't have the ability to robocopy my important data from the couple of places I may already choose to store it on my network. Instead, I have to "duplicate" the data into the C:\skydrive (or whereever) folder locally, and then have it synchronized. Therefore, my 20GB of pictures at home are on my shared server drive, and my local hard drive and also in the cloud. This means that I burn 40GB at home...and while I like having multiple copies of my data so I don't ever lose it, this isn't ideal. Also, since Skydrive (or other cloud services) don't support timestamps of files, robocopy wants to recopy every file every time. And with my very limited upload speeds, this just isn't possible.
I've worked around the issue above my using something like Gladinet desktop client to get a drive letter for SkyDrive. Then, I use a utility like Karen't replicator to synchronize my 3-4 locations for data with Skydrive and tick the box to not rely at all on timestamps. While this technically works, I'm not happy with having to use a 3rd party ulility and would absolutely love to NOT have to have Glainet installed (I'm sure it's a fine app and all, but I keep my boxes as clean and streamlined as possible).
In that case is Live Sync still available to sync with Skydrive, as it keeps a copy of the changed file? I previously thought of this as an annoyance but now see why it is done.
I also get an annoying duplicated file which I can't open when I try to Sync my onboard folders with an existing folder of the same name on Skydrive.
Is there an effective backup strategy for Skydrive?
I sync only Three types of data.
1. Things I want to share.
2. Things I might need when my laptop is disconnected from my main data drive which is external.
3. Things I might need to access from another PC in the event of disaster.
This data is also backed up separately.
I'll try replicating it when I get home.
Will SysRestore offer previous versions of data placed in Skydrive folder? Just askin.
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