What is skydrive and how to use it. SkyDrive - what is it? Windows SkyDrive

Hello, dear readers of the blog site. I have repeatedly written about file storages (cloud file hosting) and about their undoubted usefulness and relevance. Now I can no longer imagine my work without, where I always store all current documents, as well as site backups.

There is nothing complicated there. If you already had a mailbox in Hotmail or their new Outlook, then simply log into it and go to the management of the VanDrive file storage at onedrive.live.com/. For some reason, I did not find the login using the link from the account window.

The interface does not shine with graphic delights, but at the same time everything is clear and understandable without additional explanations. In the left upper corner to the right of the inscription SkyDrive there is an arrow to go to the mail interface.

In the lower left corner, you will be shown the size of your file hosting, which is 7 GB by default, and you will also have the opportunity to view the contents of the basket, where all the files deleted from the storage go (its size is 10% of the total size).

There are no free ways to increase it, as it was in DropBox or Yandex disk, but you can only pay for one of the options for expanding the volume by going to "Storage Management". It's sad, because in Dropbox I was able to expand my 2 GB to almost 60 GB for free, which is already quite suitable for full-fledged work with file hosting, when you don't have to think too much about the size of the objects being synchronized.

At the top of the OneDrive web interface window, there are elements for managing the files stored there, and a little to the right there are switches for how they are displayed.

Van Drive Program

But we will return to this later, but for now we will use the “Download” button located below. If it is not there, then go to the "Get the application" tab, or just click on Download VanDrive, or by button:

Personally, I still use Windows Vista and on it, when you start this application, a message appears "OneDrive (skydrive) cannot be launched with full administrator rights. For a couple of years of existence, this problem has not been fixed by the developers, which indicates their sluggishness, or that outdated systems are being deliberately neglected.

The salvation of the drowning is the work of the drowning themselves. Therefore, we solve the problem simply enabling the UAC service(User Account Control), which I successfully disabled immediately after installing Windows. So, in order to turn UAC back on, I had to go along the thorny path "Start" - "Control Panel" (I have a classic look) - "User Accounts" - "Turn UAC on and off":

Check the box and click on OK.

You will be asked to restart your computer, after which, finally, the VanDrive application will start for you. On other OS that supports this program, there are no problems with its launch - only on Vista, and only with disabled UAC.

You will immediately be prompted sign in to your Microsoft account(enter your username and password) mailbox in Hotmail or Outlook). Personally, I keep everything lately, and the Kipas base itself lives in Dropbox, so as not to lose everything at once.

Next, you will be prompted to change the default location of the OneDrive folder, which I always do, because I would not want the “C drive” to grow in volume to disgrace (then the image in Acronis will turn out to be monstrous). For all file storages, I use "disk D".

On all such file hosting, there is a place to set up folders, the contents of which should automatically sync with this particular computer. For example, in Dropbox, the whole family uses one single account, but they are synchronized on different computers different folders because I don't need my wife's files, and she doesn't need mine.

This setting is necessary, but it makes sense to do it, it seems to me, a little later, when you have already decided on the structure and purpose of the folders.

Although the SkyDrive installation wizard suggests that you do it right now.

Remote access to the computer's file system from another device through the OneDrive web interface

Well, now we have reached one of the previously announced features of file storage from Microsoft - the ability to receive through this service access to files on remote computer . Moreover, these same files do not have to be in the folder mentioned above, which is subject to synchronization.

Pretty cool feature that can come in handy sometimes.

Now when you enter the page onedrive.live.com/ at the bottom of the left column you will see the item "Computers" and under it a list of those devices on which you installed the VanDrive (SkyDrive) program and did not uncheck the possibility of remote access to it.

Wonderful, isn't it? I have never seen anything like this from the competitors of this file hosting.

The appearance of the tree of folders and files can be changed in the upper right corner, and the folders or files you need can either be added to OneDrive (actually moved to shared folder), or download to the device from where you perform this remote access.

In my opinion, a great opportunity, but back to our sheep, namely the desktop application.

OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive) setup and features

It remains only to click on the "Finish" button and see the cloud icon in the tray, which you will settle there forever.

For those who have never dealt with cloud file hosting, I will explain that the VanDrive folder and all its contents will now live a double life (or even a triple or quadruple, depending on how many computers and laptops you log into it under the same account).

Her full copy will always be stored in the Microsoft cloud and in case of data loss on the computer, they will be automatically copied from virtual storage, as soon as you log back into your account in OneDrive. A very convenient thing, but, as far as I understand, increased storage and encryption security measures will be available to you only when you purchase a paid version.

The settings of this program are hidden in context menu this tray icon under the item "Parameters".

On the first tab, autorun of this application is configured, it will also be possible to prohibit remote access to the computer, if necessary. Here you can also unlink (sign out of your account) with your Microsoft account, for example, in order to enter this file storage under another one.

On the second tab, you can already just exclude automatic synchronization with those folders whose contents are on this computer you don't need to update.

Create your directory structure and subfolders inside the VanDrive directory, you can standard means Wimdows by opening it in File Explorer or, for example, in .

New files or folders can be added by simply dragging them from other places or copying them through the clipboard (I advise you to try the extension program). The web interface also allows you to do this using the menu items "Create" from the top panel:

Well, on the third tab, you can disable the default ability to speed up data synchronization between your SkyDrive folder and cloud file storage by compressing all transferred files into an archive. Firstly, this reduces their size, and secondly, uploading one object to the Internet is much faster than a thousand, even if their weight is comparable. It makes sense to leave this checkbox.

If you cannot use the right mouse button (on a tablet, for example), then you can open the tab shown in the screenshot using the icon located at the top right and select a similar item there:

The difference between these three methods of link sharing is described in the screenshot:

Just the second option demonstrates the difference between SkyDrive file hosting (in a new way - VanDrive) from Dropbox and others like it. Office documents can be edited online with the tool Office Web Apps.

Online version of OneDrive, Office Web Apps and more

Moreover, a user who clicks on such a link will be able to edit the document without even logging into their Microsoft account.

Of course, you can also use Office Web Apps to online editing of all office documents stored in the Sky Drive folder. To do this, you will need to click on it and select the appropriate item from the top menu.

In general, Office Web Apps is a simplified version of the office suite and this is how, for example, its window will look like when editing a Word document previously loaded into this file storage.

All the most commonly used tools are available. The edited document can be saved there, or you can upload it to your computer or any other device. Again, no other popular file storage has this built-in capability.

When viewing photos on the web interface Van Drive, you will have the opportunity to run a slide show, flip the image, see other pictures from the same folder as the tape located at the bottom, and in the right tab, see detailed information about this file.

Moreover, if you share with someone a link to a photo or to a whole folder with them, then this person, after clicking on it, will have access to almost all the same tools for viewing, and he will not have to log into his account for this. small-soft. .

Those types of files that cannot be displayed in the web interface, you will be prompted to download. There is another option like implementation of objects. What it is? Well, this is the ability to insert an object (photo, document or something else) into your site via .

It's just that in practice it's hard for me to imagine what it can be needed for. The size of the frame window can be adjusted to the width of your page by changing the numbers directly in the code. For example, I inserted a Word document just below, which contains a small list of my articles that I redid to.

You can scroll it with the mouse wheel, double-clicking will increase the scale, but when you click on the button in the lower right corner, you will go to view it in SkyDrive.

It goes without saying that there are also namesake mobile applications to access this file host: iPhone or iPad , Android or Windows Phone . Naturally, when you sign in, you will be asked to provide your Microsoft account details.

The interface of OneDrive for iPad is very simple and has almost no settings.

In Dropbox, I really liked the ability to automatically synchronize all the photos and videos captured on a mobile device so that they can later be viewed on desktop computer. Here I did not find such an opportunity.

In general, despite a couple of very interesting features, VanDrive has not yet impressed me so much that I switched to it from Dropbox. Although, perhaps he will find some suitable application. And what do you think?

Good luck to you! See you soon on the blog pages site

Sign in to the OneDrive web service

In order to enter the service you need:

Sign in to OneDrive through the app

Right here on the site, for more convenient operation with the service, you can download the OneDrive client program and enter the storage through it:

On the left panel, at the bottom, click on the inscription "Get OneDrive client".
We click the heading "Download OneDrive" for the required OS.
The client setup file will autoload. Click on the download bar. We confirm the amendments on the computer "Yes".
The download of the client to your PC will appear before your eyes.
Click on the "Get Started" button.
Enter the required data. We press "Login".
In the "Your OneDrive folder" window, click "Change" and select the location of the folder, "OK" and again "Next".
Choose sync. By clicking on the "Finish" button, the OneDrive folder on the computer will open. The contents of this folder will undoubtedly be mechanically synchronized with the virtual service when the Internet is connected.
You can get to work.

Advice! To manage the OneDrive client from Windows, an icon is set in the alerts section. When you click on this icon, a software pop-up menu appears that allows you to call up the settings.

Now you have learned how to sign in to OneDrive in Russian. Everything is simple, you just need attention and punctuality. By connecting OneDrive (read about disabling it), you simultaneously get the opportunity online work with documents in the main office programs, as in text editor, and in the spreadsheet processor. It is possible to create presentations and work in a notebook. Successful work and glorious rest!

Program interface: Russian

Platform: 7 / Vista / 8

Manufacturer: Microsoft

Website: www.microsoft.com

skydrive is one of the services for storing files, accessing them through a web interface, as well as file sharing, which is managed by Microsoft and has tight integration with the Windows operating system and software package Microsoft office.

Main features of the SkyDrive program

First of all, note that SkyDrive uses cloud technologies and provides users with a fairly wide range of services and opportunities. So, for example, the user is allocated 7 GB of disk space to store their files. Users who are entitled to free update, receive 25 GB of disk space.

The folder structure in which the files are stored has a clear organization. So, for example, in a folder of images, you can also use some of the standard types of viewing in the form of thumbnails or slide shows. In addition, you can set personal access levels for all folders from exclusively personal to public. Similarly, you can grant permissions to friends, family, or share files using any computer connected to the Internet.

No less interesting is the full integration with the office suite. Files can be saved directly from Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, and Word to Windows Service live skydrive. And that is not all. The fact is that there is still a fairly powerful integration with Microsoft Office Web Apps, which allows you to create various kinds of office documents directly online and save them to file storage. Among other things, when using the SkyDrive application with Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems, files up to 2 GB in size can be uploaded directly from Explorer to the storage. By the way, as an integral part of the operating Windows systems 8, SkyDrive is also present in it.

According to some analysts, Microsoft may soon combine several services into one. So, it is very likely that integration between SkyDrive, Live Mesh and Live Sync will become possible, which will allow full synchronization files residing in the cloud and through a single application engine. So, let's hope that the developers of this service will not stop there, and in the future we will see an updated product. Moreover, there are all the prerequisites and prospects for this.

In this review, much attention will be paid to the SkyDrive cloud service from Microsoft. This service has a number of advantages, and it will be very useful to many people. It is especially useful for those who often work with office documents. Let's get to know him better!

Why do you need SkyDrive?

Service skydrive(skydrive.com) is a file hosting for storing and exchanging files with various information on the Internet. To put it simply, it is a cloud service. Microsoft made its first launch in August 2007. The service has multilingual and clear interface so it won't be that hard to work with.

What is SkyDrive even for? It is needed for fast and wireless information exchange. For example, you have a computer and a laptop. The laptop is in another room and you are too lazy to carry it, connect it and transfer documents. You go to SkyDrive and upload the desired document. This service is also very suitable for those who work at the computer both at home and at work. If you still have unfinished business in the office, then you can always return to them from your home computer thus loading necessary information from the cloud service. In this case, you will not need to carry flash drives or cables with you.

I recommend paying much attention to this service to those people who often work with office applications from Microsoft Office. With support for Office Web Apps, SkyDrive will seamlessly allow multiple people to work remotely on the same document. For example, two people can use and edit the same office document. And each of them will current version this document at the same time. This is very useful for schoolchildren, students or teachers who perform a single job. Also useful to tourists who work together on or bloggers who are creating a common e-book.

You can store absolutely all files. And in general, this is convenient when you have a lot of important documents, and you are afraid to catch some kind of virus that can adversely affect your information. It happens that he HDD may burn or lose a lot of information. For such moments, this service will also be very useful.

Registration in SkyDrive

Let's go to the site skydrive.com and we will have an authorization page. If you already have an account, then you can simply enter your login details here. If you have mailed to @hotmail.com, @outlook.com or at live.ru, then you can log in with the login and password from this mail, and you do not have to register again. A single Microsoft account allows you to log in with the same data to all Microsoft services. If you do not have one, you will have to register by clicking on " Register«.

This is not difficult! When registering, we first fill in information about ourselves: we indicate the name, surname, date of birth and gender.

option one- you can enter any email address ( no matter what) and continue to go under this email;
option two- you can click on Get a new email address" from Microsoft and in the additional window select mail from live, hotmail or outlook. Choose, for example, the second option by selecting outlook mail.

Below we come up with a password that contains at least 8 characters, and then confirm it.

Then choose the password recovery methods. You can enter your number mobile phone, and you will receive a confirmation SMS or ask Security Question and the answer to it. We choose, for example, a method with a question.

Now we select a country or region, postcode and then enter the captcha. You can leave or unsubscribe below (1) on the Special offers. After you have filled in all the data, then click "Accept" (2) . This will open SkyDrive.

How to use SkyDrive?

So, we have free 7 Gb available in this cloud service. Three folders have already been prepared by default - these are documents, images and general. In the upper right corner (3) You can change their display.

On the left side you can see a special menu ( picture below):

Files— all files of this repository are displayed;
Latest Files- Displays the files you have used recently.
All photos— all images of the given storage are displayed;
General- there are files that you have shared with other users.
Computers- here you can download the SkyDrive application for your computer under Windows control. After the application is installed, it is your computer that will appear under this menu. Later, you can stop your computer from accessing your SkyDrive or view files from another computer on a computer you trust. In general, all this is easily configured.

Below is another additional menu:

basket- all the files that you deleted get here;

storage management- here you can increase the size of the storage, thereby choosing the appropriate tariff plan. However, you will have to pay for the extra space. You can also set the format Office files, which will be used by default when creating office documents. It is also possible to configure user marks and set the parameters of the connected device;

get the SkyDrive app- here you can download this application under various Operating Systems, including for mobile devices. You can also check out additional features. Now just download the application for Windows, and later we will install it on our computer.

We return to SkyDrive to create an office document. You can create a Word document Excel workbook, PowerPoint presentation, notebook to , folder, and create an Excel survey.

Let's create a Word document. In a new window, write its name ( e.g. Document 1) and press " Create". opens word web App, i.e. the web version of the application. It is quite functional, but, of course, inferior to a regular application. If you miss additional features, then you can easily open this document in the application for your computer. To do this, click on the button " Open in Word» (4) and you will have installed Word from your computer.

Button " General access » (5) - access without problems. Can be published in social media, send someone an email message. In general, set access to this file.

So, I am currently in Office Web Apps. To quickly go to the repository, I need to click on the button " skydrive«.

The repository itself will already display this new document (picture below). Mark it with a tick and press the right mouse button. It will be possible to see what actions can be performed with this document.

Now pay attention to top panel skydrive. Button " Add' allows us to add files from the computer.

A little to the right is a special manager (6) . Here we can add Facebook friends, join account or add contacts with Google. If you have added people, then it will be very convenient to communicate with them through this interface. Going to Settings (7) you can set certain parameters, as well as use special help.

To the right is the account name. By clicking on it, we can add an avatar, change our profile or account settings. In general, we created a new account from Microsoft, but in addition to SkyDrive, others are available here useful applications. Click on the down arrow.

You will have additional options:

Let's install the SkyDrive application on our computer. Those who did not download immediately, go to the menu " Get the SkyDrive app". If you have Windows 8, then the SkyDrive application is already built into you ( it comes with the system by default). In general, click on Download the classic SkyDrive app". Open it and install it on your computer. After that, you need to run the application.

The launch of the application takes place in several stages. First, you will be asked to enter your username and password. We enter the same data as when registering for the SkyDrive service.

You will then be prompted for a location for the new SkyDrive folder. By default, we are offered to leave it in the explorer. We agree and click " Further«.

Then tick the " Get remote access to all files” and press the button “ Ready«.

After installing the application, in your section " Favorites» ( picture below) a SkyDrive folder will be automatically created. Any file that you drop into this folder will be immediately synchronized with your cloud storage. Checkmarks in green circles indicate that everything is already synchronized. What a convenience in all this!

Summing up, we can say that the SkyDrive service is very convenient and functional. At your disposal free 7 Gb, a separate Email and many more useful things. For convenience, all files can be sorted in different ways.

Additional Office application Web Apps, although it has truncated functionality office applications, but it can allow you to carry out standard operations with documents, which is also very good. Install the application on your smartphone, computer or tablet and work with cloud service will be even easier and faster! In general, study and implement!

Microsoft used to have a clear strategy for cloud storage information: SharePoint Online for corporate use and SkyDrive for ordinary consumers. Office 2013 introduced something called SkyDrive Pro. What is it?

I've already received more than a dozen emails from people who are confused about the new service being introduced as part of the Office 2013 Public Preview. I don’t know how important this is, I myself first learned about SkyDrive Pro only during the June briefing. Seeing the mention of SkyDrive Pro, I immediately asked Microsoft representatives about it. I was somewhat embarrassedly told that this is some kind of "an enterprise version of SkyDrive, available with Office 365 and based on SharePoint."

Yes, that was true enough, but SkyDrive actually combines several things.

From a server perspective, SkyDrive Pro is basically just SharePoint Online. More specifically, this is what is called the "Team Site document library" in SharePoint Online. The difference lies in the fact that SkyDrive Pro is not aimed at group work, but at the use of only one person. So, you get just one SkyDrive Pro library, and not a site that can contain several libraries and be used for group access. That is, conceptually, the SkyDrive alternative in Office 365 is based on SharePoint.

On the client side, SkyDrive Pro is an application that connects to the storage and syncs SkyDrive with windows explorer. This is similar to the existing SkyDrive client for Windows (and can be shared if needed) and works exactly the same, syncing the content of the vault with the catalog on your PC. The corporate edition is a replacement for SharePoint Workspace 2010 (in early versions Groove) for single-user data storage.

SkyDrive Pro works just like the regular SkyDrive app for Windows, which connects the service to your PC. There are several options for how to activate it, but the easiest is to visit the Office 365 website on the web. On the site, you need to click on the SkyDrive link in the menu and in the upper right corner of the screen you will see a sync button.

After clicking, the installer starts, which will offer to synchronize the Documents library with your PC. You can also see a white and blue icon, very similar to the one used in the SkyDrive desktop app.

Just like SkyDrive, SkyDrive Pro syncs files to the user's default directory, but it's possible to change this location. If you browse the user directory, you can see a Sky Drive Pro folder (named SkyDrive @Office Next) located next to the SkyDrive directory, simultaneously giving access to work and personal files, respectively.

In the applications of the Office suite, you can both open files from SkyDrive Pro and save them there. You can use both SkyDrive options at once, as I do.