OneDrive – Again!
OneDrive is quite confusing to many users. You can find my latest attempt to explain it in the blog of the September Computer Club:-
https://computerclub100.blogspot.com/2024/09/
However, I thought I should have another try!
There are 3 main constituent parts to the OneDrive system:-
- The storage in the Cloud which you can access directly via a web browser by going to onedrive.com. Just by creating a free Microsoft Account, you will have 5GB of cloud storage. You can pay for more, and if you subscribe to Microsoft 365, you will have 1TB of cloud storage.
- A folder on your local system drive called OneDrive which you can access like any other folder in File Explorer.
- An app called OneDrive which runs by default on your Windows PC.
The OneDrive app will sync files between the OneDrive folder on your local drive and the OneDrive cloud storage. As you could have many gigabytes of files stored in the cloud, you would not want all of them copied into your local OneDrive folder. To avoid this, it uses a system of “files on demand”. So, when you look at the OneDrive folder on your local drive using File Explorer you will see all the files that are in the cloud, but a file will not be downloaded until you select it – for example, when you open a Word document for editing. This Computer World article has a detailed guide which explains how OneDrive works:-
https://www.computerworld.com/article/1717094/microsoft-onedrive-cheat-sheet-backup-sync-share-files.html
As you will see in this article, the OneDrive app can also backup the key system folders such Documents, Pictures and Desktop. It actually achieves backing up by moving, say, the Documents folder from its usual location (C:\Users\username\Documents) to the OneDrive folder. As anything in the OneDrive folder is synced to the cloud, this effectively backs up the folder(s). You can select Stop Backup for any or all of these folders if you don’t want OneDrive to do backups - the folders will then be moved back to their normal location on your local system drive.
You can also access the files in your OneDrive cloud using the OneDrive app on your mobile devices or on a Mac.
If you want to stop OneDrive from syncing files, right-click on OneDrive in File Explorer, select the Account tab and click on Unlink this PC. Files stored locally in your OneDrive folder will remain while the “online only” files will disappear. You can then click on the Settings tab and untick Start OneDrive automatically when I sign in to Windows. Click on the OneDrive cloud symbol in the System Tray (near the clock), select Settings & Help and click Close OneDrive.
Linda said she had got 2 OneDrive folders on her PC. I'm not sure why, but it may help to unlink OneDrive in the app as described above and then sign in again. Subsequently, I have found this Microsoft Support article which explains how you can turn off, disable or uninstall OneDrive which might help:-
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/turn-off-disable-or-uninstall-onedrive-f32a17ce-3336-40fe-9c38-6efb09f944b0
Dave, who is a Chromebook user, pointed out that Google have improved the integration of OneDrive with ChromeOS. This article explains a little more:-
https://www.thurrott.com/mobile/chrome-os/301345/google-improves-onedrive-and-microsoft-365-integration-with-chromeos
Of course, you can access OneDrive on any device using the web browser and going to onedrive.com.
Cherry said she has now got 2 Desktop folders on her PC. I don't know why, but system folders (e.g. Desktop, Documents, etc) can be relocated and OneDrive does this to perform its backup function (as mentioned above). It might be worth checking the location of these folders - this article which I found after the meeting explains how:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/23504-restore-default-location-personal-folders-windows-10-a.html
Downloaded Files on iPad
Having downloaded a file on his iPad, Tony asked how to find it. The answer is to use the Files app - you can use the Spotlight Search to find the app. This How-To Geek article explains more:-
https://www.howtogeek.com/688893/how-to-find-downloaded-files-on-an-iphone-or-ipad/
Are You Scam-Savvy?
Just a quick reminder about the Take Five To Stop Fraud web site which we have discussed before:-
https://www.takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/
They have a quick test to see if you can spot scams – just scroll down the page and click on Let’s go under the heading Are You Scam-Savvy?
Think Jessica
Phil mentioned a booklet on scams which is produced by the Think Jessica campaign against scams. You can see the booklet here:-
https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:b3ba4793-3e6b-43fa-b81a-ad4d02e37b9a
You can find out more about Think Jessica on their web site at:-
https://www.thinkjessica.com/
Upgrade ‘Incompatible’ Windows 10 to 11
Support for Windows 10 ends in less than a year on 14th October 2025. As we have discussed before, to upgrade a Windows 10 PC to Windows 11, it has to meet a minimum hardware specification, so older machines may refuse to upgrade. Then the simple answer is to buy a new Windows 11 PC.
However, if you are technically adventurous, there are a couple of ways to upgrade an ‘incompatible’ machine to Windows 11:-
1) There is Microsoft-supported solution which involves a Registry edit if your PC has either an older processor (earlier than an Intel 8th generation) or older version 1.2 TPM (Trusted Platform Module) but meets all the other requirements.
2) If you PC does not meet some of the other requirements, such as supporting Secure Boot or having no TPM, then you could use Rufus to create the installation media. Rufus is a free and well-respected product for creating bootable USB drives from a ISO file.
You can download Rufus from:-
https://rufus.ie/en/
This article from ZDNet explains both these options in more detail:-
https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-upgrade-your-incompatible-windows-10-pc-to-windows-11-two-options/
(Notes:–
To run the utilities mentioned in this article (e.g. Msinfo32.exe), hold down the Windows Key and press R to launch the Run function.)
To backup the Registry, run Regedit.exe and click File, Export to save a copy.)
Before attempting the upgrade, it would be a wise precaution to back up all your data and note any licence details so that you can re-install everything from scratch if things go wrong.
We have discussed other options for using an 'old' PC such as installing Linux or ChromeOS Flex and you can refer back to the relevant blogs.
For ChromeOS Flex:-
https://computerclub100.blogspot.com/2024/05/
For Linux:-
https://computerclub100.blogspot.com/2020/05/
Dave gave a demo of Linux Mint at the April 2023 Club:-
https://computerclub100.blogspot.com/2023/04/
Downloading Video & Audio
I have been asked before about downloading video from sites such as YouTube. I subscribe to the Cool Tools weekly email from The Intelligence and a recent email included Cobalt, a free and very easy download function. Just go to:-
https://cobalt.tools/
and paste the URL of the audio/video/photo and click the “>>” button.
If you want to subscribe to Cool Tools (or their Android or Windows emails), go to:-
https://theintelligence.com/
PodSnacks
We have discussed Podcasts before – see the blog from May 2023:-
https://computerclub100.blogspot.com/2023/05/
There are a number of tech podcasts which can be quite informative, but you might have to listen to an hour or more of chit-chat to glean a couple of snippets of information. That’s where another Cool Tool from The Intelligence (see above) could be useful. It’s called PodSnacks and it uses AI to provide summaries of your chosen podcasts which it will send to you by email. To get started, go to:-
https://www.podsnacks.org/
The free version allows you to subscribe to up to 25 podcasts. If this is not enough, the premium plan lets you subscribe to up to 50 podcasts for $10 per month. You can read The Intelligence article about it here:-
https://theintelligence.com/35420/podcast-summaries-in-your-inbox/
Android 15
Android 15 started rolling out from 15th October to compatible devices. Pixel devices will receive the upgrade first (Pixel 6 and later). Other manufacturers, such as Samsung, Lenovo, Motorola, OnePlus, Oppo, etc will release the update to selected devices, probably in a month or so.
New features include Theft Detection Lock, more authentication requirements for some settings and Private Spaces which is a secure area on your phone to hide certain apps such as banking apps.
See this CNet article for more details:-
https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/android-15-is-here-what-you-need-to-know-about-googles-latest-os-on-your-phone/
iOS 18.1
The latest major, annual update to Apple’s iOS was released on 16th September, promising new “AI” features to come – “AI” = “Apple Intelligence”.
The first AI features have now (as of 18th October) been released via update 18.1. This adds new Writing Tools, a new look to Siri, Smart Replies in email and more. See this MacRumors article for more:-
https://www.macrumors.com/guide/ios-18-1-features/
No Sound on WhatsApp Video
Linda found that a video she shared via WhatsApp lost its sound. I wasn't able to answer that problem, but after the session I found this article which might help:-
https://www.flexclip.com/learn/whatsapp-video-no-sound.html
Next Session
Wed 11th December 2024 at 2pm by Zoom.
