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I have the following setup:

Windows 8.1 on PC at Work. I use a local account.

My personal/private hotmail address, with all my personal data in Skydrive.

In Windows 8, I used to be able to have the Skydrive/Onedrive desktop app running, and connect it to my personal hotmail address. I could access, edit and sync my skydrive files at work: great!

Now upgraded to 8.1, it seems it is no longer possible? I installed the desktop app, but it cannot be opened?

As said here, it is all baked in: SkyDrive desktop app with Windows 8.1

Now, this is very annoying, obviously: I can no longer access my files!

Is there any solution to this?

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  • @Bertvan - You are indeed correct. You are required to connect your Microsoft Account to your local account if you want this capability.
    – Ramhound
    Apr 23, 2014 at 12:58

1 Answer 1

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As of Windows 8.1, signing in with a Microsoft account is required to let OneDrive sync your files. Short of relying on third party applications, you won't be able to have a setup similar to what you previously had in Windows 8.

The OneDrive/Microsoft account is now equivalent to iCloud/Apple: if you want to use iCloud to store your documents and access them across devices, you are forced to use the same iCloud account.

As an alternative, you might switch to a different cloud storage provider such as DropBox, Box, or Google Drive.

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  • Indeed. That's actually pretty sad. Switching to Google Drive now.
    – Bertvan
    Apr 23, 2014 at 11:44
  • @reploo - Actually....You are NOT forced to use a Microsoft Account to log into your account in Windows 8.1. It is required if you want to sync to OneDrive though. Please work on the wording of your first sentence.
    – Ramhound
    Apr 23, 2014 at 12:56
  • @Ramhound I ask you to read again my answer. You can't use OneDrive in Windows 8.1 unless you login with a Microsoft Account. My sentence is actually stating exactly that - that you are forced to use a Microsoft Account in order to use OneDrive.
    – reploo
    Apr 23, 2014 at 13:19
  • @reploo - I read your first sentence an entirely different way hence my comment. I had to read it multiple times to read it the way you attempted to write it.
    – Ramhound
    Apr 23, 2014 at 15:54
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    syncdriver.com is a great client that allows you to use OneDrive without signing into the PC under a Microsoft account.
    – Tyler
    Aug 4, 2014 at 16:15

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