Microsoft's OneDrive cloud storage service is installed on your PC by default, and it can cause some trouble when playing PC games on multiple devices.
  • Romkslrqusz@lemm.ee
    423·
    9 months ago

    When you set up a new PC, OneDrive automatically starts syncing files based on the Microsoft account you sign in with.

    I wish that Microsoft’s cloud storage service was opt-in instead of opt-out.

    I set up dozens of Windows machines for users every month. There is literally a page during the out of box experience that prompts the user as to whether or not they want their Desktop, Documents, and Pictures mapped to OneDrive.

    The person writing the article and anyone else complaining about this are mashing “next” without paying attention and then complaining it wasn’t set up the way they want.

    I actually do use OneDrive for those locations, even going so far as to symlink AppData game save locations over to OneDrive so that everything is the same between my laptop and desktop.

    I haven’t had the issue the author describes with AC Valhalla or with Rockstar Games Launcher.

    After you set up a new device, OneDrive doesn’t automatically download the entirety of its contents. Files are downloaded “on demand” when the system tries to access them, and I bet that’s what caused the stall the author described.

    The only inconvenience I’ve ever suffered from having game saves in OneDrive was with Call Of Duty’s Modern Warfare reboot. The settings config file lives in the Documents folder, so each time I launched the game on my Desktop or Laptop I would have to edit the settings to suit that device.

    • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      2·
      9 months ago

      Regardless of the OOBE setup: You can just create a local account and also not have the issue.
      Anything you do after that is done by your own actions.

    • Mic_Check_One_Two@reddthat.com
      2·
      9 months ago

      I always have issues with The Sims. Apparently EA uses the Documents folder for a lot of temp files. So every time I play The Sims, I get warnings from OneDrive that thousands of files were recently deleted. Because it’s creating and deleting temp files the entire time you’re playing, which are all automatically trying to sync to OneDrive.

      Given, that’s mostly an issue on EA’s side; Whatever programmer thought the Documents folder was a good spot for temp files should be dragged out back and flogged.

  • AnyOldName3@lemmy.world
    282·
    9 months ago

    Really, this is the games’ fault, at least if they were released in the last ten years. That’s how long Documents has been a subdirectory of OneDrive by default. If you’ve built software that can’t handle that gracefully and released it since, that’s just negligent. It’s not like the windows documentation doesn’t tell you places that wouldn’t have this problem where you can store machine-specific data.

    • accideath@lemmy.world
      27·
      9 months ago

      I’ve been complaining about this for years now. Windows even has a library for saved games and some games even used that but for some braindead reason, they just don’t anymore (and not many did). My documents folder is useless for documents, which is one of the many reasons I stopped using Windows for anything but gaming.

      What’s almost as annoying though are games that save to appdata. I have lost so many gamesaves that were hidden in the depths of appdata to windows reinstallations while my documents (and “my games” folder) sits securely on a secondary HDD.

    • Exocrinous@lemm.ee
      7·
      9 months ago

      I hate it when games save in my documents folder. I use my documents folder for important stuff like my documents. Shove it in appdata or steamapps or somewhere reasonable.

  • twinnie@feddit.uk
    213·
    9 months ago

    I can understand how this might be annoying but I’m pretty sure it’s convenient for OneDrive users. Why doesn’t he just disable syncing on that folder? How many times is he changing PC?

    • SwampYankee@mander.xyz
      31·
      9 months ago

      Bought a Win 11 laptop recently (it’s now a linux device), and on first boot up there was no way to gracefully decline using a Microsoft account to sign in. Luckily, I was in a hotel and couldn’t connect to the wifi without going through a login page, so the lack of internet connection allowed me to set up a local account. In any case, if you’re forced to log in with an MS account, OneDrive starts syncing right away. You can disable it, but maybe not before it’s already done some damage.

      • 000@fuck.markets
        8·
        9 months ago

        You can skip the MS account during install, just select the domain join and then don’t actually join a domain. You wind up with a single local user that way.

      • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
        6·
        9 months ago

        In addition to what the other user said, you can force it to make a local account by entering a “bad” email address. When I was regularly doing end user reinstalls, id regularly use “fuck@you.com” as my email, and for some reason, that account wasn’t usable so it just had me setup a local account.

        • SwampYankee@mander.xyz
          3·
          9 months ago

          Will definitely file these methods away for the future. Microsoft just keeps getting skeezier and they didn’t do this shit the last time I had to install Windows. This new laptop is the start of a transition to as close to 100% Linux as I can get.

  • 30p87@feddit.de
    154·
    9 months ago

    I set up a Windows PC for a friend, and he insisted on using his M$ account (bad decision). That caused the Desktop folder (not Downloads, not Documents, just the Desktop) to be stored in OneDrive. So as I tried to load his old PC’s Software hive, to extract the windows key, it crashed the PC. No problem, the original hive was still exported on the Desktop. I just rebooted into the boot stick and tried to load the hive there. After searching for the Desktop folder for 30 minutes, I finally located it in the OneDrive folder. And despite it being there, and taking up space, according to dir, it couldn’t be accessed, like wtf?

    • Who wants to share the desktop, but not Downloads etc? In contrast to the other user folders, the desktop is filled with program links that won’t even work anywhere else.
    • And why not make it accessible in a live boot? Like, it was obviously accessible to some degree, but not readable somehow? Wtf?
    • vithigar@lemmy.ca
      17·
      9 months ago

      In contrast to the other user folders, the desktop is filled with program links that won’t even work anywhere else.

      As someone who used to work in IT I wish that was the case. The desktop is a catch-all for basically anything that might momentarily enter a user’s field of vision.

      Application shortcuts, URL shortcuts, broken application and URL shortcuts, PDFs, images, a copy of their child’s baby album, a folder that’s just called “stuff” where all their actual work is saved, seven different copies of the same recipe for homemade pasta sauce, six empty files named “New Text Document”, and a recycle bin full of things too important to delete.

      But you can’t put anything anywhere else, because they “have a system.”

      • Exocrinous@lemm.ee
        21·
        9 months ago

        With the digital realm becoming increasingly important and approaching the physical realm in terms of importance and familiarity, I now consider people who use their desktop for everything to literally be hoarders. It’s mental illness. I forgive it in old people but if you grew up on computers and you live like this, this is a clinically significant unwillingness to clean up one’s personal space.

        • vithigar@lemmy.ca
          2·
          9 months ago

          I agree with most of this, but honestly take it a step further. On my Windows machine I don’t put anything on my desktop at all, and turn desktop icons off entirely. It’s literally the worst possible place to put things that you frequently need because it’s covered up by anything you’re doing. You need at least one interaction to get there regardless, so just use the start menu.

          • Exocrinous@lemm.ee
            1·
            9 months ago

            The desktop is a good place to put stuff that I use rarely and may forget that I have or forget the name of.

            For example, the games I own on Epic that I like are on my desktop, because I’d forget I had them if I had to open Epic to see them.

    • SwampYankee@mander.xyz
      22·
      9 months ago

      Your mistake was trying to do literally anything yourself. Just sit down and let daddy Microsoft take care of everything for you.

  • DAMunzy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    9·
    9 months ago

    I hate games that use the base Documents directory. So many new subfolders in there. We need a <Username>/<Machine name>/Games folder instead of <Username>/Documents/My Games or whatever it is called nowadays. At least it isn’t <Username>/My Documents anymore. That damn space was a problem causer.

    • Mic_Check_One_Two@reddthat.com
      21·
      9 months ago

      They use Documents because it’s an easy way to ensure saves don’t persist between users. If you and a sibling both play on the same computer, you don’t necessarily want to be sharing game saves. Since the Documents folder is on a per-user basis, the saves are per-user as well. If they simply saved the games in the Program Files folder, saves would potentially persist across users. And anyone who has had a younger sibling accidentally erase all of their saves knows what a bad idea that is.

      • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        2·
        9 months ago

        Make it a new personal folder called “Games”.
        Not the first time MS fiddled with those settings lately.

  • 0xtero@beehaw.org
    7·
    9 months ago

    You can decline using OneDrive during installation. And after installation you can uninstall it or just disable the service.

    That’s it.

    • WarmSoda@lemm.ee
      5·
      9 months ago

      Article writer: “I can’t write an article on that. I know, I’ll pretend I’ve never used a computer before instead!”

        • rtxn@lemmy.world
          316·
          9 months ago

          This is why the Linux community has a bad rep, you know. Mock the OS, not the users.

            • rtxn@lemmy.world
              161·
              9 months ago
              # sudo pacman -Rs cancer
:: removing cancer breaks dependency 'cancer' required by linux

              Unfortunately it has metastasized to the kernel image. It’s terminal.

              • anemoia_one@lemmynsfw.com
                33·
                9 months ago

                But like which terminal dude because kitty uses GPU rendering dude and it would be wild if you’re still using a different terminal but also yeah fish is cool and all and it’s not fully compatible with bash but like did you know shebangs can fix most of that or like dude even better there are so many ohmyzsh extensions for zsh its crazy. Are you on Arch, btw? I’m on Arch, btw.

                /s

                • rtxn@lemmy.world
                  22·
                  9 months ago

                  I’m also on Arch btw, I use zsh for CLI but exclusively bash for shell scripts, and my terminal of choice is kitty because I use lf and kitty is the only terminal I’ve seen so far that can reliably display images

          • milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee
            36·
            9 months ago

            Mock the OS, not the users.

            You’re right. It’s not Linux users who are idiots - after all they make their best of a bad world - it’s Linux itself. Or, more broadly, GNU+Linux. I mean, what unholy hybrid of an ungulate with an aquatic bird did anyone think was going to help anyone?! I just don’t understand how it succeeded like it has. Must be marketing. That Ian guy, and - whatshername - they’re probably to blame.

            • rtxn@lemmy.world
              31·
              9 months ago

              There’s an X in “Linux”, and everyone’s telling me that X is the coolest thing. Do you see anything like that in Windows?

              • milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee
                21·
                9 months ago

                There’s a + in my windows, and that means more!

                Also I heard Linux is bored of x and they’re going to rename it to Linuwayland, which sounds like Linoleum so it should be simple but easy to clean.

                • rtxn@lemmy.world
                  2·
                  9 months ago

                  Bah, what is a + but an X with a stick up its arse!

                  Linuwayland is all about removing unnecessary bloat like window icons, absolute positioning, global hotkeys, a unified randr solution, color profiles, and nvidia support altogether – the average PC user shouldn’t see a difference.

            • nnullzz@lemmy.world
              61·
              9 months ago

              You specifically said installing Linux would do that. After already mentioning Linux in your parent comment. We all know what you meant by it. Trying to play it off now makes it seem even less genuine.

        • WarmSoda@lemm.ee
          184·
          9 months ago

          Because changing the computers entire structure makes so much more sense than just turning one program off…

    • Localhorst86@feddit.de
      193·
      9 months ago

      Look, Linux is great and all, and with the ammount of effort VALVE puts into proton, gaming does work very well with it. But unfortunately, particularly when it comes to multiplayer games, Linux/Proton can often not be a viable alternative to Windows. A lot of game developers are working against proton compatibility by using anti cheat software that either doesn’t support proton or actively detects and prevents using proton.

      • alessandro@lemmy.caOP
        35·
        9 months ago

        gaming does work very well with it.

        …is worth mentioning that gaming on LInux doesn’t work very well because middle ware (anticheat and stuff) do expect weird things designed by Microsoft. See this in the case of ACPI:

        It seems unfortunate if we do this work and get our partners to do the work and the result is that Linux works great without having to do the work. Maybe there is no way to avoid this problem but it does bother me. Maybe we could define the APIs so that they work well with NT and not the others even if they are open. Or maybe we could patent something related to this. Bill Gates quote

        • LemmyIsFantastic@lemmy.world
          510·
          9 months ago

          No it’s not worth mentioning. At all.

          I don’t care. Gamers don’t care. Nobody but people defending the honor of Linux care. They just want it to work.

          Pro tip: I couldn’t give a fuck that Nvidia doesn’t work either.

        • DebatableRaccoon@lemmy.ca
          19·
          9 months ago

          Doesn’t sound like he’s blaming Linux at all. Only stating that your answer to everything doesn’t work for everyone.

        • Localhorst86@feddit.de
          8·
          9 months ago

          Dont play shitty games whose devs(or rather the companys behind) purposefully fuck up to not let it run on Linux

          I don’t. Most games I play are single player indie titles that run perfectly fine on the steam deck. I’m merely pointing out that people also like to play multiplayer games, and particularly in the competitive games, anti cheat software is often used to thwart cheaters and unfortunately that anti cheat software is often incompatible with linux/proton, either by lack of consideration or on purpose.

          you should be mad at them not searching for the fault at valve or Linux.

          At no point did I blame valve or linux for these issues, feel free to point out where I did that. I was clearly blaming the game developers that implement such “features” to the detriment of linux users.

          All I was saying that your “solution” to “just install linux” is, unfortunately, not something that universally works for everyone.

      • AnyOldName3@lemmy.world
        6·
        9 months ago

        About ten years ago, I was using a third-party OneDrive client to sync it on an Ubuntu install. It was working brilliantly until daylight savings started our stopped, then it got confused about file times not matching so tried resyncing everything, and then saw the times still didn’t match, so made a new file for each file with an added numeric suffix, then tried doing the same for the new files, and kept going until my disk was full. That was a mess to tidy up, and once it was sorted, I had to start the sync program in GMT to stop it happening again.

    • blindsight@beehaw.org
      2·
      9 months ago

      Ironically, needing dependable OneDrive (and the latest Microsoft Office) for work is the only thing preventing me from making the switch to Linux.

        • blindsight@beehaw.org
          1·
          9 months ago

          Absolutely agreed. That’s a large part of why I want to switch.

          Alas, I can’t control the software my work requires, and I need to use my personal device (paid for by work… It’s complicated).

    • milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee
      16·
      9 months ago

      Not once Ubuntu installs OneDrive in a wine-Snap. Then it’ll mess up your games and increase memory use with duplicated libraries.

      Really, in the end, Linux makes everything worse. Acornsoft is the only way. And Repton 2 and Elite are drop-in replacements for Elden Ring and Starfield.