IN this review great attention will be paid cloud service SkyDrive from Microsoft. This service has a number of advantages and will be very useful to many people. It will be 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) represents file hosting for storing and sharing files with various information on the Internet. To put it simply, this is a cloud service. Microsoft launched it for the first time in August 2007. The service has a multilingual and user-friendly interface, so working with it will not be so difficult.
Why do you need SkyDrive anyway? 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 download required document. This service is also very suitable for those who work on a computer both at home and at work. If you have unfinished business in the office, you can always return to it from your home computer, thereby loading necessary information from a cloud service. In this case, you will not need to carry flash drives or cables with you.
I recommend paying great attention to this service to those people who often work with office applications from Microsoft Office. Thanks to support for Office Web Apps, SkyDrive can easily allow multiple people to work remotely on the same document. For example, two people can use and edit the same office document. Moreover, each of them will have current version this document at the same time. This will be very useful for schoolchildren, students or teachers who do the same work. It is also useful for tourists who are working 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 of catching some kind of virus that could adversely affect your information. It happens that I hard drive may burn out or lose a lot of information. This service will also be very useful for such moments.
Registering with SkyDrive
Let's go to the site skydrive.com and we will have a login page. If you already have an account, you can simply enter your login details here. If you set up mail on @hotmail.com, @outlook.com or on live.ru, then you can log in with the login and password for this email, and you will not have to register again. A single Microsoft account allows you to log in to all Microsoft services using the same credentials. If you don’t have one, you will have to register by clicking on “ Register«.
It's not difficult! When registering, first fill out information about yourself: indicate your first name, last name, date of birth and gender.
- option one— you can enter any address email (no matter what) and in the future log in using 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 we select 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, the method with a question.
Now we select the country or region, postal code and then enter the captcha. Below you can leave or remove a subscription (1) for special offers. After you have filled in all the data, click “I Accept” (2) . After this, SkyDrive will open.
How to use SkyDrive?
So, we have free 7 Gb available in this cloud service. We have three folders already prepared by default - 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 storage are displayed;
- Latest files— files that you have used recently are displayed.
- All photos— all images of this repository are displayed;
- General— there are files that you shared with other users.
- Computers- here you can download the SkyDrive application for your computer under Windows control. After the application is installed, your computer will appear under this menu. Later, you can prevent your computer from accessing your SkyDrive or viewing files on a computer you trust from another computer. In general, all this is easy to configure.
Below there is another additional menu:
- basket— all files that you deleted go here;
- storage management— here you can increase the storage size, thereby choosing a suitable 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 tags and set parameters for the connected device;
- get the SkyDrive app- you can download here this application for various operating systems, including mobile devices. You can also check out additional features. Now just download the application for Windows, and later we will install it on your computer.
We return to SkyDrive to create an office document. You can create Word document, Excel workbook, PowerPoint presentation, notebook in , folder, and also create an Excel survey.
Let's create a Word document. In a new window we write its name ( for example Document 1) and press " Create". Word Web App opens, that is, the web version of the application. It is quite functional, but, of course, inferior to a regular application. If you miss additional functions, then you can easily open this document in the desktop application. To do this, click on the button “ Open in Word» (4) and you will have the installed Word open from your computer.
Button " Sharing» (5) - access without problems. Can be published in social media, send someone an email. In general, set access to this file.
So I'm 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 checkmark and press the right mouse button. You will be able to see what actions can be performed with this document.
Now pay attention to the top bar of 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 friends from Facebook, connect an account or add contacts from 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 and also use special help.
Even further 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, there are others available here useful applications. Click on the down arrow.
Additional opportunities will open up for you:
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-in ( it comes by default with the system). In general, click on “ Download the classic SkyDrive app". Open it and install it on your computer. After this you need to launch the application.
Launching the application takes place in several stages. To begin, you will be asked to enter your username and password. We enter the same data as when registering with 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 Explorer. We agree and click “ Next«.
Then put a tick on “ Get remote access to all files" and click on the button " Ready«.
After installing the application, in the " Favorites» ( picture below) the 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 convenience there is in all this!
To summarize, we can say that the SkyDrive service is very convenient and functional. You have at your disposal free 7 Gb, a separate email and many other useful things. For convenience, all files can be sorted differently.
The additional Office Web Apps application, although it has reduced 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 working with the cloud service will be even easier and faster! In general, study and implement!
Microsoft used to have a clear cloud storage strategy: SharePoint Online for corporate use and SkyDrive for general consumers. Office 2013 introduced something called SkyDrive Pro. What is this?
I've already received over a dozen emails from people I've embarrassed new service, 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. When I saw the mention of SkyDrive Pro, I immediately asked Microsoft representatives about it. I was somewhat confusedly told that this is some kind of “enterprise version of SkyDrive, available with Office 365 and based on SharePoint.”
Yes, that was true enough, but SkyDrive actually does a few things.
From a server perspective, SkyDrive Pro is effectively just SharePoint Online. To be more precise, this is what is called a “Team Site document library” in SharePoint Online. The difference is that SkyDrive Pro is not intended for group work, but for use by just one person. So, you get only one SkyDrive Pro library, and not a platform that can contain several libraries and be used for group access. That is, conceptually, the SkyDrive alternative in Office 365 is based on SharePoint.
WITH client side, SkyDrive Pro is an application that connects to the storage and synchronizes SkyDrive with Windows Explorer. This is similar to the existing SkyDrive client for Windows (and they can be used together if desired) and works exactly the same, synchronizing storage content with a directory on your PC. The enterprise version is a replacement for SharePoint Workspace 2010 (in earlier versions of Groove) for single-user storage.
SkyDrive Pro works the same way as normal application SkyDrive for Windows, which connects the service and your PC. There are several options for how to activate it, but the simplest is to visit the Office 365 site 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 synchronization button.
After clicking, the installer will launch and offer to synchronize the Documents library with your PC. You may also notice a white and blue icon, very similar to the one used in the SkyDrive desktop application.
Just like SkyDrive, SkyDrive Pro syncs files to the user's default directory, but it is possible to change this location. If you're browsing your user directory, you'll see a Sky Drive Pro folder (named SkyDrive @Office Next) that sits next to your SkyDrive directory, providing access to your work and personal files respectively.
In Office applications, you can both open files from SkyDrive Pro and save them there. You can use both SkyDrive options at once, as I do.
Hello, dear blog readers about . It's time to consider another one data synchronization service, a worthy competitor to other popular services.
It appeared quite a long time ago and managed to survive several major updates. Latest update can be considered the most successful.
How SkyDrive works
In terms of file synchronization, the principle of OneDrive (SkyDrive) is the same as any other file synchronization service. The OneDrive (SkyDrive) client for Windows is made similar to the often mentioned Dropbox. A SkyDrive folder is created in the system, and all files that are placed in it are immediately available on all other devices where the SkyDrive account is used, as well as through the browser.
SkyDrive volume— 7 GB free disk space. Another option was available for long-registered users - 25 GB. When the service was updated, its size was reduced to seven GB. For those who wanted to restore their 25 GB, they had to go through activation and then everything would go back to the way it was.
You can access your OneDrive (SkyDrive) cloud storage in several ways:
— via the classic PC application;
— via a web browser;
- by using mobile application for smartphones on iOS, Android, Windows Phone and tablets;
— via the Metro application for Windows 8.
How to start using SkyDrive
Step 2: Login to SkyDrive. You need to go to this address and enter there the username and password that you registered using the link above.
Step 3: Download SkyDrive by if you have Windows. There you can also select applications for other platforms. This is required to use the synchronization capabilities. Without a computer program, OneDrive (SkyDrive) will remain a simple cloud drive.
Installing OneDrive (SkyDrive) for PC
If we consider the classic application for Windows, then it is essentially the same as the previous services discussed last time (,).
The installation process should not cause you any difficulties, with the exception of some features. When installing the application, you need to enter your username/password; if you don’t have one yet, you need to register using .
Then a SkyDrive folder is created, the placement of which must initially be set where you want it, since this parameter cannot be changed in the settings later. Although, it is possible if you first delete the connection with the computer in the settings and then log in again. True, then the re-indexing of all files from the SkyDrive folder will begin, which takes a lot of time if you have a lot of files.
There is one more feature of the application that is worth paying attention to - during the installation process, you can check the box, as in the figure below, and then all the files on your computer will become accessible from other connected computers, provided that the other computer is turned on. In this case, it will even be possible to download files remotely to SkyDrive.
Sharing: How do I send a file or folder to other people?
If you don’t like being tied to one folder, then I advise you to take a closer look at it, it is very flexible in this regard.
For any files in the folder, you can open public access, after which the browser will open and a form will appear in it for entering the email addresses of the people you need. The same can be done directly in the browser.
It should be noted that OneDrive (SkyDrive) has a big drawback in that you cannot view in one place which files you shared and with whom. It is well known to Dropbox users as Links. IN SkyDrive You can see who shared access and how it was shared in the Information Panel:
Now we've looked at the capabilities of the classic PC application, now we can move on to the most interesting thing - the web version.
Overview of the web version of OneDrive (SkyDrive)
I will say right away that the functionality of the web version has been greatly redesigned compared to the previous version. It has become much more convenient and more functional. Let's start with the appearance of the main page. It is made in the proprietary tile design, which Microsoft first used in Windows Phone 7. Using the online version has become much more convenient than before.
Files are uploaded to the storage using the button Send. In this case, you can select several files to upload, rather than just one. Maximum size downloaded file - 2 GB.
File Operations
All files are displayed as wide rectangles. Simple folder with files is displayed as a blue rectangle, but if there are pictures, they are dynamically shown instead of it. Very beautiful and unusual. You can also display everything as a list.
Files and folders are grouped by type: first folders, then documents with music, then pictures. These settings cannot be changed. The usual sorting by name, size, type and custom sorting are also available. The usual operations of copying, moving and renaming files are supported. In this case, you can drag them with the mouse, just like on a computer. A file version log is available, which is already becoming the norm for decent file synchronization services.
There are quite interesting feature embedding files on any website. On click right click On any file or folder you need to select the “Implementation” item. A pop-up window will appear brief instructions and the “Create” button, after clicking on it, an HTML code will be generated that you can paste into your website or blog. It’s bad that you can’t set any size for pictures and folders, except for Word documents, while for spreadsheets There are a lot of implementation settings available.
Features of the web version
As you can see, the images open for preview in the browser. On the panel that appears on the right, you can view the file properties and mark the people in the photo. And in the menu at the top you can turn on a slide show, view the original, embed a picture and perform other operations with the file.
Working with office documents deserves special attention. MS Office documents can not only be viewed, but also edited, as in a full-fledged editor. This is done using the Web App service. That is, this online version everyone's favorite Microsoft Office software package with limited functionality. However, in most cases it will be sufficient for easy creation and document editing.
All other files that are not supported by the web version are downloaded to your computer by clicking on them.
In the left column of the web interface you can see what files you have worked on recently, what computers are connected to SkyDrive, what files are open to you public access. You can also change storage settings and go to the trash. Files in the Recycle Bin are stored long enough to be restored. This can be done using the link in context menu. But the cart volume is limited to 10% of the storage volume, 700MB or 2.5GB. And if this volume is exceeded, then all files from the recycle bin will be deleted after three days.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is "Redeem SkyDrive Code"?
When you decide to buy additional cloud space, after making the purchase you will receive an activation code, by entering which the storage size will increase.
How do I change my SkyDrive account?
To do this, you first need to click on the “Remove connection with SkyDrive” button in the OneDrive (SkyDrive) settings on your PC. You can now log in with your new account if you have created one. If not, then I described the process of registering a new Microsoft account after the heading “How to start using SkyDrive”
How to install OneDrive (SkyDrive) on Windows XP?
The answer is no. I scoured the entire Internet looking for some way, but found nothing. You can connect OneDrive (SkyDrive) as network drive using the SDExplorer program. You can download it here. The installation will happen quickly and seamlessly. After it you need to find in the folder “ My computer» dark icon SDExplorer and log in by entering your username and password Microsoft Account (Live ID). About registration Live ID written in the article about mail
How to select folders to sync in SkyDrive?
In the desktop application settings there is a “Folder Selection” tab where you can choose which folders within OneDrive (SkyDrive) will be synced on the current computer. You can access settings using the context menu of the OneDrive (SkyDrive) application for PC.
Is it possible to use two accounts SkyDrive?
In my humble opinion, even more is possible, but they cannot be combined. In addition, this makes it difficult to synchronize files, since you will have to constantly log in/out under different accounts, which is inconvenient.
Alternatively, you can use one account to synchronize files with your computer, and the second as cloud drive via SDExplorer program. This scheme will work quite well.
How to connect OneDrive (SkyDrive) as a network drive? ()
To connect, we need to know your CID.
Log in with your username and password to https://skydrive.live.com/(https://onedrive.live.com/)
https://skydrive.live.com/#cid=F9B31V3A9F7EAD78&id=F3Z43R6A5D9EAA41%964016
A URL with similar content should appear in front of you in Explorer, if the URL looks like this: https://skydrive.live.com/?mkt=ru-RU, go to any folder inside SkyDriv-a, the URL should change and become similar to the one shown in the picture above.
CID in this case F9B31V3A9F7EAD78
A window will open in which you need to select the disk name and enter the line https://d.docs.live.net/F9B31V3A9F7EAD78, where
F9B31V3A9F7EAD78 - must be replaced with yours CID. If not, then you need to check the box "Restore at login", press Ready
The system will ask you to enter your username and password, if everything is done correctly, after entering a new disk will appear.
On at the moment this method doesn’t work well, so we’re waiting for the code to fix everything
Is it dangerous to use SkyDrive?
From a storage point of view important information, then it is dangerous to use any cloud service with free tariff plan. In most cases, cloud services offer paid plans that include data encryption and additional security.
OneDrive (SkyDrive) not working
Friends, if for some reason SkyDrive does not work for you, please report it in the comments. Together we will find a solution to the problem and thereby help other people who are faced with the same problem.
Conclusions
Here we briefly reviewed the main features of the SkyDrive service. This is what we end up with:
— large storage capacity (7 GB);
— advanced functionality;
— clients for most popular operating systems;
— nice design;
— keyboard navigation;
— mailbox and working with documents online.
You can safely give it an “excellent” rating, because there are no serious shortcomings, and those minor shortcomings that exist now will most likely be corrected over time. Now you have to try everything yourself, test it and use it if you like it. Write in the comments what is unclear, this will allow me to make the site even better.
The next article will review another popular file synchronization service by name - a worthy competitor to all other services.
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 close integration with the Windows operating system and software package Microsoft Office.
Key features of SkyDrive
First of all, note that SkyDrive uses cloud technologies and provides users with a fairly wide range of services and opportunities. For example, the user is allocated 7 GB of disk space to store their files. Users who are eligible for the free upgrade receive 25 GB of storage space.
The folder structure in which files are stored is clearly organized. So, for example, in a folder of images you can use some standard types view as thumbnails or slide shows. In addition, you can set personal access levels to all folders, from exclusively personal to public. In the same way, you can grant access rights to friends, relatives, or share files using any computer connected to the Internet.
No less interesting is the full integration with office suite. Files can be saved directly from Excel applications, OneNote, PowerPoint and Word in Windows service Live SkyDrive. And that's not all. The fact is that there is also quite powerful integration with Microsoft Office Web Apps, which allows you to create various kinds of office documents directly online and save them in file storage. Among other things, when using the SkyDrive application with operating systems Windows Vista and Windows 7 directly from Explorer, you can upload files up to 2 GB in size to storage. By the way, how component operating room 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 be possible, which will allow full synchronization of files located in the cloud through the mechanism of one application. 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, all the prerequisites and prospects for this exist.
Cloud storage Microsoft OneDrive (the service was previously called SkyDrive) was created by Microsoft to host and store files on the SkyDrive service. In April 2012, Microsoft released a client program that allows you to work with this storage from your computer without necessarily using the web interface.
Previously when using Windows Live SkyDrive could only move files from your computer and back when using the web interface.
The release of the SkyDrive client for PC went unnoticed due to the coincidence of dates, with the launch of the cloud service expected by many. All attention at this time was focused on the new service of Google Corporation.
As a result of legal disputes, it was forced to change the name of the service to OneDrive.
Microsoft has released SkyDrive clients for Windows and Mac OS X, as well as for tablets and mobile devices running operating systems manufactured by these corporations. Later, a client was created for devices on the Android platform.
After release operating system Windows 8, the OneDrive (SkyDrive) service has become part of this new operating system. Microsoft OneDrive is now closely linked to the new cloud postal service.
The OneDrive service can be used not only through the web interface, but also directly from your computer by installing on your computer special application(valid for operating system versions up to and including Windows 7).
OneDrive client software (for users of earlier Windows versions) after installation on your computer will be integrated into Explorer. A "OneDrive" folder is created in Explorer, and files placed in this folder will be accessible through the web interface, as well as through various devices who have access to a OneDrive service account. A folder on another computer drive.
The OneDrive (SkyDrive) application can also be launched from the Notification Panel (system tray) by clicking on the application icon.
Now you have the ability to move files to cloud storage by copying or cutting files, or simply dragging them with your mouse from anywhere on your computer to this folder.
With a new connection to the OneDrive cloud service, the user will have 15 GB available for free. Removed restrictions on the size of files stored in cloud storage.
To expand the volume cloud storage you will have to pay a certain amount depending on the desired amount of data storage space on the server. The rates for the Microsoft OneDrive service are relatively low compared to its competitors.
To start using OneDrive cloud storage, you will need to go to the corporation's website onedrive.live.com. There you can create an account (formerly called Windows Live ID) to access the services of this company.
To log into OneDrive cloud storage via the web interface on computers operating Windows 7 You will need to open the service's web page and then enter your credentials.
On home page storage facilities are located standard folders“Documents”, “General”, “Photos”, in which you can place your files for storage. You can create new folders to store files, or simply store files without placing those files in any folders.
For each folder and file, you can set your own access level: “general” or “individual”. After right-clicking on a file or folder, you can select the desired action with this file from the context menu.
These actions can also be performed if you use the corresponding links that appear on the right side of the OneDrive service window when you right-click on a file or folder.
The lower right corner of a folder displays the number of files that are in that folder. In this image, there are two files in the Documents folder, and the General and Photos folders are empty.
You will be able to change appearance display folders by switching between buttons.
If you are logged into the OneDrive service via the web interface, then here you can also create a Word document, an Excel book, a PowerPoint presentation, and make notes in notebook OneNote. To do this, use the free Internet version Microsoft programs Office Online.
Files created with these programs can be saved to OneDrive cloud storage and then transferred to another location, such as a computer or smartphone running the Windows Phone operating system.
Access rights to folders in OneDrive can only be changed using the web interface of this application.
Using the OneDrive app from another device, you can remotely access your computer's files. To do this, you need to log into your OneDrive account from another device via the web interface, and your computer must be turned on at this time.
With Microsoft OneDrive, you can sync and share files, collaborate on documents online, or upload files from your home computer to the service.
With OneDrive cloud storage, you can start working on a document on your work computer, then continue working on it from mobile device and finish this work on your home computer.
Once deleted, files are placed in the Recycle Bin, from which they can be restored or deleted. To permanently delete files from cloud storage, they must be deleted from the Recycle Bin so that the data does not take up disk space.
To create various documents in file storage, you can use free online office programs Microsoft Corporation. In addition, this service offers a good amount of free space (15 GB) for storing user data in the cloud.
Cloud storage SkyDrive (video)
