Adding SkyDrive to your Document Libraries in Windows

Microsoft Live Essential Suite 2011 included tools such as Live Messenger, Live Writer, Mail, and Live Mesh.  Microsoft Live Mesh allowed users to synchronize data between different PCs on your network, and even keep up to 5 GB out on the cloud for free.  The big downside to Live Mesh was that you could never increase your 5 GB limit.

Recently Microsoft released their replacement for Live Mesh.  In Windows Essentials 2012, Microsoft includes the new SkyDrive tool.  Unlike Mesh, you do not have the ability to pick and choose which folders to sync, you end up synchronizing your entire SkyDrive.

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Windows Live Essentials 2011

There are, however some added benefits:

View Files Online

Since the SkyDrive application is using normal SkyDrive storage, any file can be viewed online at http://skydrive.live.com. Even if you’re trying to open an Excel Spreadsheet on a PC which doesn’t have a copy of MS-Office installed, you can still use the Office Web App version of Excel to view and modify the spreadsheet.


Expandable Storage

With Mesh we were always limited to 5 GB of cloud storage.  There was no way to increase this limitation.  With the new SkyDrive utility in Windows Essentials 2012, we are only limited by the limitations of SkyDrive itself.  If you sign up for a SkyDrive account today Microsoft gives you 7 GB of storage for free (or 25 GB if you were an early SkyDrive adopter).  This can be expanded up to 107 GB (125 GB for those early adopters) for only $50 per year.

Add to Libraries

Once you have completed your initial sync using the new SkyDrive application, it is possible to add your SkyDrive folders to Libraries (such as Documents, Pictures, Music, etc..) in Windows 7 and Windows 8.

To add a specific SkyDrive folder to one of your Windows Libraries:

  1. Browse to the folder location using Windows Explorer.
  2. Right-click on the folder, then choose which library you’d like this folder to be included.  In the example shown I’ve added a folder named SkyDrive Documents to my Documents library.

AddToLibrary

Now when I browse my Documents library from the Start Menu or Explorer, everything in this SkyDrive folder is also displayed.  I can use this method to use my synchronized SkyDrive data as if it were part of my local hard drive.  Whenever I modify and save a document in this folder it is automatically synchronized not only with SkyDrive, but with any other computers which I’m also running the new SkyDrive application.

 

For more information on the new Windows Essentials 2012 suite, check out Paul Thurrott’s post on WinSuperSite.com.  To download Windows Essentials 2012 visit http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-live/essentials-home.

 

Robert Borges

About Robert...

I have been in the IT industry since 1993 focusing mainly on networking. Though I got an early start as an amateur computer enthusiast and wrote my first database app at age 12, I started my professional career working in the MIS department of one of the largest liquor distributors in the northeast. I started out there as a systems operator on the company’s two mainframe systems. From there I moved into PC support, and help design and implement the company’s first client-server network… This was back in the days of Win NT 3.51 when I worked on my first migration to Windows NT 4.0 server.

From there I went on to work with Novell 3.x and 4.x along with Windows domains and Microsft's brand new Active Directory. Working my way up from technician to specialist, to an administrator, and eventually all the way up to Sr. Engineer. I spent many years working for MSPs/consulting firms, 9 of which I owned and operated my own firm.

Over the years, I have worked with (at an expert level) various versions of Windows client and server operating systems (including Windows 11 and Windows Server 2019); various virtualization technologies (Hyper-V, VMware, etc.); MS-SQL server 6.5- 2014 R2; Exchange 4-2019, and much more.  Over the years I have built a lot of experience around the Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365 cloud environments.

I am now CTO at Infused Innovations where our team is focusing on helping clients build a Secure Intelligent Workplace through InfoSec (Zero Trusts Framework), Modern Workplace, and Business Intelligence.

I have been heavily involved in the IT user group community, including serving as president of the board of Boston User Groups, Inc., and president of IT-Pro User Group. In 2017/2018 Microsoft awarded me the Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) Award, with a focus of Microsoft Azure cloud, for my efforts in the IT community.

I am in a constant state of learning about new products, and new versions of products. Many of which we end up implementing in lab environments and sometimes for our clients. I have a very broad range of expertise and experience. It is my goal to share some of this experience on this blog to help enrich the IT community.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.robertborges.us/2012/09/windows/windows-7/adding-skydrive-to-your-document-libraries-in-windows/

2 comments

    • WebMinder on September 19, 2012 at 8:50 am
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    • Reply

    Thanks for the tips Robert. I have previously used symbolic links to include external folders to Skydrive but this is not official support. Including Skydrive folders in libraries is an interesting alternative. The problem remains though with migrating from Mesh to Skydrive. Should I now move my previously synced folders to be sub-folders in Skydrive? This means that I have now to re-organize all my previous Mesh folders and add new folders that I want to sync as sub-folders in Skydrive. Just wondering if this is really the ideal method of working?

    1. Mesh gave us a nice feature that allowed the user to determine which folders were being synchronized to the local PC. This way you can sync as little or as much data as you’d like. Unfortunately we lose this feature in the SkyDrive app in Windows Essentials 2012. In the new SkyDrive application you either sync your entire Skydrive storage (potentially 125 GB of storage), or none at all. Before you decide to migrate, first make sure you have the necessary disk space!

      Both Mesh and the new SkyDrive application use a local folder system for synchronization, so migrating data is as easy as moving from your Mesh folder to your SkyDrive folder.

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