Problem with desktop after using OneDrive

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  1. Posts : 13
    Windows 10 Pro Version 20H2
    Thread Starter
       #11

    AndreTen said:
    Actually I made a mistake 500 seconds for 1GB. Almost 15 hours for 100 GB
    I was off in the total minutes by a decimal point (90 minutes instead of 900).

    Good thing I'm not responsible for large sums of money!

    AndreTen said:
    Can you make offline backup? External disk? Otherwise let it transfer overnight (and day)
    I'm not clear on whether I really need to back up something. If I do, I don't understand what it would be.

    More background on the OneDrive mess: before OneDrive goofed up my files, I already had everything backed up on an external drive with File History. My trying OneDrive was an effort to set up a second backup, so if one failed I'd still have the other one. Within hours after I discovered what OneDrive had done, I disabled it and restored all of my files, at least the best I could, to where they were originally (i.e., on the D:\ drive). I still have the File History backup on the external drive. And whatever copies of my files still exist in OneDrive online (which I assume are only 20 GB worth, corresponding to what OneDrive moved from C:\ to D:\) can rot there for all I care, since, to the extent that anything on my hard drive corresponds to them, the online files are either out-of-date or are no better than what I have in File History.

    So if there's further backing up now to be done, I don't know what it would be. Am I misunderstanding? Or were you assuming that I didn't have anything backed up before I tried OneDrive?

    AndreTen said:
    When you move folder back to original location, you just click on Restore default.
    < image omitted >
    And when you move it, move it with Location tab
    Before I posted my last message, I had already moved the desktop folder back to it's original location of
    C:\Users\< user name >\Desktop by using the location tab. I didn't hit the Restore Default button. Instead, I simply pasted C:\Users\ < user name > \Desktop in the box, and then clicked OK. That resulted in the desktop folder moving back to the C:\ drive. So it's there already.

    Should I now simply go back to the Location tab and click on Restore Default? (At this point I'm afraid to do anything on my own.)

    If not, and there is a reason for me to backup something, or first do something else, I need further guidance.

    Thanks very much.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 42,734
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #12

    I'm not clear on whether I really need to back up something. If I do, I don't understand what it would be.
    Hi, consider:

    - One day one or more of your disks fail. What then would you do?
    - One day your PC fails to boot. What then would you do?
    - Your PC is taken over by ransomware. How then would you access your data?
    - Your PC is stolen. What then?

    You need to protect yourself from real things that happen.

    Onedrive only accesses selected data. It cannot protect ALL your data, nor does it protect your O/S in any way.

    Many here use disk imaging. That's a complete compressed copy of the used parts of the partitions imaged in a file, typically written to an external disk.

    That disk can be securely stored, off line.
    Disk images can be regularly updated (research incremental and differential disk imaging for example). Thus your backup disk can be used to restore your entire O/S and any imaged partition to a range of past dates using e.g. Macrium reflect (free/paid). Such programs also supply a bootable disk.

    Further, image files can be mounted, and files extracted using file explorer as normal.

    This is a foundational backup method.

    For fast changing data, file synching or other backup software can be selectively used.
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 13
    Windows 10 Pro Version 20H2
    Thread Starter
       #13

    dalchina said:
    You need to protect yourself from real things that happen.
    Hi, and thanks for the response.

    I need to put my last comments in context. I'm already backing up all of my data on an external drive. I also image, but didn't mention it earlier, because it wasn't relevant to my desktop issue. My recent use of OneDrive was simply an effort to try an additional backup method to supplement what I was already doing.

    I asked my last question about what and why I should back up something in the context of my effort to fix the desktop problem. It appeared to me (rightly or wrongly) that with my having already backed up everything, and seeking only to fix the desktop problem, I was being advised to again back up everything. That's what I didn't understand: it simply seemed redundant. I wasn't questioning the need to backup in general.

    As for OneDrive. I've given up on it altogether. I'm not going to trust an app that messes with files in a way that it wasn't told to. My inclination right now is to look into something like Carbonite for cloud-based backups, but I'm still looking.

    For present purposes, though, my problem with the desktop remains: I simply can't open files directly on the desktop, although the same files can be opened if I navigate to them via File Explorer. The desktop folder definitely now resides in the default location of C:\Users\Bob (and I've already gone to Properties | Location tab, and hit the Restore Default button), but when I create a file on the desktop and then try to open it directly from the desktop, I get a message that "The directory name is invalid." A screen capture of a portion of my desktop, showing a test file and the error message I get, is attached.

    If you or anyone else can suggest anything more that I can try to fix the problem, I'd sincerely appreciate it.

    Thanks to all.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Problem with desktop after using OneDrive-desktop-error-message.jpg  
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 42,734
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #14

    Please understand the utter and complete difference between backing up your data, and disk imaging.

    For example, if you ONLY back up your data and your system disk fails, you have to clean install.
    If you use disk imaging and image all O/S partitions, you buy a new disk, restore the image to the new disk, and you're back where you were. No clean install needed.

    You say:
    Before I posted my last message, I had already moved the desktop folder back to its original location of
    C:\Users\< user name >\Desktop by using the location tab. I didn't hit the Restore Default button. Instead, I simply pasted C:\Users\ < user name > \Desktop in the box, and then clicked OK. That resulted in the desktop folder moving back to the C:\ drive.
    The tutorials on using the location tab specify that users should create an image before doing this. Why? Because there are real hazards in using this, and they are hard to correct.

    I would never use the Location tab personally.

    Sorry, not a direct answer to your immediate desktop problem which seems to result from using the Location tab.

    This tutorial deals with restoring default locations, including the desktop:
    - however I note you've already tried restoring that under the Location tab - there may be something further that may help:
    Restore Default Location of Personal Folders in Windows 10

    What do you see in file explorer if you do this?
    Win key + r
    shell: desktop
    (but omit the space - had to put that in to avoid emoji)

    - Do you see your desktop folders and can you access them?
      My Computers


  5. Posts : 13,896
    Win10 Version 22H2 Pro and Home, Win11 Pro and Home
       #15

    Just a historical note, back when Win95 came out there was a computer, think it was a Packard Bell, that had a program that showed the desktop as a photo of an office. The explanation was that My Computer/This Computer/This PC was the office, the hard drive was the file cabinet in the office and the folders in the file cabinet held the files. It was a good visualization for folks just starting and also for us changing over from DOS running Win3.x and earlier.
      My Computers


  6. Posts : 30,526
    Windows 10 (Pro and Insider Pro)
       #16

    BobSt said:
    Hi, and thanks for the response.
    ... deleted

    For present purposes, though, my problem with the desktop remains: I simply can't open files directly on the desktop, although the same files can be opened if I navigate to them via File Explorer. The desktop folder definitely now resides in the default location of C:\Users\Bob (and I've already gone to Properties | Location tab, and hit the Restore Default button), but when I create a file on the desktop and then try to open it directly from the desktop, I get a message that "The directory name is invalid." A screen capture of a portion of my desktop, showing a test file and the error message I get, is attached.

    If you or anyone else can suggest anything more that I can try to fix the problem, I'd sincerely appreciate it.

    Thanks to all.
    At this point I would recommend Repair install with In-place upgrade.

    In short.. download ISO of your current Windows from MS, mount it and start install. From my experience all your user files and applications will remain intact, but System Image backup is always recommended.
      My Computers


  7. Posts : 13
    Windows 10 Pro Version 20H2
    Thread Starter
       #17

    dalchina said:
    Please understand the utter and complete difference between backing up your data, and disk imaging.
    I actually knew the difference, but wanted to use imaging only as a last resort, especially since I had been negligent, and failed to keep the image as current as it should be. Instead, I hoped for a solution that went directly to the specific problem, and, as it so happened, the tutorial you directed me to did in fact do what I needed.

    dalchina said:
    This tutorial deals with restoring default locations, including the desktop:
    - however I note you've already tried restoring that under the Location tab - there may be something further that may help:
    Restore Default Location of Personal Folders in Windows 10
    Option One of the tutorial didn't work, but...

    Tah Dah! Option Two, the .bat file worked perfectly. Perhaps I'll wake up tomorrow and find that my PC has melted or something (I always expect the worst), but for now, everything seems to be back to the way it was. Life is good.

    Thanks very much for your help.

    - - - Updated - - -

    AndreTen said:
    At this point I would recommend Repair install with In-place upgrade.
    I'll keep that link handy. However, as I posted just a couple minutes ago in response to delchina, the tutorial he directed me to (the bat file solution) worked, so the problem now seems to have been solved.

    Thanks for all your effort in helping me along.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 42,734
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #18

    lucky this time...
      My Computers


  9. Posts : 30,526
    Windows 10 (Pro and Insider Pro)
       #19

    Glad it worked for you. The same link was proposed to you in 2nd post...
      My Computers


  10. Posts : 13
    Windows 10 Pro Version 20H2
    Thread Starter
       #20

    AndreTen said:
    Glad it worked for you. The same link was proposed to you in 2nd post...
    I have confused myself more than once, and not just on this issue.

    My own advice, which I offer to everyone, is: don't get old.

    Thanks again for your help.
      My Computer


 

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