OneDrive tried to write-back all cloud files and stuffed my laptop

Hi Folks,
9,400 posts on OneDrive so I feel a bit better that I'm not the only one fighting it. I discover unpredicted behaviour after OD makes some decision: it needs a full manual from MS! Something simple like 'you set this option, OD does this ...'
What I want to acheive is real-time cloud backup using OD.
Winver 10 Pro 22H2 19045.4170

==The headline problem
My P:\Personal partition is over-filled with reserved space OneDrive files that already exist as the original file on the same partition. How do I delete all these phantom files? Chkdsk can't tell. There's no hardware error. CloneSpy can't find files that are not duplicates. OneDrive created the problem: can it be told to undo the sync errors?

==History
I have Family MS365 Premium 1TB OneDrive, shared but on my account. My replacement laptop has the required Outlook account, but I bought the MS365 on the previous laptop with a Gmail. On Family shares I have simply logged on to their machines with my gmail MS account, downloaded and installed Office 365, picked OD backup folders and it's all worked well. My personal laptop was stuck on 5Gb space for all storage, Outlook + OD. I fixed this by sending my Outlook self an invitation to use my Family MS365 share.

I'm file-centric in organisation and my personal files are all on a P: partition. Things went badly wrong when I set OD to backup documents, pictures, video, music. I think MS assumes everyone has everything under their User Profile, and OD set about *moving* everything into a OneDrive special folder under my Profile on C:, whilst flattening the folder structure arranged by year. After it ran out of space backing up a 1Tb drive onto a 150Gb partition on the same disk, the laptop ground to a halt. Eventually, I did a Windows Repair install. This mostly recovered the laptop, in that context right-click file operations wouldn't take 20 mins each; but with P: brimmed some programs don't work, like Office Updates. My User account is still on C:, not P:.

I closed the OD App and changed the folder to one on P:\ \2022\OneDrive, and checked 'Keep on this device' as the OD root setting. P: contains the files I want to backup with OD. OD has created a folder 'Recovered' for some of the files that are not backed up. Win Explorer and Ace Utilities tell me that 250Gb P: is 99.9% full.

OD reports 1700 files with sync. issues, but this is a large under-estimation as I also back up my phone to OD. On P: I they are all reserved space because I can find a copy on my laptop or phone that will open. I've just checked a random few. How do I delete the fake files from the MFT?

Thanks in advance,
Mike

cereberus said:

So sad an attitude. It is a great tool if you take the time to learn how to use it properly.

@cereberus, how do I get OD to re-index so that the 39Gb 1700 files it is trying to write-back to space that doesn't exist is no longer a conflict? I have 'Keep on my device' as a global root folder setting, but it seems OD uploaded as I wanted, cloud backup, and then tried to download it back to a single OD folder that didn't have enough space.
Thanks,
Mike

cereberus said:

Keep on device keeps a copy on pc and on onedrive. You should be using files on demand and use "free up space".

Thanks Cerebus but that's not what I'm trying to do. I want OD to be a real-time backup; and I don't need more space because all the files are already on my device. I gave it an OD folder, checked 'keep local' and moved content into the folder. All as per MS instructions. I can't and won't sign up to 'only MS has your work', and you only have it with a good web connection. MS wrote the tool, sold it to me as a backup for data security, and it didn't do what their very limited instructions claim. It may be fine for a major Corporation with domain machines on 100Gb ethernet where everyone has an account on the only partition C:\Users\[special folder], but as it doesn't seem able to cope with an SME with users working remotely and whilst travelling on little or no online connection, MS need to create instructions / code that copes with this or stop selling it as a backup solution.

I don't want a 3rd laptop bricked by MS OD making executive undocumented solutions to fill a drive with incomplete file copies in fully reserved space that prevents users working, saving files, even using the backup recovery images that used to work to recover their machines.

MS OD cloud backup sounds like a fine solution, and has been, but if it throws a frothy and bricks a machine after working fine for a few months, then you can understand our frustration.

None of the recovery instructions here
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...0-84905399050c
have worked. OD doesn't recognise that it reserved all remaining disk space with damaged, part downloaded files: my theory as a duplicate finder Clonespy doesn't find any real files under \Recovered larger than single digit Mb.