[21h1] Keeping OneDrive while blocking C Drive

[psydii]

I've seen something similar when moving from a per-user to per-machine based install. We have seating plans so a missed sync isn't the end of the world, and most of the work is done direct into the cloud anyway.

[Tefters]

2 minutes ago, DavR said:

I don't know if it makes a difference, but I've never heard of updating the OneDrive client via C:\Windows\System32\OneDriveSetup.exe /allusers. I've always downloaded the latest version from the Microsoft page, and installed that via startup scripts using the /allusers /silent switches. 

 

Two thoughts - could that minor difference of source file be causing your issue?

 

And - Are you using the /silent switch on your installer? Could it be that OneDrive install isn't actually completing, and your first run that doesn't sign in properly is actually a repair?

 

I went down that route of thought too with the silent switch and trying a downloaded version of the OneDriveSetup.exe and neither made a difference. Apparently you don't need the silent switch when using the /AllUsers switch. 🤷‍♂️

 

Now I also just logged on to my test computer behind me that finished building about 30 minutes ago and the student profile I first logged in with auto-signed in again so I am now wondering whether I have been logging in to quickly after a PC has built, usually I waited around 5 minutes after a build complete as I was wanting to test there and then but just now and this morning I was busy doing other jobs so the time between build completion and first logon was about 30 odd minutes.

 

So is OneDrive / Windows doing some background processes behind the scenes while sat on the logon screen after an install and is taking some time due to task scheduling or something as both my tests today have worked compared to what I was describing before.

 

Going to have to roll out a few test VM's me thinks and start doing some time allowance testing after a Windows install.

 

 

[Tefters]

Morning update - Built 3 test machines last night, came in this morning to test on them and OneDrive auto-signed in for the first profile logon so the issue I was seeing is time related between a build finishing and the first user logon. 20 to 30 minutes+ seems to be the sweet spot for allowance, so I'll take it.

 

Now to go back and review my Windows 10 OneDrive issue with it not working at all.

 

 

[mavhc]

I assume it's just that Onedrive will never run an old version of itself, so always tries to update first, whether that's on first login, it starts up, check it's out of date, updates itself, 20 mins later it's ready, or if you run the all users version via a command and it does the same, but takes 20 mins again, because the new install is also updating store apps, checking windows update, running indexing, compiling .net code etc

[Tefters]

6 minutes ago, mavhc said:

I assume it's just that Onedrive will never run an old version of itself, so always tries to update first, whether that's on first login, it starts up, check it's out of date, updates itself, 20 mins later it's ready, or if you run the all users version via a command and it does the same, but takes 20 mins again, because the new install is also updating store apps, checking windows update, running indexing, compiling .net code etc

 

Aye, that's my thinking too. Just done a final 2 new builds and waited 20 minutes after completion before logging in and both worked so thats that sorted.

 

Just build 3 VM's of my Windows 10 image we have been running for the last 2 years, 22H2, but turned off all the app installs for speed (so basically just Windows) and then logged on as local admin and copied the latest OneDriveSetup.exe over and ran it with /allusers /silent.

I can see it's installed in machine mode but then log on with a student account and nothing, no OneDriveSetup or OneDrive process runs 🤬

I presume people have OneDrive running ok in Windows 10 ?

[ITGuyNW]

So now I'm happier with the Internet in our place, I'm wanting to look at moving files online

 

Are we saying 1:1 it works fine, but as shared (student pcs) its still rubbish?

[DavR]

On a shared environment, it's OK syncing just the OneDrive IMO, assuming the user's OneDrive isn't too big. But even then, it can be a bit slow and miss files. I wouldn't go near using it to sync other libraries, such as SharePoint shared drives.

 

It's designed for 1:1 and works much better in that scenario.

[ITGuyNW]

Hmm ok

 

I may roll out the client for 1:1 devices such as teachers laptops but look at cloud only access for students. 

[Tefters]

1 hour ago, ITGuyNW said:

Hmm ok

 

I may roll out the client for 1:1 devices such as teachers laptops but look at cloud only access for students. 

 

I got it fully working across the board for all students and staff in all my tests and trust me there has been a lot of testing since I first raised this thread!

 

I am now at a point where I am doing final tweaks to my Windows 10 image (student PC's), my Windows 11 image (staff PC's) is all good to go but this summer I will be migrating all home areas to OneDrive and hopefully kissing goodbye to my file server!

 

As DavR mentioned, shared drives are still browser based but Windows 11 makes it hell of a lot easier to work with over 10.

 

Tap me up if you want any specific pointers as I've been working on this now for a good 3 months and I'm happy to start seeing the end in sight.

[IAMCloud_Curt]

On 12/06/2025 at 10:10, DavR said:

Unless something changed in the recent version upgrade, Mail Merge doesn't work via CDM mapped drives, as it recognises that they're SharePoint underneath. This is one reason why I keep the OneDrive sync going, whilst also doing a mapped drive. 

 

Sidenote, but, @speakercon I didn't know there were folder redirection options in CDM now! Do you have any links to info? 

@DavR

 

This should be fixed in our latest release.

 

Cloud Drive Mapper (CDM) 3.19 (Pre-release)

 

Until now, inserting a link to an Office document (stored on a CDM-mapped drive) into another Office file would result in Microsoft Office inserting the document’s UNC path in the link. The issue with a UNC path is that it is unique to a specific user’s session and may not work for others. To mitigate this issue, CDM can now replace the UNC path in the link with the CDM-mapped drive’s drive letter so that it remains active when shared with other users. While this enhancement supports all other Office apps as is, you need to ensure that you’re using Microsoft Excel version 2503 or higher for Excel files.

 

Please re-test and reply here if you are struggling.

[DavR]

54 minutes ago, IAMCloud_Curt said:

@DavR

 

This should be fixed in our latest release.

 

Cloud Drive Mapper (CDM) 3.19 (Pre-release)

 

Until now, inserting a link to an Office document (stored on a CDM-mapped drive) into another Office file would result in Microsoft Office inserting the document’s UNC path in the link. The issue with a UNC path is that it is unique to a specific user’s session and may not work for others. To mitigate this issue, CDM can now replace the UNC path in the link with the CDM-mapped drive’s drive letter so that it remains active when shared with other users. While this enhancement supports all other Office apps as is, you need to ensure that you’re using Microsoft Excel version 2503 or higher for Excel files.

 

Please re-test and reply here if you are struggling.

 

Thanks, that's good to know. I've been using mail merge from documents on a mapped drive successfully now since @speakercon mentioned it earlier in this discussion, and we're on v3.17. I don't share my mail merges though, so haven't come across the problem mentioned above.

Has the latest version also managed to fix the issue with hyperlinking to folders on a CDM mapped drive? Similar to what's discussed above, if I try and hyperlink to a CDM mapped drive location, it links to the underlying \\IAMCloud\u34567 type address, not the simple S:\folder\directory address. Not the biggest problem, but it's useful being able to hyperlink to folders from an email (for example).

 

I'll be testing the latest version in the next few weeks ahead of a summer rollout, fingers crossed.

[IAMCloud_Curt]

41 minutes ago, DavR said:

 

Thanks, that's good to know. I've been using mail merge from documents on a mapped drive successfully now since @speakercon mentioned it earlier in this discussion, and we're on v3.17. I don't share my mail merges though, so haven't come across the problem mentioned above.

Has the latest version also managed to fix the issue with hyperlinking to folders on a CDM mapped drive? Similar to what's discussed above, if I try and hyperlink to a CDM mapped drive location, it links to the underlying \\IAMCloud\u34567 type address, not the simple S:\folder\directory address. Not the biggest problem, but it's useful being able to hyperlink to folders from an email (for example).

 

I'll be testing the latest version in the next few weeks ahead of a summer rollout, fingers crossed.

@DavR

 

Hi, yes 3.19 address those \\UNC path issues within the IAMCloud FSP driver.

 

If you attach a link in Word/Excel/PPT now via Insert Link or Ctrl + K and browse to your CDM drive, CDM translates the \\IAMCloud path down the actual drive letter path, which persits across multiple users and multiple sessions, so you can safely embed links now and they won't get broken.

[ITGuyNW]

For those that use OneDrive, what do you do about documents/pictures/videos ?

 

Do you hide them? redirect them?

[DrCheese]

6 minutes ago, ITGuyNW said:

For those that use OneDrive, what do you do about documents/pictures/videos ?

 

Do you hide them? redirect them?

 

Redirect them all.

Only one we don't is Downloads, that still gets redirected to an onsite server - Because Microsoft don't natively let you redirect downloads to onedrive. CDM v3 does tho, so I may revisit that.

 

[ITGuyNW]

Hmm getting errors when I try

 

 

From reading online, if you have any sort of redirection, you cannot redirect these folders.

 

Does that mean I cannot have a start menu/desktop folder redirection while also redirecting documents/pictures/video to onedrive? or is it just an order of precedence in GPO?

[Space_Munkey]

Somewhat related to questions in thread but not entirely C:\ blocked related...

 

As of about 2 months ago now I undertook the task of disabling folder redirection and roaming profiles for myself, to see what the process would look like and how it would go.

 

To be completely honest, I don't remember exactly how I did it, but I think I disabled read on the original policy for myself, created a new policy to redirect all my files back to the local machine, then once this was done, I again changed the redirection policy to move all files into:

 

C:\Users\MyUser\OneDriveFolder\Documents

C:\Users\MyUser\OneDriveFolder\Downloads

C:\Users\MyUser\OneDriveFolder\Desktop

C:\Users\MyUser\OneDriveFolder\Pictures

C:\Users\MyUser\OneDriveFolder\Videos

 

I remember also still running into an error with known folder move. Thinking back now it was likely because I still had redirection policies applied - even though it was to redirect local. AFAIK, you cannot have any GPO's applying redirection of any sort. There is sometimes a registry that get's stuck also after removing redirection, that you'll need to change to allow KFM.

 

We've decided not to use OneDrive for homefolders now as the cost of backing up from the cloud is actually more expensive than backing up TO the cloud and with Windows 11 on our tail it's a project that will take up way too much time.

[Tefters]

On 17/07/2025 at 08:27, DrCheese said:

 

Redirect them all.

Only one we don't is Downloads, that still gets redirected to an onsite server - Because Microsoft don't natively let you redirect downloads to onedrive. CDM v3 does tho, so I may revisit that.

 

Better man then me, I'm not redirecting downloads this time, fed up of people using the folder as a storage area. Downloads will be machine only and purged every 14 days using storage sense, they want to keep the files then move them to the documents. Not adapting for lazy end user behaviour this time.

[Tefters]

On 17/07/2025 at 10:21, ITGuyNW said:

Hmm getting errors when I try

 

 

From reading online, if you have any sort of redirection, you cannot redirect these folders.

 

Does that mean I cannot have a start menu/desktop folder redirection while also redirecting documents/pictures/video to onedrive? or is it just an order of precedence in GPO?

You cannot redirect both to OneDrive and to a file server, so you either have OneDrive redirect those base 3 folders or you do to a FS. You can redirect other folders like downloads if you want.

I personally just redirect all 3 to OneDrive however you will have to warn end users that already use OneDrive that when they go to documents when redirected to OneDrive it will show the Documents folder in OneDrive so if they have files in the root or other folders of OneDrive they will need to move them to Documents.

 

I am going to do a video for my staff so could share it afterwards.