Incase you don't know, if you want to use Onedrive on a Windows 8.1 PC, you need to sign in with your MS account to use the built in OneDrive client, which sucks because the client is outdated, buggy (often crashing) and doesn't sync with Office 2016/2019/365 when you open documents. Now, both 7 and 10 use the same desktop Onedrive client that updates automatically and syncs with Office. The problem is that when you install this version on 8.1, it only functions as a client for Onedrive for Business, not allowing you to sync your personal account. The worst thing about this is that you can install the same desktop client on Server 2012 R2 (essentially the same kernel) and it will let you sync personal accounts, with the same features that it has on 7! So my question to all who can help: is there any way to trick the Onedrive desktop client to work on personal accounts on 8.1 (say, by telling it it's running on Server, for example)? I've tried using the Compatibility Tab in explorer to make it think it's running on 7, and even installing Microsoft ACT to try and fool it, but it always says I need to log in my account with 8.1 and not the sync client. EDIT: Problem solved by @abbodi1406. See this post
I know of that workaround... It's really not a great one because of the speed (too slow). Besides, if Onedrive is so integrated, how come you can use the standalone desktop version in Server 2012 R2 just fine? My bet is that it probably checks for some registry file? Not sure....
Removing the FileManager packages only removes the Onedrive and Photos Appx from the system, not OneDrive in itself, according to what I tested on my VM Just did some more digging... There are 4 files related to Onedrive that 8.1 has and Server 2012 R2 doesn't in System32. These are: Code: SkyDrive.exe SkyDriveShell.dll SkyDriveTelemetry.dll SyncEngine.dll Upon some searching in Explorer, I found out these files are related to the following WinSxS packages (found these folders in C:\Windows\WinSxS): Code: amd64_microsoft-windows-skydrive-exehost_31bf3856ad364e35_6.3.9600.17484_none_77b78082feb70f58 amd64_microsoft-windows-skydrive-syncengine_31bf3856ad364e35_6.3.9600.17484_none_1dc4a04f290ccb6d amd64_microsoft-windows-skydrive-telemetry_31bf3856ad364e35_6.3.9600.17484_none_74722f2900de5df9 x86_microsoft-windows-skydrive-shell_31bf3856ad364e35_6.3.9600.17418_none_c82257fcc91f1ff1 amd64_microsoft-windows-skydrive-shell_31bf3856ad364e35_6.3.9600.17418_none_2440f380817c9127 amd64_windows-ui-skydrive_31bf3856ad364e35_6.3.9600.17418_none_1f69d2767a67c6a8 amd64_windows-ui-skydrive.resources_31bf3856ad364e35_6.3.9600.17418_pt-pt_faaea3496ef2dfec (I do realize that last one is related to my OS's language) I'm using install_wim_tweak to find all of the hidden packages, but these ones don't show up. How would I go about in removing these Skydrive related packages?
The WinSxS folders I found relating to SkyDrive have .manifest files attached to them. I just can't seem to find to which package is Skydrive related to in 8.1... Any way to remove it? We need a WinSxS expert here! (calling @abbodi1406)
Well, that just sucks Would it be possible to replace that shell package with the Server 2012 R2 one? Might give it a shot on my VM (use the SxSExpander, extract the cab file, remove the 8.1 version and integrate the Server 2012 R2 one...)
Just dabbled in the world of Windows 8.1 packages, and it's a whole can of worms... Apparently the Microsoft-Windows-Client-Features-Package-AutoMerged-shell does not exist in Server 2012 R2. Instead Microsoft-Windows-Server-Features-Package-AutoMerged-shell exists, which means it's impossible (to the best of my knowledge, of course) to make the latter work on 8.1. Since removing the integrated Onedrive version from 8.1 seems to be a Herculean task, I'll see what I can do to make OneDrive desktop app work on 8.1 (I've already tried using Compatibility Administrator and Application Verifier to no avail...). If anyone has more experience than me on spoofing programs and getting the Onedrive desktop app working properly on 8.1 do let me know.
