2 W10 laptops, should they use the same login?

I'm thinking of resetting the older laptop and use it for everyday tasks and the other one more for video editing. Is it okay if they both use the same microsoft login? If I want to sync certain files between them is onedrive the best way? Thank you.

Ian_abaco said:

I'm thinking of resetting the older laptop and use it for everyday tasks and the other one more for video editing. Is it okay if they both use the same microsoft login? If I want to sync certain files between them is onedrive the best way? Thank you.

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Sure, I use the same Microsoft login for all the non-work computers I own and use (around a dozen).

If the computers are on the same LAN, then just share files over the LAN, that way you don't have to go over the Internet. If you want to access files when away from home, and the computer aren't in the same location, then something like One Drive, Google Drive, or the many other alternatives are fine.

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- Eric, http://www.invisiblerobot.com/

Ian_abaco said:

I'm thinking of resetting the older laptop and use it for everyday tasks and the other one more for video editing. Is it okay if they both use the same microsoft login? If I want to sync certain files between them is onedrive the best way? Thank you.

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For me OneDrive is the best way as it is built in to the Windows Operating system. I keep all my data in OneDrive. The files I keep in the OneDrive folder are kept up to date in real-time on all computers that log in to Windows with the same login.

Since I keep my photo files and my Lightroom catalog in the OneDrive folder on all my computers, all my data is synced in real-time. I can edit a photo on one machine, then log in to Windows on another machine, open Lightroom and the edits I did on the first machine are right there. I love it.

I can even buy a new computer, log in to Windows, and as soon as I log in all my data is there and up to date.

I subscribe to Microsoft 365 and that includes one terabyte of OneDrive. I've used OneDrive for years and I love it.

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Gary in Atlanta

That's what I would do. I use OneDrive and prefer it over local storage. If I go somewhere, or if I'm on my phone, I still have files I need from anywhere.

Ian_abaco said:

I'm thinking of resetting the older laptop and use it for everyday tasks and the other one more for video editing. Is it okay if they both use the same microsoft login? If I want to sync certain files between them is onedrive the best way?

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The adoption of MS Accounts has just about superseded the need for individual logins, and PINs are all that is needed. PINs can be the same or variable to suit individual users.

Some seem to be irked by MS Accounts, but it does provide instant access to MS Office subscriptions, and helps with account maintenance etc. (e.g. Removing obsolete computers from the subscription list).

I don't use Onedrive, as I prefer to use local servers for photo and office files. I rarely need access to my files when travelling, but I can recall taking a copy of "Recent Files" on my laptop while on holidays.

I have reset my iPad on one occasion, and the automatic restoration from the Cloud was impressive.

Gary,

I'm curious if the files in the one drive folder take up hard drive space?

WryCuda said:

Some seem to be irked by MS Accounts, but it does provide instant access to MS Office subscriptions, and helps with account maintenance etc. (e.g. Removing obsolete computers from the subscription list).

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I'm annoyed, but Apple forces you to have one for Mac or iOS and Google for Chromebook or Android, so the only way to escape is Linux.

Ian_abaco said:

Gary,

I'm curious if the files in the one drive folder take up hard drive space?

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In general, yes. A copy is kept locally for fast access and offline availability. You can go in to settings and tell it not to keep local copies of certain folders if you wish.

Ian_abaco said:

Gary,

I'm curious if the files in the one drive folder take up hard drive space?

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I see where this has been answered elsewhere, so I will tell you how I use OneDrive on my two PC's.

I have two PC's, one has a 1TB SSD and one has a 256GB SSD.

The size of my OneDrive cloud storage is 1TB.
The size of my data on OneDrive is 415GB.

On any PC you can use pick and choose which files you have locally using 'Files On Demand" or you can opt to keep all OneDrive files mirrored on your PC.

On my main computer I have a 1TB SSD. I choose to have my entire OneDrive downloaded and synced. This allows me to also back up all my data from my local drive.

On my laptop 256GB SSD I use the "Files On Demand" option to pick and choose which files I keep on my SSD. When I look at my Pictures folder with File Explorer, I can see all my OneDrive files but I'm in full control of which files are actually downloaded to my local SSD. I only keep the picture files I'm currently working on with Lightroom on this PC.

My data is always fully up to date no matter which PC I'm using. I love it.

Thank you, this is what I'm hoping to do, just download the files I want to at the moment.

Choose which OneDrive folders to sync to your computer (microsoft.com)

How to setup OneDrive to download the files you want on specific machines logged in with same Microsoft Account.