[REQUEST] Any insights for customer running both Google Drive and OneDrive?

[Metanis]

New customer to me. I helped them move their data from their old laptop yesterday to a new laptop (Thanks @fabs)!

They already have a 200GB GDrive account with 90+GB consumed. But they also needed Microsoft 365 so we subscribed and downloaded Office.

Now they get regular notifications from OneDrive to configure it for use. Of course they now have 1TB available in OneDrive on their new Microsoft Account.

They prefer to stay on Google Drive but the client asked me if there would be any drawback to using both simultaneously. I haven't a clue. So thought I'd ask here if anyone can think of known issues that might arise. I know we can just uninstall OneDrive or at least disable notifications, but if they've got the service and the bandwidth why not double dip?

 

[callthatgirl]

They can have Google, Dropbox, OneDrive personal, OneDrive business, Teams and whatever else. Should not talk to each other.

If all cloud, doesn't matter.
If they need local, then I'd chose what needs to be local and only download those files.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

My issue is..."what....is kept where?" Accountability of data!

Also note...similar to some antivirus software, multiple "sync" software can step on each others toes.
OneDrive likes to take C:\Users\<username>\Documents...and Desktop..and Pictures..... and relocate them to C:\Users\<username>\OneDrive-tenantname\Documents Desktop Pictures.

So you can't take like...DropBox..and do the same thing. They both can't wrestle over the same folders...either one, or the other gets it.
I used G-Drive many years ago...but I know they have a newer local desktop sync agent but I have not played with it. I'm sure you can "exclude" certain folders so that you spread out the load, sort of speak.

But to me, one of the many beauties of having 365, is...it takes all my important stuff, (Docs, Desktop, Pics, browser Faves, email including calendar/contacts/signature/nickname cache/etc)...and I sign into any computer and it just syncs it all...boom, done.

I'd not really care to go...split things up manually and take the ease out of it. I'd be like "Why...cause all this...when I used to have it sooo simple!"

 

[timeshifter]

Had a similar situation where a client was using Sharepoint / OneDrive and iCloud Drive. She put her Sharepoint folder on her Desktop. That was a mess.

 

[ComputerDave]

Funny, I just had this conversation with a client this morning. OneDrive had taken it upon itself to commandeer backing up her data; she was knowingly paying for Carbonite and Norton's, which was backing up without her knowledge, and she was paying Intuit to back up her .qbw (company) file. Her connection would be better with two cans and a string where she is located, so it was just a mess. I'm inclined to encourage her to pick one. Am I thinking wrong?

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Ah yeah Carbonite also will "grab" the common user library folders...Docs, Desktop, Pics.

And...re: Pick One....no, you're not wrong! I'd not want to have to babysit several different services that conflict with each other, keep stepping on each others toes. You'd have to restore something one and day..."oh, which backup service might have been in charge of that folder on THIS particular week?" Nah..not for me.

 

[Metanis]

Update from customer last night...

My computer kept prompting me to backup to One Drive which I got tired of so I went ahead and selected backup.

As a result it somehow deleted all of my Google Drive files which is a MAJOR problem.
I need to figure out how to restore all of my Google drive files from the trash folder asap.

I’ve got many very important documents in there and both of my computers are synced which means all those dock will also be deleted from my documents.

Can you please advise on how I can restore these files without selecting each one individually. (There are hundreds) and how can i permanently disable OneDrive?

I’ll be at the office on Monday so if needed you could stop by to work on it yourself.

So that's what I get to look forward to tomorrow morning!

And the customer specifically asked me to delete the Fabs backup I made back on the 15th because he was concerned about his privacy. So I won't have that to fall back on.

 

[britechguy]

I have both OneDrive and Google Drive on my machine, with the majority of my stuff in OneDrive, and ne'er the twain shall meet.

OneDrive doesn't even know that Google Drive exists, per se. I'll lay you money that if you check Google Drive via its web interface, all will still be there.

It wouldn't shock me if this person somehow uninstalled Google Drive for Desktop and believes that all is gone as a result.

I've never had OneDrive touch Google Drive or vice versa. They're "different clouds in the sky."

 

[Porthos]

And the customer specifically asked me to delete the Fabs backup I made back on the 15th because he was concerned about his privacy. So I won't have that to fall back on.

Guess he puts his privacy before his actual data.
Guess you had the backup and that tells me he does not trust you. Red flag to me.

 

[frase]

I had the exact same customer request today. I downloaded the Google Drive account data, removed Google Drive and kept Onedrive. As the customer was paying for both which makes no sense to me as has a 365 account anyway. It was just getting to confusing for the customer as well as GD & OD each have their own desktop and folder backup synch. I also had the customer purchase an external SSD and setup Macrium to the system on a schedule. I understand I could have configured either to behave different from each other, though to me it's one or the other for the customers sanity and piece of mind.

 

[callthatgirl]

ooo that happens way too much lol.

this is what I call a "Frankenstein" job and give firm warnings about this happening whenever I get this request.

 

[Metanis]

Guess he puts his privacy before his actual data.
Guess you had the backup and that tells me he does not trust you. Red flag to me.

This customer is the new owner of a long-term business customer of mine. He bought the business on April 1st and the day I transferred his data to a new laptop was the first time he had ever met me. Of course I was recommended by the old owner who remains at the business as general manager.

This new owner appears to be the point man for a group of investors and told me that he had a lot of sensitive financial data which is why he wanted to ensure I didn't keep a copy of his data.

 

[John Kennedy]

In general for the original question, I try not to run more than one at a time because it can get confusing for customers or me on where data is located. Additionally, since neither Google Drive nor OneDrive data gets backed up (neither in itself is a backup either -- just a file sync -- no matter what each likes to say), if you have it all in one location, you can then back that data up cloud to cloud with something like Axcient or Dropsuite. I'm a big fan of using OneDrive to sync all of a client's major folders (desktop/documents/pictures) and then back that up with Dropsuite. Business clients set up this way basically don't need a separate local backup anymore. If their computer dies, we just get them a replacement (or a repair), install the limited software they need, reconnect OneDrive, and they're back up and running with all their data handy. Sure, you can do that without the Dropsuite backup, but the ability to retrieve something that was deleted/corrupted/saved over from as far back as the backup has been running is very useful and has saved my clients multiple times.

 

[britechguy]

but the ability to retrieve something that was deleted/corrupted/saved over from as far back as the backup has been running is very useful and has saved my clients multiple times.

Are they not using Autosave and automatic versioning on OneDrive? I can get to files that go a long way back just by using OneDrive in its "out of the box" state.

As but one example I have a file that gets frequent updates, and is in reality decades old now. But if I look in versions my oldest at this moment dates all the way back to last September, and there are lots of versions saved between then and now.

 

[John Kennedy]

Those don't cover all cases, though. Does versioning keep copies of deleted files? What happens if Microsoft themselves drop the ball, or the customer does by failing to pay for an account, or deleting one that held data they needed? Having the third party backup covers all the cases. Microsoft even recommends having a third party backup of your cloud data because they aren't responsible for the data you keep with them (paragraph 6b of the TOS). A small additional cost per month to cover all the potential problems (and make some profit for the MSP) is a good deal for my clients.

 

[britechguy]

Does versioning keep copies of deleted files? What happens if Microsoft themselves drop the ball, or the customer does by failing to pay for an account, or deleting one that held data they needed? Having the third party backup covers all the cases. Microsoft even recommends having a third party backup of your cloud data because they aren't responsible for the data you keep with them (paragraph 6b of the TOS). A small additional cost per month to cover all the potential problems (and make some profit for the MSP) is a good deal for my clients.

First, if someone really wants a true backup, as in old fashioned to some other drive (whether physical at "home" or cloud) of their data and/or their system image, they should take it.

For myself, particularly for data, I no longer feel the need. Versioning does not keep copies of deleted files, but OneDrive Recycle Bin does, for I think it's 30 days by default, and I seem to remember the value is configurable. I cannot ever recall wanting a file back more than 30 days after I have deleted it, but I have made deletions that I did want back, usually within a day or two at most.

I refuse to even think about Microsoft "dropping the ball." It's documented that OneDrive is triple-redundant, and you can be sure that it's not triple-redundant within a single data center. I suppose it's possible that all three locales where OneDrive data for a given entity is stored could be simultaneously destroyed, but were that the case I suspect we will all have far more important things to worry about.

As to customers not paying for accounts, well, what about their backup accounts. You either presume that people will be keeping in place what they need, or you don't. And if they are not, nothing I do or you do is going to save them from that.

Since I have never, even once, had someone (residential or business) delete a Microsoft Account under which their entire datastore is held, it's not something I concern myself with.

It's not my job to protect people from rank stupidity. It is my job to help them protect themselves from common points of failure. Those common points of failure have changed, radically, with the advent of "cloud storage for everything" where that storage itself is being professionally managed and backed up in the data centers where it resides. As a result, I don't approach data backup in the way I did when everything was sitting on one HDD or SSD on an individual's own computer. The tools have changed, and so have the tasks.

We each have to decide the level of risk we're willing to take. As far as OneDrive data goes, I'm willing to presume that (regardless of the MS CYA clause not guaranteeing it) this is not at all likely to ever be subject to loss. If it were, the entire cloud storage industry would collapse, promptly.

 

[John Kennedy]

Since I have never, even once, had someone (residential or business) delete a Microsoft Account under which their entire datastore is held, it's not something I concern myself with.

It's not my job to protect people from rank stupidity. It is my job to help them protect themselves from common points of failure. Those common points of failure have changed, radically, with the advent of "cloud storage for everything" where that storage itself is being professionally managed and backed up in the data centers where it resides. As a result, I don't approach data backup in the way I did when everything was sitting on one HDD or SSD on an individual's own computer. The tools have changed, and so have the tasks.

I have seen someone delete a Microsoft account that contained data they needed. I've also had times when they asked me to do it for them and said yes even after I did the "are you sure?" song and dance. Having the backup helped save my client from themselves.

I just have a different philosophy than you on the subject. To me, it IS my job to protect people from themselves. They don't know any better, they can screw things up fairly easily, and it's my job to make sure they cannot fail. If that includes some extra costs I myself don't need because I'm smart enough not to run into those problems, so be it.

 

[britechguy]

I just have a different philosophy than you on the subject. To me, it IS my job to protect people from themselves.

There's nothing wrong with that approach, at all.

I've simply found I don't need to take it. My business clients are not generally impetuous or foolish, and most of my residential clients are barely willing to "breathe around technology" without consulting me first.

I'm actually very big on protecting people from themselves, in reality, but that being said, it's not my responsibility to do so. I do it as much to protect myself from having to rehash things I don't want to rehash as anything else. Part of protecting them is educating them about what they should not, ever, do without very careful consideration. I always loved the following observation, from a book I have on many variants of The Peter Principle: It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are just too damned ingenious!

I also think that OneDrive (or similar, as much as I like OneDrive it's not the "one and only") is generally way more than adequate protection in almost every circumstance.

 

[Metanis]

Data was not lost. When OneDrive did it's usual folder redirection trick then Google Drive saw the former contents as being deleted.

Customer actually wants to retain Google and dump OneDrive, but Google won't currently allow him to buy more storage space! His existing 200GB of Gdrive space is 93% consumed and the option to buy more space will not appear no matter how we try. I've opened a case with Google for him and once he let's me know the Google space is available I'll go back and eradicate OneDrive. More joy! (And billings!)

So my first step was to do a complete Win7 image backup to an external NVMe drive. It was painfully slow! This is a brand new $1300 Dell laptop and I had to End Task on over 40 Windows processes before the backup would run normally.

No matter how fast the hardware gets... the software community finds a way to bog it down! Dell had 15 background tasks running all by itself!

 

[britechguy]

So my first step was to do a complete Win7 image backup to an external NVMe drive.

Why were you using this technique? Microsoft itself has deprecated that software and explicitly stated that third-party options should be used. This is a long while back: Microsoft Announcement of Deprecated Features, including SIB [Backup and Restore (Windows 7), V1709].

They've updated the above noted page to discuss sync backup with OneDrive, but still state if you want a full backup third-party products should be used.

I hated the built in "Backup and Restore (Windows 7)," for years prior to its deprecation because it was just so clunky!