Using your SkyDrive.
What is your SkyDrive? Well think of the hard drive in your computer where obviously all of your files are stored. SkyDrive is like your hard drive but online. You can use it to store your photo albums, your documents such as Word files etc, and also any movie video files that you might create. At the moment you have a total of 25 GB’s of storage space on your SkyDrive to use for all of your files. In common with the rest of Windows Live you can be very precise in your choice of exactly who to share any of your files with. You can choose to share with everyone, (public) your Network, your extended network, any or just certain categories of friends that you have created previously or just individuals by entering their e-mail addresses. Wondering just where your SkyDrive is if you haven’t found it yet?
1. Access your SkyDrive by going to your Home page, clicking on the More tab, and then selecting SkyDrive from the drop down list. We’re going to create a new photo folder to our SkyDrive and then upload some photos to it from our computer.
2. Click on Create folder.
3. In the box area next to Name, type in a Name for your new folder such as My Photographs.
4. In the box next to Share with: click on the small black arrow and choose who you wish to share your photographs with. NOTE. If you have not created any categories of friends yet, this option will not be available to you at this time.
5. Click on Next.
6. You will now be in the Add files to (name of your folder) screen, and you are given two choices, either to browse for files or Select files from your computer. For this how-to, we will add files from our computer.
7. Click on the blue Select files from your computer choice.
8. You will then see another window open which will allow you to select the files that you wish to upload. In this case, select your Pictures and then the folder that contains the photo’s that you wish to upload to your SkyDrive. Then select the photos from that folder that you wish to include in the upload.
9. When all of your chosen photos from that folder on your computer are all in the upload window you can add some more photographs to them by drag and dropping them into the smaller window where it says Drop more files here, and then click on Upload when your done. Depending on your internet connection speed, you may have to be patient whilst your pictures are uploaded. You can see each one being uploaded though so you keep a check on the progress being made.
10. Once all of your pictures have uploaded to your SkyDrive you are then presented with some more choices. You can add more photos to this folder, create another folder or view your photos as a slide show. (see picture below.) You can click on the small black arrow next to View: Thumbnails ( default setting) and choose to view your photographs as either Icons or by their details.
You can also sort them by Name, Date, Size,Type or a custom sort of your own choosing or you can Arrange the photos as you wish. Under the More tab are even more choices for you to make for your photos in this folder, and by clicking on the small black arrow you will access a drop down list that allows you to do the following; Send a link (so that someone will be able to view these pictures by going to the URL that you provide) Download them to your computer, Edit your permissions for these photos, Delete this particular folder which of course means all the photographs contained in it, Rename the folder, Share it by either sending others a link to this folder or e-mailing a link to them or alternatively you can Embed the HTML into a page or blog for example for others to access. You can also order some prints of your photographs (useful if you don’t own a photo printer of your own) from HP or you can subscribe to the RSS feed for this particular folder.
11. Lastly if you click on Properties at the bottom of this drop down list, you will then be able to see the folder with its Information included such as who it is shared with, the type of folder it is (in this case Photos) the size of this folder, its web address and the Embed HTML.
12. You can also Add a description of this folder in this screen if you wish by clicking on Add a description below the folder in question and then typing some text into the box area provided followed by clicking on Save.
13. You add any other type of file such as a Word document in exactly the same way. However anyone that you share that type of file with would then have to download it to their computer in order to view it and/or edit it at this time. And that’s how to add files to your SkyDrive.
TG
