With the brand new Surface RT with Microsoft Windows RT installed, there are some limitations that are in place as to what it can or can’t do. While the Windows 8 Pro version can do anything you’d do on a desktop (since it’s the same OS), as I stated before in my comparison of Windows RT and Pro compatibility, RT can’t run programs in desktop mode except Microsoft Office 2013, Paint, Calculator, and the File Browser, and a few others. One of the things not included is having a Microsoft SkyDrive folder/drive in your file browser.
Where Is My Skydrive Folder?
Though you can access Microsoft SkyDrive either through the official Windows 8 app on both Windows RT and Windows 8 Pro, and through SkyDrive’s web page, only Windows 8 Pro (Surface Pro) will be able to use the Legacy Program for SkyDrive to map the network folder/drive in to the file browser and constantly sync between them. I can see the reason for Microsoft excluding this because if you had a 100gb SkyDrive account, the Surface RT and Asus Vivo tablets would easily fill up and run out of storage trying to sync.
Benefits to a Mapped SkyDrive Drive
The most immediate reason you’ll want to do this is to be able to access your SkyDrive files without going back and forth between the apps to share something, or better yet, need to upload a photo, music file, video, or document that’s stored in the cloud to Craigslist or something else through your web browser? This will provide a way to virtually expand your Surface RT or Windows RT devices limited storage with little to no-cost or upgrade. Though the best reason to do this is that you can sync your SkyDrive music, videos, and pictures to your Windows RT media library.
Mapping SkyDrive Folder onto Windows RT
- You’ll need to log into your SkyDrive account on your web browser: http://skydrive.com
- Then either right click the “Files” link and then select Copy Link OR you can just copy everything after the #CID=
(Example: https://skydrive.live.com/#cid=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX)
- Open up the Windows File Browser on your Windows RT tablet, click on “Computer”, and then on the top Menu, click computer, then “Map Network Drive”
- Either right click and paste the link we copied earlier and delete everything except for the stuff after the #cid=
OR, you can just start typing in https://d.docs.live.net/Then put in the CID number so it looks like:
https://d.docs.live.net/XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX/
- Hit finish. Then click on the drive with all the weird letters and numbers, then login with your SkyDrive account information.
Username = SkyDrive login e-mail
Password is the same as your SkyDrive Password
Now you’re done and you can view and access your SkyDrive account as a mapped network drive on any Windows RT device! No more limited functions of the Windows Store App as long as you have a internet connection on your Microsoft Surface RT or Windows RT device!
Tip: You can also right click on the your mapped SkyDrive account on your Windows RT device and then select rename, and now you can have a nice short name to look at.