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Level 1

11 points

Photostream is not syncing on my Windows 7 PC

So... no matter what I do, I can't get Photostream to sync to my Windows 7 PC.

I have iCloud desktop set up. I have the folders where they should be. Photostream works on my iPhone (I turned it off on my iPhone, it removed the pics, turned it back on, and it loaded them back on)

However, photos placed in upload on my PC don't upload... and no photos from my photostream have loaded on to my comptuer. I've even uninstalled and reinstalled the iCloud desktop program.

Any thoughts? It's working great on my wife's PC (which I set up), so it's not that I don't understand the concept.

I've even shut down my virus scanner to see if that was blocking (it wasn't).

Sooooo... it's driving me crazy. Is there a service I can look for in Windows that might not be running? Anything? Anyone? Buehler? I need help!

Posted on Oct 17, 2011 9:03 AM

398 replies

Oct 23, 2011 10:24 PM in response to crystalfrombonaire

Apply? Pretty obvious, no? but that doesn't do anything, at least not for me...

Oct 24, 2011 4:43 AM in response to WaterOz

Hi,

It is true that icloud application for Windows PC is not very comfortable. I used it for a few minutes and I stopped, personally, I'll buy an iMac, that I hear is much more convenient.

See you soon! 😉

WaterOz Author

Level 1

11 points

Oct 24, 2011 6:08 AM in response to HenriqueCHGE

Oh how I'd love to own a Mac instead of PC. Not in budget though. I'm like the geekiest Mac nerd ever who doesn't own a Mac. Someday. I dream.

And still photo stream is not working on my Windows PC. For those suffering the same issue, is your computer joined to a domain, or is it just in a workgroup? It's my new "theory" of where my problem is coming from. My wife's computer is just part of a workgroup (and everything is still working great there).

Mine is part of a domain (I use it for work), and no matter what, I can't get it to work. My settings all mirror my wife's exactly; sooooo... I'm thinking it may be the domain that could be causing the issues. Anyone?

Rndmzr

Level 1

6 points

Oct 24, 2011 10:59 AM in response to WaterOz

I'm having a similar problem, also. When I installed the iCloud application / control panel, and enabled Photostream, the main folder was created, along with the Uploads subfolder, but didn't create the My Photo Stream subfolder.

No photos are downloaded to my PC (Windows 7, 32-bit). I manually created this My Photo Stream subfolder and tried taking more pictures. Same outcome.

All pictures correctly and quickly appear on my iPad.

However, strangely and differently, any pictures I put in the Uploads folder *do* get placed in my stream and appear on my iPhone and iPad.

I've tried the permissions thing, though the system user, administrators, and myself as the logged in user already had Full Permissions.

My PC, in response to your specific query, is not on a domain, so I'm afraid that might not be the answer.

I'm also getting a little frustrated!

Oct 24, 2011 11:14 AM in response to Rndmzr

I'm having exactly the same issue on Vista SP2.
My Photo Stream subfolder for downloads not created automatically so I created Download folder manually.

Uploads to iCloud Photo Stream working just fine but no downloads....

WaterOz Author

Level 1

11 points

Oct 24, 2011 11:33 AM in response to Rndmzr

Dang... so it's not a domain issue.

And unlike everyone else who says that the uploads work fine... nothing works fine with me.

I can't figure out for the life of me what it could be. My wife's computer, besides being on a domain, is set up pretty similarly, so I don't know what's the problem.

Some other progam I have that's interfering maybe?

Hopefully they'll update iCloud soon and it will have something that can fix it.

WaterOz Author

Level 1

11 points

Oct 24, 2011 11:34 AM in response to WaterOz

Oh... and on a side note... I've even gone through and enabled all Windows services that weren't running at some point to see if it helped. It didn't.

There's gotta be something my computer is missing.

Rndmzr

Level 1

6 points

Oct 24, 2011 11:44 AM in response to WaterOz

I've preliminarily found the source of the issue for me. I use PeerBlock as a free personal firewall solution, and I've found that when I set it to allow HTTP connections, Photostream works ok.

The reason it's preliminary for me is that that was how it was set already, I blocked HTTP and then allowed it again, and then it started working. And I can't see how a personal firewall would have prevented the iCloud control panel from making the directory in the first place.

I also tried temporarily disabling the Avast! Real Time Protection shield too, but that hadn't made a difference.

I remain unconvinced, but am receiving photo stream files for now.

WaterOz Author

Level 1

11 points

Oct 24, 2011 3:04 PM in response to Rndmzr

Cool for you... I don't think I have anything running on my machine that could be blocking it. And while I wouldn't be surprised if something on my works network is, I have the same issues at home and I don't have anything currently on my home wifi that should be causing issues like that.

All that to say... Apple customer support rocks - I actually just got a call and they are specifically looking into my issue (and I provided them with a bunch of info). I'm just impressed that they actually called me. Thanks Apple... this is why I'm fan. And why someday (money permitting) I'll probably convert to total Apple/Mac use in my home...

brstowe

Level 1

0 points

Oct 25, 2011 7:07 AM in response to WaterOz

Hi everyone ...

After reading everyone's comments, I think I have managed to find a solution:

I've managed to get this to work on two Windows 7 computers/iphone/ipad setups now.

The default iCloud setup created a single folder "Photostream" with a subfolder "Uploads".

I changed this to Download to /Photostream/Downloads, and uploads to /Photostream/Uploads (ie.create another subfolder in /Photostream and redirect all downloads)

Magically any photo I drag/copy/move in to the uploads folder, is uploaded, and unexpectedly re-downloaded into the new /Downloads folder. This downloaded image is the one distributed across all devices, allowing you to delete the original file copied into /Uploads.

Please let me know if this works for anyone else.

Thanks
Brett

Oct 25, 2011 9:15 AM in response to brstowe

Rather confusing I think and not a real solution or is it?

WaterOz Author

Level 1

11 points

Oct 25, 2011 9:23 AM in response to brstowe

Been there... tried that... didn't work 🙂 Nice suggestion though

Oct 25, 2011 10:40 AM in response to WaterOz

Why is iCloud on the PC not automatically creating the "My Photo Stream" Folder? (Download folder) as subfolder in the Photo Stream folder? It creates the "Upload" folder and this one is working for me.

Rndmzr

Level 1

6 points

Oct 25, 2011 12:37 PM in response to cdn-tallguy

I don't know the why I'm afraid, but that is exactly what happened to me, and the problem seems to have been a personal firewall issue somehow. I can't see how that could really be the answer, but it worked for me. I suspect that we really need the input of proper Apple techs here.

brstowe

Level 1

0 points

Oct 26, 2011 1:48 AM in response to WaterOz

Just a little background info: 2 x Windows 7 Professional PC's, both Work Network, both with Kaspersky Anti-Virus.

No other changes made - except making a 2nd folder in /Photo Stream for Downloads, and changing the Dowload path to match. Not that confusing I think.

Thanks

Brett

Photostream is not syncing on my Windows 7 PC