Photostream is not syncing on my Windows 7 PC

Hi James, thanks for taking the time to reply.

The photostream on the pc works fine for new pictures. I put a new photo in uploads and it appears in my photostream. The issue I have is there are 2000 photos in icloud that I cannot get back down. They previously were on the ipad but disappeared and cant get them back.

The web and even here there are many individuals with the same issue using Windows. Its a common issue and I have yet to see an Apple employee solve this issue in the many posts. Apple hasnt even entertained a response in most topics with this issue which leads me to think there is an issue and they are not saying ?

It all works fine for new pictures but we cannot get back old stored pictures.

Why is it we cant have an icon for pictures when signing into www.icloud.com ... another rant... :-)

If I recall there is a database that keeps track of all photos that have already been downloaded to prevent them from downloading over and over. Perhaps you can remove Photo stream (iCloud control panel) from Windows,after moving your pictures somewhere locally. And look through and delete all referenced folders to photostream . Look in user\appdata folder too after making that folder visable since its a hidden folder. reboot wher PC then reinstall iCloud control panel and setup Photo stream again. That should force all iCloud photos to download again.

Assuming they were not deleted somehow from iCloud using the reset photo stream option.

You might be disappointed if you think you've got 2000 pics in iCloud. As I understand it, it keeps a rolling stream of the last 1000 max. Certainly my experience bears this up... :-/ I hope they haven't been lost.

The oddest thing is that they disappeared from your device. This is not the built-in behaviour, so I wonder if anyone has an explanation for that.

I missed that piece. Sounds like they were deleted. What about restoring your icloud backup for the device? Seems as for my Windows machine explanation above you are to 1:) turn off PhotoStream on the PC. 2:) Browse to C:\Users\myusername\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer and rename the MediaStream folder to something else. (ie. MediaStream-backup) 3:) Turn PhotoStream back on and it should recreate that folder and the database within it. Basically that should tell Windows that there have been no photos downloaded yet from PhotoStream and prompt it to get all pictures available. Now if they have been deleted and no longer in iCloud then of course not gonna help.

The oddest thing is that they disappeared from your device. This is not the built-in behaviour, so I wonder if anyone has an explanation for that.

Hi James Mitchell1, I tried what as suggested to Right click on start. left click on open explorer, on the left under favorites, left click photo stream, right click under photostream, make new photo stream. This is where the fun ends. I don;t have the option to "make new photostream". The option available are: restore Show all folders, Expand to current folder. Please note directly under Photostream I have SkyDrive, so I clicked below SkyDrive...

Any ideas? Many thanks.

You have to open the photostream folder in my computer. Sounds like you are not actually in the folder. So try this. Open My computer> open photostream then right click in the blank area to get the create new photostream option or you can right click on an existing stream to add photos or change options etc.

in my photostream window I have 3 folders. I have My Photo Stream as one folder wedding and mexico. click in the blank area under the folder you have called my photo stream and the only option you should get is new photo stream. I know the first time I tried to follow someones directions on this I also had to wing it a bit to get there.

Is your photostream folder in the default area on your computer?

right click

open windows explorer

left click photo stream

click on the blank area in the window that opens up entitled photo stream, not on the sidebar.

I have dropbox on mine and it is in the sidebar right under photostream. I think you are clicking in the wrong area

that help?

There are multiple problems here and no clear solution. There's obviously something wrong with Photostream on Windows (this thread is proof of it). I wish Apple would step up and provide an easier way to diagnose Photostream problems on Windows.

At this point it's working for me, but I tried so many different suggestions I don't know which one actually fixed it.

I've installed, deleted, and reinstalled the iCloud panel on my computer and the result is the same. When I click on the Photo Stream icon located on the started menu I receive this message:

"This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action.Please install a program or, if one is already installed, create an association in the Default Programs control panel"

No clue what to do. Photo Stream between my iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV works, but I cannot sync it with my computer.

I would recommend you uninstall the iCloud control panel. Then browse to C:\Users\your username\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer/ and Delete or rename the "MediaStream" folder. Then browse to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\ and delete or rename the "Internet Services" folder.

Reboot the computer then install iCloud control panel again running as administrator (right click the installer and select "run as administrator"). Set it back up and try and keep the default folders for upload and download.

I uninstalled the 2.11 control panel, and neither the MediaStream or the Internet Services folders existed.

I wonder if newer versions remove them at uninstall?

Hmm maybe so. And you are showing hidden folders yes? In appdata folder under your user profile?

C:\Users\youruser\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer

Fixed syncs problems for myself this way:

1) Open iCloud control panel and turn off PhotoStream, then close it

2) Delete c:\Users\%Username%\Pictures\Photo Stream folder

3) Delete c:\Users\%Username%\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MediaStream folder

4) Open iCloud control panel and turn PhotoStream on

It just start download photos right after last step. No uninstalling/reinstalling of anything required.

This is ridiculous. Somehow this problem came back. ApplePhotoStreamsDownloader.exe is using an entire CPU core and isn't downloading my pictures. I give up. Apple has been no help whatsoever with this issue.

Logging out and logging back in worked for me. I don't have any trouble with my Mac, but I've always had syncing issues with the PC.

Here is my setup:

Windows 8 64-Bit

AMD Processor

Don't think I need anymore details besides that. Also make sure you are placing the Photo Stream in a place that has read/write access. You can check this by right-clicking or option-clicking on your folder and checking the permissions.

Thanks.