Photostream is not syncing on my Windows 7 PC

@dsieber

Indeed. I'm going to start discussing this on Facebook. There are lots of users on Facebook who aren't Mac fans, precisely because of issues like this.

Hi.

I have found that when you add pics to the upload folder, it will initiate an upload or push. So if you cut all the pics and put them in a temp folder, then re-add them to the upload folder, you will see them start popping up on all your devices.

I read the question and skipped 8 or 9 pages to help with an answer. I did not read every post on every page. My apologies if this is no longer the discussion or has been said before.

After phoning Apple support twice, we found that the problem was that I had multiple IDs - that was all. But because the Apple website likes to boast that their stuff 'just works', they can't be having pages of troubleshooting tips. So even if the problem is really simple, when there's no feedback from the equipment itself, you're left to guess what might be wrong.

Glad to hear that you got it resolved. Must be a different probem on my Windows 7 box.

I no longer buy that whole "it just works" line, either. I'd prefer some helpful diagnostic messages over nothing. Or lots of troubleshooting tips. And they need to issue more bug fixes and updates. We all know software development is really difficult and I don't mind if there are a few bugs -- IF they hustle up and fix them. But they're not hustling. When bugs go unhandled month after month after month (such as what happened with MobileMe), I suspect it's a conscious decision on their part to let it slide because the noise level isn't high enough to worry about.

"It just works" is laughable. I was tryng to love Apple products, but they are just as flawed and convoluted as anything. I am very experienced in networking and setting this type of stuff up. I gave them a chance and tried to use all of their featured services. Good attempt, **** poor execution.

I understand that these types of things present problems and it will take a certain amount of configuration, or maybe trial and error in some cases, to get everything working correctly. That is understandable and I have no problem with that. Over the course of a few days, I slowly incorporated a lot of Apple into my entertainment room. This included Apple TV, Home Sharing, streaming from computer to Apple TV, iTunes Wi-Fi syncing, mirroring using Apple TV, iCloud backup, Photo Stream, and syncing across 3 devices (2 iphones and an ipad 2).

Needless to say, there were some setup issues,which is totally expected. No one will walk through all I was trying to do with no errors. But, as each problem arose, I found the cause and eliminated it. Eventually, everything was configured and working properly. Where I have a problem is that now that everything is setup, it never works smoothly. Either iTunes can't sync, or Apple TV can't get the update, or the iPhone can't be found, or the PhotoStream album can't be reset, and on and on and on. And this is occuring when everything should be working correctly, because it did once.

Yes I know about firewalls and which folders the files should be in, or what format works and how everything needs to be set. The fact of the matter is the services are unreliable, convoluted and intended to impress with their implied conveniences, but fall short. So, the Apple TV is back at Best Buy, Bonjour is disabled, iTunes is not used and iCloud is history. I'll get a file manager to put things on my devices and use the old HDMI port from the computer to TV because doing the hard way turns out to be the fastest and least painful.

Sorry for the long post,but as you can probably tell, this topic struck a chord. Farewell Apple. A nice try, but a swing and a miss.

It DOES just work. It's just that Windows is not only the non-native operating system of your iPad/iPhone, iCloud, and Photo Stream, it's also just a mess of an operating system that is too difficult for... 1) any ordinary people to troubleshoot [as proven by this thread]... 2) Apple to troubleshoot when it created neither the OS nor the hardware on which you installed it.

If you want total support of your Apple products to make all the features work, even the free ones, get a Mac. Apple Support can only do so much with a Windows computer... like it or not. If you think the thousands of views on this thread is "proof" that it doesn't "just work" and that "every one" is having problems with it, think again. The a large percentage of the views are probably people that have already posted revisiting it. But you must also consider the REST of the population of millions of people that are using Photo Stream on their Windows computer that have it working. Support discusison boards are where those with issues congregate. Asking why so many people on the forums are having problems would be like asking "Why are there so many sick people in this hospital? There must be an outbreak." No! It would be illogical to assume that there is a widespread problem based on a discussion in a forum.

So in a sense, dsieber is correct in that the noise level just isn't high enough. If I were Apple, I wouldn't care either.

It's a free service... get over it.

Another Mac cult zombie pops up to blame the victim again...

watts300, my problem turned out to be with my iPhone and not with Windows. Apple ID management permits indiscriminate proliferation of IDs, and when you try to access one of their 'just works' services unknowingly using an incompatible ID, there's no feedback. So you have to get a senior advisor at Apple to look at their server to see which IDs you have. And then they have the gall to tell you that it 'just works', and a bunch of zombies with dead brains will echo that for them.

Rod, so if you or any one else can't keep track of multiple AppleIDs and make sure you're signed in with the right one, why is that Apple's fault?

I hate hearing feedback from people that think Apple and Apple's products are magical mind readers and have some sort of human-error-correction skillset built in.

It's a computer. A machine. It knows what you know. It can calculate and manipulate the data you give it, but in the end you still have to give it that data. Giving the computer wrong data and then calling it stupid for not knowing is not the computer's flaw, but the user's.

@watts300:

What's your reference for your assertation that "millions of people" are sucessfully using PhotoStream on Windows please?

And what's your reasoning behind that fact meaning that it doesn't matter that for dozens, hundreds, or thousands of people that it's not working? Bizarre reasoning to me.

Also, it's not a free service. The best that you could say about it is that it's included in the purchase price of your iDevice, that's far from a free service.

I don't think that anyone expects that any software solution will work on every single PC (whether Mac OS or Windows or Unix-derivative) and on every single network and behind every single router / firewall etc, but I think that what we do have a right to expect is that people who come on these discussion boards should be polite, courteous, and here to help rather than to just have a go at other people who are trying to either get help (because they prefer informality, or can't get to an Apple store, or can't get a response from Apple or whatever other reason) or who are trying to help those people.

Your post fails.

You're a rude and inconsiderate person, and I think that the disucssion would be better off without you.

You think that iCloud is a paid service? That among others is an example of your own failed logic. Your iDevice works without iCloud. When it was set up, it asked you if you want to use it. You could have said no. It wasn't included, it's an optional service that you signed up for.

You're an ignorant and finger-pointing person insisting that Apple has created a problem unwilling to accept there are other issues, and I think there is probably more than a discussion forum that would be better off without you.

I don't want to talk to you any more. Talking with an idiot is futile. You'll bring me down to your level and beat me with experience.

So I'll enjoy not revisiting YOUR discussion. My email notifications are off now, so your lunacy won't lure me in. Have a wonderful life. I know I will. :)

(chuckle)

Running home to cry to mummy then. Ah well, I was hoping for a reasoned answer, but at least since the metaphorical toys have been thrown out of his pram, we can perhaps get back to a civilised discussion.

So far, I am still seeing the same problem as I always did, everyone.

Anyone else still seeing the issue, or is it just me now?

All the best.

Well, I'm surprised you think I'm being rude, but such are forums I guess.

I'd encourage you to reread my post - I don't think I was rude at all, I asked for a reference for his assertion (which I was pretty sure he wouldn't provide, so I guess that was a little tongue in cheek) and gave my thoughts on the free-ness of the service. I was blunt in my delivery of my assesment of his usefulness to the discussion which I guess could be considered rude. Or honest.

Anyhow, I did mention much of what you have just said too, regarding expectation of universal compatibility of software, and nowhere was I angry or mad at Apple at all. I'm not. Like you, I'd like to use this function, but I already have alternatives in place from before iCloud was even announced (PicBox, namely) which do a similar job, so I'm hardly desperate; it'd just be better to use the "built-in" version which does what I want it to, if it were to work for me.

I found that the Photostream works for me only if I temporarily disable it and then enable it again on the iCloud control panel.

I'm using Windows 7 64-bit.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Can you show me where I said I have Windows? I don't seem to remember getting a Windows computer or saying so. Must be getting old.