SkyDrive Conflict Resolution

Q: My SkyDrive has duplicate files, and one of the file names has a computer name after it--why?

A: When using synchronization with Microsoft's SkyDrive cloud file storage service, it's possible to have multiple copies of a file on different machines. It's also possible to edit a file on those different machines at the same time--but if the file is altered and saved on both machines, you have a conflict.

When the files synchronize back to SkyDrive, the conflict must be handled. SkyDrive doesn't know which version of the file should be kept and it can't just merge the contents together, because for most file types, this would lead to corruption.

Therefore the file that was saved last will keep its original name, and the version that has been altered on the other machine will be renamed with the machine's name appended to the filename.

You can see an example of this in the screen shot below: I edited the file Chapter 1.docx on two machines at the same time, and to avoid corruption or data loss, the oldest modified version had the computer name appended to it.