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Unfortunately there’s no simple way to disable SkyDrive – Microsoft now considers it an integral part of its operating system. However, if you have the Pro edition of Windows 8.1 then you can use the Group Policy Editor to prevent SkyDrive’s use, which amounts to the same thing. It was Windows 8 Pro that was discounted when the OS launched last year, so it’s likely that you bought this version.

To launch Group Policy Editor, press the Windows key+R, type gpedit.msc in the Run box and press Enter. Next, navigate through the Local Computer Policy pane on the left-hand side via Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates and Windows Components to SkyDrive. Click the ‘Prevent the usage of SkyDrive for file storage’ entry then click the ‘Edit policy settings’ link on the left. Select the Enabled radio button, then click OK. Restart Windows. To re-enable SkyDrive later repeat these

steps, selecting the Disabled radio button instead.

If you don’t have Windows 8.1 Pro then you’ll need to make changes in the Registry. You should back up before proceeding (and do so at your own risk). Press the Windows key+R then type regedit and press Enter. If a User Account Control dialog box appears, click Yes. Now use the left-hand pane to Navigate: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\SkyDrive.

If the SkyDrive key doesn’t exist here, right-click the Windows key, click New then Key and name it

‘SkyDrive’. Now right-click on the SkyDrive key and choose New followed by ‘DWORD (32-bit) Value’ and name it ‘DisableFileSync’. Finally, double-click DisableFileSync and set its value to 1. Restart Windows. To re-enable SkyDrive later, repeat these steps but set Disable FileSync to 0, or

delete the SkyDrive key.