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Forum Discussion
currentcapital
8 years agoHelpful | Level 6
Randomly deleted files and folders
Anyone else experiencing files and folders being deleted from Dropbox without human intervention?
I know that I'm going to get the stock Dropbox answer here that it can't happen, but I can expl...
- 7 years agoWelcome to the Dropbox Community, let me send over some tips below regarding your inquiry and we’ll take it from there!SKBJ ‘s reply could point you towards the right direction, though you may need to dig deeper, depending on the behavior you’ve noticed.Firstly, as Dropbox syncs any files added to it, a virus or malicious software would get updated to all computers linked to the account accordingly. If the virus or malicious software is in a shared folder, shared folder members and computers may also be affected. That being said, I’d strongly recommend removing it as soon as possible, as it’ll definitely create more issues in the long run.Secondly, it recently came to attention that connecting or pointing external locations (i.e. Symlinking them) to your Dropbox folder might cause unexpected behavior, so it may appear to you as if files are randomly deleted. That being said, I’d advise you to have a look intro this as well, just as a possible scenario.Regardless of the cause, if you need further clarifications or you’d like your account reverted back to a particular point in time, my advice would be to reach out directly to our team, who’ll guide you through the necessary steps and actions you’d need to take, so as to revert back to normal operations.If you decide to go per my advice above, you may keep in mind that I’m always here to pursue a resolution, so please let me know a ticket ID I could reference in your next reply.I’m looking forward to hearing back from you on this discussion!
SKBJ
8 years agoExplorer | Level 4
Exactly the same happened to me this week. Hundreds of files, all Word + Excel docs vanished into thin air!! The folders are all there, other files extensions like PDF or jpeg are there but they don't concern me there's maybe 20-30 files of that kind, the W +E files are the ones I used for my client work.
I am absolutely fuming that I keep getting responses that have nothing to do with solving the issue and taking responsibility.
If a person is a single user of a folder of course the events log will say "You added or You deleted" but I well know I did not do anything, I wasn't even at my computer at the time it happened and I was home so there's no chance someone sat at my computer and started moving things, plus it all happened in a few minutes....apparently in 1 minute alone "I" moved and equally deleted over 100 files...that's physically impossible!!
Now I see others experienced the same, so I too would like for Dropbox to start taking responsibility, but first off they need to restore all the files where they were, this is despicable!!
And thinking I was even considering moving to Dropbox for work.
Not after this experience!
- currentcapital8 years agoHelpful | Level 6As I initially started this thread, I will throw my two cents in here.
Short answer - Dropbox support are absolutely no use. Back everything up to hard drive, cancel your dropbox account and move to a different supplier.
I've got things running on Sync.com and everything seems to be working as it should be. They even encrypt everything end to end and charge less than the buggy Dropbox system.
Hope this helps - Jane8 years agoDropbox Staff
Hey SKBJ,
Thanks for getting in touch, missing important files is troubling, I understand your frustration.I 've run a search on our system and I've made sure that your open request has been forwarded to our team specialists, who will take care of the restoration. Rest assured that you’re in safe hands from this point on. If you have further concerns about why your files were deleted, please include these in your reply there, our team specialists will definitely help you determine the cause, so as to prevent this from happening again in the future.Hope this gets resolved soon!Kind regards,JaneA - Watts H.8 years agoHelpful | Level 6
Yes, Dropbox help totally useless, to the point of being comically bad: multiple emails from different "customer service" staff insisting they would help, with NONE of them responding to the very clear details I laid out and requests made for their help. Literally, after weeks of correspondance, NOT ONE DROP BOX STAFF MEMBER responded in any coherent way at all.
At some later point, all of the folders that had been moved/altered then "mysteriously" dissappeared from my dropbox root folder. HUH? (dropbox staff going in to "clean up" screw up? -- no idea...)
My lesson here: Dropbox CANNOT BE USED FOR CRITICAL BACKUP: the system will corrupt, relocate, and potentially delete or alter files by itself, and they have no ability to research, confirm, reverse, monitor, or protect against such events. Because this is a "mirroring" system, these faults in Dropbox will potentially result in permanant loss of important data.
- Jane8 years agoDropbox Staff
Hey Watts H,
I'd be glad to investigate this with you.
Would you mind opening a new ticket and let me know once you have done so, in order to follow-up and look up the piece of information you'd like to know more about on our system?
Thanks in advance for your cooperation!Warm regards,JaneA- Watts H.8 years agoHelpful | Level 6
No, had enough "help" from you and your colleagues, thanks.
Totally incompetent.
- SKBJ8 years agoExplorer | Level 4
Just an update on the situation to give what is fair. They did a rollback of the account and the 1066 files that were in there, are back as they were or at least those I checked so far. Helpdesk assisted promptly and for that I am grateful.
I was also informed ( I pass the info as I was given them), that the problem came from the Samsung synch with the Dropbox API.
Apparently, Samsung has released a "deep integration process that doesn't agree well with Dropbox" and Db advises against the auto-synch.
This is a bummer since I have been using the sync for the past 6 years on various Samsung phones without any issues, at the contrary it's proven very useful, besides to backing up pictures that I wouldn't be otherwise bothered to do, when my phone was stolen 3 years back, the auto-synch allowed me and ultimately the police to identify the thief and retrieve my phone.
I'm not a tech, so I have to take the information at face-value, I have deactivated the synch for Dropbox but will install it to another cloud that's not Dropbox.
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