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Forum Discussion

David C.118's avatar
David C.118
Explorer | Level 4
8 years ago

Dual booting with shared DB drive possible?

I am looking in to buying a new laptop and will need to dual boot Windows and Ubuntu.  I am planning three SSD's - one for Windows, one for Ubuntu and one as a shared data drive. Is it possible to...
Desktop
Linux
Sync
Windows
  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    8 years ago

    It's very possible, just not supported or recommended.

    Install Dropbox and use the Advanced Options to specify the location for your Dropbox folder. Allow it to sync completely. Boot into the other operating system and install Dropbox, again using Advanced Options to specify the same Dropbox folder. Dropbox will index your files when the installation is complete, but shouldn't need to sync anything unless there have been changes (though it may appear to be syncing, just let it work).

    It is extremely important that you DO NOT USE SELECTIVE SYNC from either operating system when running in this configuration. If you do, you WILL lose files.

    I would also suggest never booting into the other operating system until you're certain that the current one is fully synced. Also, as always, keep your own backups of your data.

Jane's avatar
Jane
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

Hey David C.118,  

I'd be glad to send over some relevant information. 

Please be aware that in order for for Dropbox to work seamlessly, we recommend that only one user account accesses a given Dropbox folder, and that this folder is located on the main drive of your computer or on a drive that is physically connected to the computer. To my mind, it would be better to avoid creating a link to the Dropbox folder, since this may create unexpected behavior and, in some cases, result in file loss. 

Please reference this resource to see more details about it. 

I hope this helps you clarify! Please let me know if there's anything else I could do to help. 

Thanks!
catoir's avatar
catoir
Explorer | Level 4
7 years ago

I was wondering if and how I could suggest DB to implement dual boot as an actual polished feature for those applicable. 

It is redundant, and in cases with large DBs, quite wasteful to contain all the same files on one computer 2x. Please, Please and thankyou!

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