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Forum Discussion
Unable to copy massive amount of files to Dropbox
Good morning!
I am writing this discussion because, recently, I bought the Plus plan in order to have 2TB of space. My intent was to use these 2TB to backup one of my hard disks, which approximately contains 900GB of files, and 1.2M of files.
However, I cannot find a way to copy all these files to Dropbox. Using the desktop app won't work: I've tried dragging/dropping the files to my Dropbox folder, but as soon as my OS (Windows 7) finishes detecting all the files to upload, it stops and does nothing else. No error messages. Just silence.
Using Dropbox on my web browser doesn't work, neither, as trying to upload the files causes it to crash.
Does anybody know how can I upload all these files to my Dropbox?
Cheers!
lglez wrote:
... My intent was to use these 2TB to backup one of my hard disks, ...Hi lglez,
First of all, keep in mind that Dropbox is NOT a backup service!!! That's why using it as such isn't best choice. Dropbox is a sync service. Of course, as far as there is storage space, the same service could be used for many different purposes (by the way, backup is one of). Indeed, all these additional functionalities are supplementary. Take this in mind! 😉
lglez wrote:
... I've tried dragging/dropping the files to my Dropbox folder, ...Using Dropbox on my web browser doesn't work, neither, as trying to upload the files causes it to crash.
...Unlike other cloud services applications, Dropbox application doesn't create virtual drive, where you can just drag and drop something! As I mentioned it's sync service, i.e. it syncs local content, the content of the Dropbox folder, nothing more. This could be considered bug, but seems Dropbox doesn't consider any change (take a look here). 🤷 So, when you drag something from one drive to Dropbox folder residing on another drive, keep in mind you are moving content between drives and this could leads to space limitations issue. That's why drag and drop is not best choice in your case!
About browser crash, check your browser or use some other. There is nothing to do with Dropbox. But browser usage isn't the most convenient way, though.
lglez wrote:
...Does anybody know how can I upload all these files to my Dropbox?
...As a workaround, you can move your Dropbox folder into the drive where you want to sync content from. After that, you can move your content there. As mentioned, everything within Dropbox folder gets in sync automatic. Once upload finished, you can free some space using "Selective Sync", for example, if you want to (or other similar technique). 😉
Hope this helps.
lglez wrote:
... My intent was to use these 2TB to backup one of my hard disks, ...Hi lglez,
First of all, keep in mind that Dropbox is NOT a backup service!!! That's why using it as such isn't best choice. Dropbox is a sync service. Of course, as far as there is storage space, the same service could be used for many different purposes (by the way, backup is one of). Indeed, all these additional functionalities are supplementary. Take this in mind! 😉
lglez wrote:
... I've tried dragging/dropping the files to my Dropbox folder, ...Using Dropbox on my web browser doesn't work, neither, as trying to upload the files causes it to crash.
...Unlike other cloud services applications, Dropbox application doesn't create virtual drive, where you can just drag and drop something! As I mentioned it's sync service, i.e. it syncs local content, the content of the Dropbox folder, nothing more. This could be considered bug, but seems Dropbox doesn't consider any change (take a look here). 🤷 So, when you drag something from one drive to Dropbox folder residing on another drive, keep in mind you are moving content between drives and this could leads to space limitations issue. That's why drag and drop is not best choice in your case!
About browser crash, check your browser or use some other. There is nothing to do with Dropbox. But browser usage isn't the most convenient way, though.
lglez wrote:
...Does anybody know how can I upload all these files to my Dropbox?
...As a workaround, you can move your Dropbox folder into the drive where you want to sync content from. After that, you can move your content there. As mentioned, everything within Dropbox folder gets in sync automatic. Once upload finished, you can free some space using "Selective Sync", for example, if you want to (or other similar technique). 😉
Hope this helps.
Oh, I see it clearer now. Thanks a lot 😄!
Still, I guess I'll have to manually select the files I want to move and sync to the Dropbox folder, since I actually have some programs installed in my 😧 drive, and moving them would cause them to break...
lglez wrote:
...Still, I guess I'll have to manually select the files I want to move and sync to the Dropbox folder, since I actually have some programs installed in my 😧 drive, and moving them would cause them to break...
Hi lglez,
As a workaround, you can set symbolic links on the places where previous folders where residing on, pointing to the new (actual) place in Dropbox folder. In such a way, your programs can find out whatever needed and wont break. 😉
Good luck.
