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Forum Discussion
What is .dropbox.device?
Hello!
I found a hidden file called .dropbox.device on a disk partition of one of my internal hard drives.
Can someone please demystify this file for me? I would like to know exactly what...
usrx wrote:
I found a hidden file called .dropbox.device on a disk partition of one of my internal hard drives. Can someone please demystify this file for me?
It's used to identify a device and remember settings you've specified for it, such as for camera uploads, and whether you've told Dropbox to import files or never ask to import again, etc. It's not just for external drives, meaning externally attached, drives. It could appear on any drive you've added to the system. It can be ignored.
I found evidence earlier today that supports the idea that it's the automatic upload feature of Dropbox that keeps adding these files. I was transferring some photos from a memory card of my DSLR camera to my computer when I got this prompt from Dropbox on Windows, asking me if I would like to import these photos to Dropbox, with the additional option to "include videos for all devices" (a permanent setting hidden within the dialog box for a one-off and device specific event, sneaky!).
I selected "Never for this device" and deselected "include videos" checkbox. Then I noticed a new file popped up in the folder on the memory card, with current date and time stamp, and it was named ".dropbox.device".
It kept coming up for all the memory cards I kept inserting in the card reader. One way to get away from this annoying prompt is to disable AutoPlay for memory cards in Windows system settings, or to set it to something else, some other app, something other than Dropbox. It can't be set within Dropbox itself, but there is a link within the Dropbox settings to bring up the right page for Windows system settings. I have set it to "Take no action" on my computer. Time will tell if this is enough. I don't use Dropbox to backup my computer, so I wish it was possible to disable the whole Backup section directly within Dropbox settings.
