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Forum Discussion
Dropbox stopped executing, restarted it and I can't specify my Dropbox folder
For some unknown reason, Dropbox stopped running on my laptop. I restarted it and it behaved like it had just been freshly installed - it had me sign in, but when I checked the location of the dropbox file it was set to c:\Users\Ross (I had it set to the root of C:). I went to settings and tried to change the location to c:\ it reported "There is already a Dropbox folder at that location" (because that's where I had it before the crash), so I was prevented from changing it.
So I uninstalled and reinstalled Dropbox. No change to behaviour. So I'm now in this situation:
- A fresh install of dropbox connected to my 2Tb of storage on the cloud.
- Dropbox trying to sync that 2Tb to an (empty) folder at c:\Users\Ross\Dropbox
- The original folder at c:\Dropbox with all my files in it, no longer getting sync'ed because Dropbox won't let me tell it that's where my files are.
I really need to climb out of this hole in a way that doesn't involve downloading the entire fileset again, and preferably allows me to put the dropbox folder back to the root of c: again. One method I thought of might be:
- Pause syncing
- rename my original existing Dropbox folder out of the way, so C:\Dropbox becomes c:\Dropbox-Original
- Go into dropbox settings and move the Dropbox folder from c:\Users\Ross\Dropbox to c:\Dropbox (which it presumably will now permit me to do)
- move the contents of c:\Dropbox-Original to C:\Dropbox
- Enable sync
Any comments or advice appreciated.
Hey rossmcm, thanks for updating us on the issue.
Just before we send you an email about this, can you try these steps and let me know if they work for you or if you're having an issue?
1. Uninstall the Dropbox app, if it's installed.
2. Rename your original Dropbox folder to "Dropbox (old)" or similar.
3. Reinstall Dropbox and select the location that you want for the Dropbox folder.
4. When the installation is finished, Dropbox will immediately start to sync, so pause syncing or exit the Dropbox app.
5. Move only the contents of "Dropbox (old)" into the newly created Dropbox folder.6. When the move is complete, and not before, resume syncing or re-launch Dropbox.
- Jay
Dropbox Staff
Hi rossmcm, thanks for bringing this to our attention.
You can have the Dropbox desktop application detect the Dropbox folder by performing an advanced reinstallation, and during the installation, choose the advanced settings, to select the location of your old Dropbox folder.
Make sure to select the parent folder (which should be C: for you), and it should detect the old folder. It will need to reindex it to check for file changes, but it wouldn't need to redownload all the files.
Keep me updated with any progress!
Thanks Jay. I found a post from Rich that details a sequence that doesn't involve all those registry tweaks. Also I was using Ninite to re-install and I wasn't offered the advanced reinstallation, so maybe I'll start again using the Dropbox.com install.
I'm sort of in a half-way no-mans land now.
- I uninstalled Dropbox
- Renamed C:\Dropbox to Dropbox-old
- Installed it with Ninite
- Paused Sync
- Went into Settings and moved it from C:\users\Ross to C:\
That's when I read your reply, so currently, I have:
- Dropbox sync is paused
- my original files are still at C:\Dropbox-Old
- My newly moved folder at C:\Dropbox
By the time I paused sync Dropbox had created a few of the folders in the root, but no files apart from a few desktop.ini's.
Before I saw your post I was poised to move the contents of c:\Dropbox-old to c:\Dropbox and stand well clear. Are those registry mods necessary in my case? If they are, then Rich's post is a little incomplete.
So what is the suggestion at this point? Uninstall again and follow the advanced install instructions?
Many thanks for the assistance.
