You might see that the Dropbox Community team have been busy working on some major updates to the Community itself! So, here is some info on what’s changed, what’s staying the same and what you can expect from the Dropbox Community overall.

Forum Discussion

Dibrom's avatar
Dibrom
Helpful | Level 7
4 years ago

How to permanently stop the auto-backup of USB connected temp drives (W7)

How can I permanently configure DropBox to NOT try and backup every single USB drive I connect to the computer and thus depositing its little .dropbox.device file into the root folder without permiss...
Desktop
Setting up the apps
Megan's avatar
Megan
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
4 years ago
Hi Dibrom, I hope you're doing well! 

If you open your app's Preferences, and then click the Backups tab, do you see the settings there? 

If you don't want to set-up the new feature, you should click on 'Don't ask me again' and then 'Not now'. 

Thanks!
  • Dibrom's avatar
    Dibrom
    Helpful | Level 7
    4 years ago

    [quote]If you open your app's Preferences, and then click the Backups tab, do you see the settings there?[/quote]

    Yes

     

    [quote]If you don't want to set-up the new feature, you should click on 'Don't ask me again' and then 'Not now'.[/quote]

    and therein lies the problem. There is no option of "Don't ask me again" neither outside nor inside the Backups tab. Nowhere.

     

     

    • Megan's avatar
      Megan
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
      4 years ago
      Hey Dibrom, thanks for the screenshots! 

      Since you've unchecked the "external drive backups" box, do you still receive the message when connecting a drive? 
      • Dibrom's avatar
        Dibrom
        Helpful | Level 7
        4 years ago

        No  I don't, but that's not what is causing problems. Whenever a portable USB drive is connected (of which I have a very great many), Dropbox looks at it immediately upon connection and deposits its little .dropbox.device configuration analysis file into the root directory which sometimes causes file system corruption forcing a file system check to clear the lost chains that result. This is highly annoying, unnecessary and irritating. I want it to stop doing this so it doesn't permanently damage my drives.

About Apps and Installations

Have a question about a Dropbox app or installation? Reach out to the Dropbox Community and get solutions, help, and advice from members.

Need more support

If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X or Facebook.

For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.

If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!