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Forum Discussion
I get an error message that Windows System Restore failed?
Hi
When I run Windows System Restore it fails with this error message
System Restore failed to replace the file (D:\Users\*******\Dropbox\.dropbox.cache\qebcobkqbgbzfynfuwbof\placeholder.bat) wit...
Hi everyone,
We're testing out some changes in v182 (currently in beta) that should hopefully help with this. Let us know if you continue to run into problems.
Thanks
I am adding one more step to a post I made a few months ago. I know this is NOT a "Fix" for this issue, particularly if you are experiencing system problems. However, it may save those of you, for whom Dropbox is critical, in the future... as it saved me. The only thing that has worked for me is to Shut Down Dropbox, BEFORE creating a System Restore Point, as follows:
1. Exit Dropbox using the SysTray icon (drop-down your picture at the top right.
2. Run the Windows "Services" Manager
3. STOP the "DbxSvc" ("Dropbox Service")
4. STOP the "Dropbox Update Service (dbupdate)" service
5. STOP the "Dropbox Update Service (dbupdatem)" service
6. Create Restore Point
7. START the Dropbox Services
8. Click "Start", type "Dropbox" & hit Enter to start the Dropbox APP
After doing this, I was able to do a Restore based on that Restore Point. I haven't tried to create a Batch File for this yet.
Now, Having said that... I received an eMail from Dropbox Tech Support, but I have NOT had time to test her suggestions. I am posting it here in case some of you would like to try it. Please let us know if you DO try the following suggestions and whether it works or not.
Hi Jacob, Thanks for your patience. My name is Maddison, and I work in the Dropbox Advanced Support team. As I understand it you're getting a Dropbox-related error message when doing a system restore. I would recommend using the steps below to clear the cache. This won't affect or remove the files in your Dropbox folder and will also free up space in your hard drive. 1) Stop Dropbox: • Click on the Dropbox icon • Click on your profile picture or initials to the right of the search bar, and select "Exit Dropbox" 2) Next, carefully follow the instructions here: https://www.dropbox.com/help/328 3) Restart Dropbox: • Run from Start > All Programs menu. If the problem persists, please remove the Dropbox cache folder completely. This involves following the steps stated above to clear the cache folder, but this time try by fully deleting the main .dropbox.cache folder instead of deleting just its contents. If you're still unable to perform the restore, please let me know. Regards, Maddison
Best regards,
Jacob
In regards to the above Message, Removing Files or folders from your Dropbox Will not help the situation. That's what Dropbox has been saying since the beginning and if you read the full thread here you'll see that it does not work. Reading the entire thread you'll see the only thing that has been foolproof for people Is Creating another partition on your Hard drive for your Dropbox Folder . Exclude that entire Partition from Automatic system backups And you should be fine.
Lokiwuh,
Thank you for the clarification, reminder, and suggestion. I haven't created another partition for various reasons. These include lack of space on my SSD, which means I would have to back up well over 120GB, then delete them all and restore them to the new partition. Then, Dropbox would have to re-upload ALL the files, since they're in a different location. However, I have ordered a new laptop, and I may end up doing this anyway before moving everything over to it. Thanks again!
I received a "quasi-tip" from someone at Carbonite that pointed me in a strange direction. Because I am in the middle of an incredibly critical and time-sensitive project, I cannot test it now. But, just in case someone has the ability to try it, here it is. Now, if the keys "FilesNotToBackup" or "FilesNotToSnapShot" do not exist, simply create them.
1. Start "Regedit"
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\BackupRestore\FilesNotToBackup
3. Add a Multi-string value with the Dropbox directorya. Right-Click in the window on right-side
b. Select New
c. Select Multi-string value
3. Give the value a descriptive name, like "Dropbox"
4. Double-click the value to open the value editor5. Enter the following string: %UserProfile%\Dropbox\*.* /s
(NOTE: This means to ignore all files inside the "C:\Users\{yourusername}\Dropbox" directory and Subdirectories.)
6. Click OK to close.
7. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\BackupRestore\FilesNotToSnapshot8. Follow the above steps 2 thru 6 for this key.
9. Close Regedit
10. Create a System Restore Point
11. Try to System Restore to the point you just created.
Please let us know if you were able to test this.
Good Luck & Best regards,
Jacob
I have had an opportunity to test my suggestion from a while back. This seems to work well going forward.
1. Start "Regedit"
2. Navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\BackupRestore\FilesNotToBackup
3. Add a Multi-string value with the Dropbox directorya. Right-Click in the window on right-side
b. Select New
c. Select Multi-string value
4. Give the value a descriptive name, like "Dropbox"
5. Double-click the value to open the value editor6. Enter the following string: %UserProfile%\Dropbox\*.* /s
(NOTE: This means to ignore all files inside the "C:\Users\{yourusername}\Dropbox" directory and Subdirectories.)
7. Press ENTER
8. Click OK to close.
9. Now, navigate to:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\BackupRestore\FilesNotToSnapshot
10. REPEAT the above steps 3 thru 8 for this key.
11. Close Regedit
Then, to test if it works,
1. Create a System Restore Point
2. Try to System Restore to the point you just created.
Good Luck & Best regards,
Jacob
