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Pale_Pilgrim's avatar
Pale_Pilgrim
New member | Level 2
6 years ago

I got a message about renaming my Dropbox Folder upon re-installing. Any ideas?

I had to uninstall and reinstall dropbox on my work laptop due to some syncing issues. At the end of the reinstall process I got a message saying "There's already a folder named Dropbox(Company Name). Dropbox will rename your existing folder named Dropbox (Company Name) to finish installing" I got the option to "Choose Another Location" or "Rename" I have no idea what to do here. Will selecting either option result in access issues to the company folder?

  • Hey there Pale_Pilgrim  - how are you today?

     

    From what I understand you performed a re-install of our software on your computer and you're now trying to relink your account to the desktop app. 

    Kindly note that the Dropbox folder itself is still there even after uninstalling and since you're relinking the same account, the application detects that another Dropbox folder already exists on the computer, and gives you two options: 'Choose Another Location' in case you'd like to move your Dropbox Folder to another location or 'Rename' (since there's already a folder with the same name). 

     

    If you want your new Dropbox folder to be in a location different than your existing folder, click on 'Choose Another Location'.

     

    If you wish to re-install the Dropbox software and you do not want to re-download all of your files from the server, you need to choose the "Advanced" setup option during the installation process and then choose the parent folder of the existing Dropbox folder as the location for this new install.

     

    For example, if your old Dropbox folder was added to: C:\Desktop\Dropbox you would need to choose C:\Desktop and the client will try and create a new Dropbox folder. If you're connecting with the same Dropbox account as before, our desktop app should detect the existing folder and then prompt you to merge the Dropbox folder. Upon merging the desktop version of Dropbox will check the existing files and the server versions and update accordingly.

     

    Please do note that any changes made to the files in the Dropbox folder or on the web interface while the folder was "offline" will generate conflicted copies.

     

    I hope this helps and please let me know if you have any more questions!

  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

    Hey there Pale_Pilgrim  - how are you today?

     

    From what I understand you performed a re-install of our software on your computer and you're now trying to relink your account to the desktop app. 

    Kindly note that the Dropbox folder itself is still there even after uninstalling and since you're relinking the same account, the application detects that another Dropbox folder already exists on the computer, and gives you two options: 'Choose Another Location' in case you'd like to move your Dropbox Folder to another location or 'Rename' (since there's already a folder with the same name). 

     

    If you want your new Dropbox folder to be in a location different than your existing folder, click on 'Choose Another Location'.

     

    If you wish to re-install the Dropbox software and you do not want to re-download all of your files from the server, you need to choose the "Advanced" setup option during the installation process and then choose the parent folder of the existing Dropbox folder as the location for this new install.

     

    For example, if your old Dropbox folder was added to: C:\Desktop\Dropbox you would need to choose C:\Desktop and the client will try and create a new Dropbox folder. If you're connecting with the same Dropbox account as before, our desktop app should detect the existing folder and then prompt you to merge the Dropbox folder. Upon merging the desktop version of Dropbox will check the existing files and the server versions and update accordingly.

     

    Please do note that any changes made to the files in the Dropbox folder or on the web interface while the folder was "offline" will generate conflicted copies.

     

    I hope this helps and please let me know if you have any more questions!

    • Pale_Pilgrim's avatar
      Pale_Pilgrim
      New member | Level 2

      Thank you Walter, this helps.

      When I was doing the reinstall I didn't select the advanced option. Is it possible to go back and start again?

      Will it work if i exit the install program at this point, go through the uninstall process again and then re-install using the advanced option?

      • Walter's avatar
        Walter
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

        Yes, in this case I'd suggest that you did Pale_Pilgrim!

        Keep me posted on your progress please. 

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