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Forum Discussion

Rod-F's avatar
Rod-F
Explorer | Level 3
6 years ago

If I can, how do I fix the Access is denied error message?

Over the weekend I installed the May 2019 update to Windows 10. For the most part, it's been fine. The only issue I'm having is with Dropbox. Every time I log into Windows on my home desktop, I get an error message from Dropbox telling to look at a .txt file. I've looked at it and here's the error its giving me:

PermissionError: [WinError 5] Access is denied: 'C:\Users\Rod\AppData\Local\Dropbox'

Looking at the error I can immediately see what the problem is. After the update, there IS no "'C:\Users\Rod\" on my machine. Well, technically there is, but its empty. Unless I'm mistaken, for whatever reason, the May 2019 to Windows 10 has migrated all of my personal information from "'C:\Users\Rod\" to "'C:\Users\Rod.000\". Again, technically the problem isn't so much a permissions issue as it is a "folder not found" issue. Dropbox's error is wrong.

But let's leave that aside for the time being; how do I fix this problem? Is there a registry key I should edit? Or should I simply uninstall Dropbox and re-install it?

  • Hey there Rod-F - sorry to hear you're having issues with our desktop app.

    At first, could you let me know if you've restarted your computer since you first got this error? 

    If you did and the error persists, please make sure that's there no antivirus that could be causing this (you can disable them temporarily).

    If everything else fails, you can go ahead and re-install our software.

    Let me know the results!

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

    Hey there Rod-F - sorry to hear you're having issues with our desktop app.

    At first, could you let me know if you've restarted your computer since you first got this error? 

    If you did and the error persists, please make sure that's there no antivirus that could be causing this (you can disable them temporarily).

    If everything else fails, you can go ahead and re-install our software.

    Let me know the results!

  • Cheayol's avatar
    Cheayol
    Explorer | Level 3

    Hello~:grinning:

    1. Check Event Log for any Errors:

    • Tap Win key + R to open the Run window. Now, type “eventvwr” and tap Enter.
    • Hit Windows Logs as well as System.
    • Find the errors if any! There will be a red exclamation mark at the end if there are any errors.
    • Simply check the information in details.

    Then start Command Prompt as Administrator:

    • Tap the Start button, go to All Programs, and tap Accessories.
    • Simply Right-click on Command prompt, and again tap on Run as administrator.
    • When the User Account Control box comes up, confirm it, and tap Continue.

    2. Or you can Get Rid of Write Protection on Hard Drive:

    • Go to Start and tap on the “Run” option.
    • Type “regedit” into the command box.
    • Now, go to this path: “ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies”
    • After that, double click on the “WriteProtect” key and get the value changed to zero.

    If this error causes data loss issues, you'd better retrieve the data first. You can try Bitwar Data Recovery if needed.

    Good luck.:grin:

  • stephmacd's avatar
    stephmacd
    New member | Level 2

    I'm getting the error on startup "Couldn't start Dropbox".

    I've looked at the error log and it would seem that my local profile has become corrupted at some point and Windows has created a new profile for me, Steph.000, but Dropbox is still looking for the path C:\\Users\\Steph\\AppData\\Local\\Dropbox\\instance1 which no longer exists. I've pasted the error log file below. How do I get Dropbo to recognise the new user path C:\\Users\\Steph.000?

     

    bn.BUILD_KEY: Dropbox
    bn.VERSION: 94.4.384
    bn.constants.WINDOWS_SHELL_EXT_VERSION: 37
    bn.is_frozen: True
    machine_id: 13dd3f1d-9ecd-4852-8cbf-1cbc1d0df783
    pid: 1560
    cwd: 'C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Dropbox\\Client'
    real_path='C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Dropbox\\Client'
    mode=0o40777 uid=0 gid=0
    parent mode=0o40777 uid=0 gid=0
    HOME: None
    appdata: 'C:\\Users\\Steph\\AppData\\Local\\Dropbox\\instance1'
    real_path='C:\\Users\\Steph\\AppData\\Local\\Dropbox\\instance1'
    not found
    parent not found
    dropbox_path: 'C:\\Users\\Steph\\Dropbox'
    real_path='C:\\Users\\Steph\\Dropbox'
    not found
    parent mode=0o40777 uid=0 gid=0
    sys_executable: 'C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Dropbox\\Client\\Dropbox.exe'
    real_path='C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Dropbox\\Client\\Dropbox.exe'
    mode=0o100777 uid=0 gid=0
    parent mode=0o40777 uid=0 gid=0
    trace.__file__: 'C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Dropbox\\Client\\94.4.384\\python-packages.zip\\dropbox\\client\\ui\\common\\boot_error.pyc'
    real_path='C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Dropbox\\Client\\94.4.384\\python-packages.zip\\dropbox\\client\\ui\\common\\boot_error.pyc'
    not found
    parent not found
    TMP: C:\Users\Steph.000\AppData\Local\Temp
    TEMP: C:\Users\Steph.000\AppData\Local\Temp
    tempdir: 'C:\\Users\\Steph.000\\AppData\\Local\\Temp'
    real_path='C:\\Users\\Steph.000\\AppData\\Local\\Temp'
    mode=0o40777 uid=0 gid=0
    parent mode=0o40777 uid=0 gid=0
    Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "dropbox\client\main.pyc", line 8039, in main_startup
    File "dropbox\client\main.pyc", line 3283, in run
    File "dropbox\client\main.pyc", line 1754, in startup_low
    File "dropbox\client\main.pyc", line 1306, in safe_makedirs
    File "dropbox\overrides.pyc", line 212, in makedirs
    File "dropbox\overrides.pyc", line 225, in makedirs
    PermissionError: [WinError 5] Access is denied: 'C:\\Users\\Steph\\AppData\\Local\\Dropbox'