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Forum Discussion
Location is not available... the file or directory is corrupted and unreadable
I occasionally use an old Toshiba laptop with Windows 10. I tried to access some Word and PDF files in Dropbox from the C: drive and got the error message: "Dropbox is not accessible. The file or directory is corrupted or unreadable." The documents still exist on the Dropbox website and I can access and open them from my phone and another desktop we have at home, so the issue is with my laptop's C: drive.
I did not recently install any new software although an automatic Windows update occurred in the last 10 days or so. I tried to run DSKCHK, both scheduled and by manually rebooting so that it executed on StartUp, but it doesn't run.
Any suggestions?
Thanks.
- Jane
Dropbox Staff
Hi Jane, thanks for replying. I reinstalled Dropbox by temporarily disabling Norton anti-virus but no change other than DB version 52.4.58 is now installed. I can access my DB-saved files by going through the DB website or clicking on the icon in the taskbar but if I try going through its typical path on the C: drive hwre the docs were originally saved I get the "...not available...corrupted and unreadable" message. I right-clicked on the DB icon and used Microsoft's Troubleshoot Compatibility function but it hangs up when I try to test the settings using Windows 8 which is the default Windows version that appears. Windows 10 Home Edition was installed or updated on 5/24/18 and is what's installed now.
I don't believe any other apps or updates other than Windows happened in the last three weeks or so. The problem with accessing DB-saved files began last Thursday 6/14. It's worked perfectly ever since DB was first installed years ago.
It may be outside your domain but CHKDSK won't run when I schedule it for start-up so I can't use this feature to find out what the issue is. Any other ideas are appreciated.
Thanks, Steve
- Rich
Super User II
You disabled Norton for the reinstall, but have you temporarily disabled it and tested to see if the problem continues while it's disabled?
"Location is not available" (personal information removed) and "the file or directory is corrupted and unreadable" when accessing file in Windows 7.. Yet luckily I can still open the folder going through a browser to access Dropbox, open files, etc
Can you run any troubleshooting software to identify which file(s) in [personal information removed] are causing the issue? I tried to run something that said a bunch of Pandas were identifying the bad files but then a red rectangle appeared at the top saying the program had quit running. A little help please?
This is happening to me as well. Really need assistance. Thank you.
Did anyone get an answer to fixing this problem? Thanks!
Did anyone get an answer to fixing this problem? Thanks!
Chris G.12 wrote:
"Location is not available" (personal information removed) and "the file or directory is corrupted and unreadable" when accessing file in Windows 7.. Yet luckily I can still open the folder going through a browser to access Dropbox, open files, etc
Can you run any troubleshooting software to identify which file(s) in [personal information removed] are causing the issue? I tried to run something that said a bunch of Pandas were identifying the bad files but then a red rectangle appeared at the top saying the program had quit running. A little help please?
Hey there smarquina - welcome to the Forums!
What does your desktop app report when you mouse over the little Dropbox icon next to the clock? Can you give this tool a go to see if there are incompatible characters in your files' names? Note that this error is a generic Windows error and there are quie a few factors that could be causing it - you can run a quick google search to see all about it. Is it possible that you have moved your Dropbox Folder to an external drive? Is it on a supported file system with all the appropriate drivers ( NTFS should do the job for Windows computers)?
Note that a screenshot of the exact error you get is always helpful too. Hope this helps point you to the right direction and please let me know what you find!
Cheers!
