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Forum Discussion
Move Dropbox folder to removable drive?
I have an Intel Compute Stick with very little storage on the device itself. I tried to move my Dropbox folder to a microSD card installed in my Intel Compute Stick but I got an error message from Dropbox because the microSD card is removable. Is there any way of overriding this, so that I can put my Dropbox folder on my microSD card?
I had been searching and I found this. Just did it and it works perfectly. http://copytaste.com/io8211xb
Dropbox on a Thumb Drive
1. You can have your Dropbox folder on removable media (a flash/thumb drive) on Windows. If you have a flash/thumb drive, you will first need to mount it. This is done by:
a. Control panel --> Administrative Tools --> Computer Management --> Storage --> Disk Management
b. Right click on the flash/thumb drive, select Change Drive Letter and Paths…
c. Select add, then select Mount in the following empty NTFS folder, browse to your C:, select New Folder…
d. Name the folder "DB Mount", click OK, click OK, click OK. Close Computer Management.
e. You can now access your flash/thumb drive through its removable storage location (drive letter) or through the mounted location (C: DB Mount). Dropbox requires a local drive (the mounted volume).
2. Download Dropbox at: https://www.dropbox.com/install (You will have to signup for an account if you don't already have one).
3. If you have a flash/thumb drive, install Dropbox to the mounted drive in C:, named DB Mount. Select the this as the location for your Dropbox directory.
I had been searching and I found this. Just did it and it works perfectly. http://copytaste.com/io8211xb
Dropbox on a Thumb Drive
1. You can have your Dropbox folder on removable media (a flash/thumb drive) on Windows. If you have a flash/thumb drive, you will first need to mount it. This is done by:
a. Control panel --> Administrative Tools --> Computer Management --> Storage --> Disk Management
b. Right click on the flash/thumb drive, select Change Drive Letter and Paths…
c. Select add, then select Mount in the following empty NTFS folder, browse to your C:, select New Folder…
d. Name the folder "DB Mount", click OK, click OK, click OK. Close Computer Management.
e. You can now access your flash/thumb drive through its removable storage location (drive letter) or through the mounted location (C: DB Mount). Dropbox requires a local drive (the mounted volume).
2. Download Dropbox at: https://www.dropbox.com/install (You will have to signup for an account if you don't already have one).
3. If you have a flash/thumb drive, install Dropbox to the mounted drive in C:, named DB Mount. Select the this as the location for your Dropbox directory.This worked perfectly on my micro SD card. Follow instructions exactly as posted. Thanks again Adam.
Thank you Adam! Awesome!
Dropbox is useless crap because of this restriction. I don't want shady workarounds, I want a built in option that lets me freely choose a location on any removable drive. It's just remarkable that Dropbox still exists. I have seen much better applications come and go.
Oh and btw, those ever popping up badge notifications are annoying af. I don't give a **bleep** about your badges.
Nice one!
I Have the same problem with my Acer 2 in 1. I use it when I travel to share pics. All drives except the C-drive is is theoretically removable - so why pick on flash drives - the main drive in my netbook is a flash drive.
It really ought to be up to us users, as long as we have been warned. I have dropbox on my pc at home which is my main repository - just need to be able to upload pictures and send links to other people so they can view them while I m still on the road.
Maybe I am using the wrong tool? Any suggestions?
unacceptable... dropbox needs to fix this NOW
Ebbe J. wrote:I Have the same problem with my Acer 2 in 1. I use it when I travel to share pics. All drives except the C-drive is is theoretically removable - so why pick on flash drives - the main drive in my netbook is a flash drive.
It really ought to be up to us users, as long as we have been warned. I have dropbox on my pc at home which is my main repository - just need to be able to upload pictures and send links to other people so they can view them while I m still on the road.
Maybe I am using the wrong tool? Any suggestions?
I was able to move my Dropbox to an external hard drive, a USB Western Digital Passport Ultra, 2TB. What doesn't work is a MicroSD card. In order to avoid problems:
1. In 'Preferences' in the Windows Dropbox desktop program, set Dropbox NOT to start with Windows. This allows the USB external hard drive to start when you start your Windows computer and then be recognized by Windows. Start Dropbox manually.
2. If you are concerned about overwriting or losing files, Dropbox offers an add-on under which deleted files and versions are kept for 1 year.
3. Boxcryptor works well as a front-end to encrypt files in Dropbox on the fly, even encrypting file names. Once Dropbox is up and running, I start my Boxcryptor and Windows sees the Boxcryptor-encrypted files in Dropbox as local files on drive X:thank you Adam! if you are ever in CT i'll buy you a beer!
- Rich
Super User II
Remember, Dropbox does not support external, networked or removable drives. While it can work, data loss has been known to occur when storing your Dropbox folder on such a drive. Make sure you have a good backup of your data because if it happens to you, Dropbox will not be able to help you.
Adam, thanks - worked a treat!
Folks, remember to pause syncing in the Dropbox app if you ever even consider removing your card from the PC.
- Mark
data loss could occur only on that device I used this trick or it would affect my whole dropbox cloud storage so that my other devices on which I have dropbox would have data losses too?
As Dropbox is linked to all other devices the data loss replicates across the cloud and then all other linked devices. In some cases it will also remove the data from the disconnected drive when/if its reconnected.
Alexis G.1Super User
Mark is right.
Years ago when I was a newbie with Dropbox, I installed a Non-Supported Portable Dropbox app for testing in my wife profile in my computer. Something happens and I lost about 27,000 files.
Thanks God Support help me reverting back the event so I get my files back. I never ever used non supported solutions in my life since this scenario.
External drives and Network shares are not supported.
The good news is some NAS devices like Synology includes the Dropbox app so you can sync your NAS servers with Dropbox as well. A great solution for home network and even small to medium business.
Frankly, this should be a no-brainer feature. If I choose to use "external media" for drop-box it's incumbent on ***ME*** the user.
In my case, I use a Microsoft Surface Pro. The drive in it is only 256GB. I have a 200GB SDCard, which never leaves the computer.
I have tried to use the create a folder, and mount into the folder as a way to bypass this, but I also use this drive to redirect downloads, documents, desktop, etc. and it hasn't been stable for this, so instead I use D:\ for those, and would like to do the same for a folder called D:\username\Dropbox just like I have for D:\username\Desktop or D:\username\Videos.
It should be a simple checkbox, where I deliberately select to use an external drive and accept the risks associated, rather than being forced into using my C: drive.
It's not uncommon nowadays to have users with computers that have a limited SSD drive for their boot, programs, etc. and a D:\ that is a microSD card for their file share data, of which DropBox would be included.
If I can't get DropBox to work for me in this very basic way, I will find an alternative that works for me. Not that DB is going to miss my 99$ a year, but I am sure that users like me make up 1 - 2 % of potential users, which is an income stream they are missing out on.
Trever M. wrote:Frankly, this should be a no-brainer feature. If I choose to use "external media" for drop-box it's incumbent on ***ME*** the user.
In my case, I use a Microsoft Surface Pro. The drive in it is only 256GB. I have a 200GB SDCard, which never leaves the computer.
I have tried to use the create a folder, and mount into the folder as a way to bypass this, but I also use this drive to redirect downloads, documents, desktop, etc. and it hasn't been stable for this, so instead I use D:\ for those, and would like to do the same for a folder called D:\username\Dropbox just like I have for D:\username\Desktop or D:\username\Videos.
It should be a simple checkbox, where I deliberately select to use an external drive and accept the risks associated, rather than being forced into using my C: drive.
It's not uncommon nowadays to have users with computers that have a limited SSD drive for their boot, programs, etc. and a D:\ that is a microSD card for their file share data, of which DropBox would be included.
If I can't get DropBox to work for me in this very basic way, I will find an alternative that works for me. Not that DB is going to miss my 99$ a year, but I am sure that users like me make up 1 - 2 % of potential users, which is an income stream they are missing out on.
You sir are absolutely correct. It's now 2019 and this ridiculous restriction is still in place. Dropbox is currently being ininstalled as I type this.
The formatting on this website is absolutely ridiculous also. I replied to a specific post but this website placed my reply right at the very end of the comments where it made no sense. I had to go back and manually use quote tags after manually copying and pasting what I was replying to. Only to now find I cant delete the original reply which this site placed randomly at the end LOL....but if I edit said reply, this site is aware exactly which comment I replied to...but yet doesnt display it LOL....staggering, absolutely staggering.
Unfortunately I get a message that "This folder is on a device that does not have enough free space"...
Any workaround?
