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mpjetst's avatar
mpjetst
Helpful | Level 6
2 years ago

Oops - running out of room on my initial sync.

I am setting up a new computer and syncing the files already on Dropbox from the previous computer. I failed to set one huge folder to online-only, and now I am running out of space on the new computer as it syncs.

 

When I realized this, I set that huge folder to online-only, but it appears it may be too late since it continues to eat hard drive space. I am letting the sync continue hoping that dropbox will (A) stop syncing the terabyte of files in that folder and (B) when it "hits the wall" on my new computer hard drive it will begin to eat into the files already transfered rather than come to a screeching halt.

 

Any insights or experience would be great. I found one post on this issue but the situation was different enough that the solution was useless to me. Thanks in advance!!

  • Megan, thanks for the quick reply. I'm wondering why Dropbox doesn't check for enough room on the destination before proceeding. Isn't this information available to Dropbox? Even a short reminder to the user would be better than just letting them jump off the cliff.

     

    No, my dropbox install halted with about 1 meg left on my hard drive. Fortunately, I was able to find a backup of the huge folder and delete it so I was not stuck. When I made room drobpox immediately resumed and began to make the offending folder "online-only" and the universe righted itself. All is good.

     

    In my case I have been a dropbox user for a long time and because it's so seamless and transparent (a good thing) I just forgot to check. That and KIDS were home that day.

     

    If you want a couple of suggestions (1) alert a user when the files to be downloaded exceed the available room and (2) offer an option to restore the legacy system between download destinations - the folder on my "old" computer was set to "online-only" so it never occurred to me that the move to another computer wouldn't carry over.

     

    Thanks again!

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

    Hey there, mpjetst, how are you today? 

     

    Can you clarify the app's current syncing status, along with the version you see there? 

     

    Provided the app is syncing files, you should be able to see the files decrease in the status. Can you check, and let me know if that's the case? 

     

    Any icons shown after you selected that folder to sync as online-only? 

     

    Let me know!

    • mpjetst's avatar
      mpjetst
      Helpful | Level 6

      Megan, thanks for the quick reply. I'm wondering why Dropbox doesn't check for enough room on the destination before proceeding. Isn't this information available to Dropbox? Even a short reminder to the user would be better than just letting them jump off the cliff.

       

      No, my dropbox install halted with about 1 meg left on my hard drive. Fortunately, I was able to find a backup of the huge folder and delete it so I was not stuck. When I made room drobpox immediately resumed and began to make the offending folder "online-only" and the universe righted itself. All is good.

       

      In my case I have been a dropbox user for a long time and because it's so seamless and transparent (a good thing) I just forgot to check. That and KIDS were home that day.

       

      If you want a couple of suggestions (1) alert a user when the files to be downloaded exceed the available room and (2) offer an option to restore the legacy system between download destinations - the folder on my "old" computer was set to "online-only" so it never occurred to me that the move to another computer wouldn't carry over.

       

      Thanks again!

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

        Hey mpjetst, thanks for the update here!

         

        I'm glad that, despite the hiccup, you were able to resolve this and continue syncing.

         

        I've made sure your comments are passed along to our team and if you need anything else, please let us know.