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Forum Discussion

lament's avatar
lament
Explorer | Level 3
12 months ago

Proper procedure for re-linking (adopting) backed up external drive on a new computer?

Hi all,   I'm only backing up an external hard drive with Dropbox Backup. I wiped and reinstalled my Mac (Sonoma 14.2.1) and reinstalled Dropbox.   Dropbox has created a new backup of the externa...
Dropbox Backup
  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    12 months ago

    Hi lament, since you wiped and reinstalled the OS, this is considered a different device, so any backups made on the 'old' device will no longer work.

     

    You'll need to backup the external drive from scratch, and delete the old backup, since you're currently out of quota, to free up space. Currently, it isn't possible to merge two backups together in the way you're requesting.

Walter's avatar
Walter
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
12 months ago

Hi there Jason E.15 - sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

 

Could you please send me a screenshot of the app's exact status as shown in your menu bar at the moment?

 

Also, do you see one or two backups in your backups page? 

 

Let us know more and we'll take it from there, Jason. 

  • lament's avatar
    lament
    Explorer | Level 3
    12 months ago

    Hi Walter yes I have 2 backups shown. See attachments.

    • Jay's avatar
      Jay
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
      12 months ago

      Hi lament, since you wiped and reinstalled the OS, this is considered a different device, so any backups made on the 'old' device will no longer work.

       

      You'll need to backup the external drive from scratch, and delete the old backup, since you're currently out of quota, to free up space. Currently, it isn't possible to merge two backups together in the way you're requesting.

      • lament's avatar
        lament
        Explorer | Level 3
        12 months ago

        Jay I find it hard to believe that in 2024 you can't adopt a backup of an external drive that didn't change at all. That's a complete waste of time and resources having to re-upload, on both sides. I know it can be done with Backblaze because I've done it, so it's baffling you guys can't do this.

         

        I'm not backing up the new computer itself - I'm simply adopting an external backup that is already showing in my account. Why can't that backup be associated with this "new" device?

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