How to delete old Dropbox Update Logs

[gordon451]

Every so often Dropbox updates itself, which is good, mostly.  It also makes a log of its updates, which is good, mostly.

Unfortunately, I now have 1,994 old update logs on my C: drive, dating back to 24-07-2020, and every time I use a malware scanner every one of these logs is summoned to give evidence, which is not good, all the time.  I am able to trim the rubbish on other software collections, but Dropbox insists that only the owner can delete its logs, and won't tell me which entity is the owner.

FWIW, I've used Dropbox far longer than 4 years, and I was able to delete all logs dated prior to 24-07-2020 with no noticeable untoward catastrophes happening.

I would like to not only save time on the malware scans, but also put the 82.5 megabytes to better use.  Maybe we only need the last 5 logs as a fall-back measure?

So, who is the "owner"?  And, would taking ownership of 1,900 old logs injure the Dropbox install?

[Hannah]

Hi there, @gordon451, thanks for your post!

Would you mind sending us a screenshot of the message you see about the owner, so we can have a visual?

Thanks in advance.

[gordon451]

Thanks for getting back to me Hannah.

Screenshots:

Need Admin Permission

Unable to display Current Owner

Select User or Group

FWIW, I'm using Win7SP1 with a load of vcredists and late-ish .NET

PS: Shared links removed for security purposes per the Community's Guidelines]

[Walter]

Hey @gordon451 - sorry to jump in here, but could you attach the screenshots to your reply through the camera icon (insert photo) within your reply's box instead of sending us shared links to them? 

I'm also removing your shared links for security purposes, to avoid traffic/bandwidth issues etc. 

Also, did you install the Dropbox desktop app with admin privileges on your computer in the first place and are you logged in with admin rights when you try to do this? 

[gordon451]

Ah sorry 'bout the exposed links Walter.  On another forum I was having problems getting the thumbnails to work, and simply listing the share link worked perfectly.  However, when in Dropbox do as Dropbox... 🙂

Anyhoo, I actually cannot remember if I installed as Admin or not.  I've had this setup since 2012, so...  I'm pretty sure I would have installed as Admin, coming off of Win2K.  Maybe.  I am in Admin when I try to delete the excess logs, purely by habit now.

I should mention I have SuRun installed, but it should not be active in Admin, only in my LUA.

[gordon451]

Hi Walter - After some digging, yes I did install directly from my LUA, and my LUA user is listed as the owner for the Program Data > Dropbox > Update > Log folder chain.  However, i am NOT the owner of any of the current log files.

While I am the owner of the folder chain, for some reason all I have for permissions is something in "Special Permissions".

[Rich · Accepted solution]

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@gordon451 wrote:

...listed as the owner for the Program Data > Dropbox > Update > Log folder chain.  However, i am NOT the owner of any of the current log files.

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Change the owner of one of the folders above the logs to yourself (effectively not changing it at all) and set the option to replace the owner on all objects below.

[gordon451]

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@Rich wrote:

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Change the owner of one of the folders above the logs to yourself (effectively not changing it at all) and set the option to replace the owner on all objects below.

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Thanks cobber.  I decided to make it my administrative self so threat actors would have to negotiated elevated privileges, just to make their lives difficult.

The change was now easier than I thought it would be, and now all that remains is the 2024 YtD logs.  Beautiful.

I'll mark your post as the accepted solution.