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Forum Discussion
all 'FILE EXPLORER' FILE icons flashing whenever dropbox is running
As of today drop box is causing the file icons in ANY/ALL open explorer windows to flash constantly between the correct icon image and the default windows 'no icon' icon.
if i KILL the dropbox proc...
I feel this does seem to be a problem with big accounts and Windows 10... I have about 800GB in Dropbox, but only have maybe 40GB selectively synced on this particular Windows device. Dropbox.exe is constantly refreshing these icons and taking up a minimum of 5% CPU, even when paused. I can barely use File Explorer if Dropbox is running. This is a top of the line Dell Precision 5520 with 16GB of RAM and an SSD. I have a 2011 MacBook Pro with basically the same Dropbox setup and it doesn't have any performance problems.
I can't imagine this is a problem on smaller accounts, or they would have done something about it by now.
Really a bummer. I've been a Dropbox customer for 10+ years (paid for most of that), have always loved it, but I'm about to have to jump ship. It really just does not scale to store this much data, I guess. This is combined with the constant nightmare of SmartSync screwing stuff up, and the inability to fully disable it. Good times.
We continue to use Dropbox, but I no longer work with a local folder, which is more of a pain in the butt, and was the reason we migrated to Dropbox in the first place. As soon as the problem starts affecting the boss, I guarantee you we will have to migrate away. He's not going to understand why he has to download a document, modify it, then upload it again (we were doing that with our old system). This seems like such an easy problem that could have been solved.
I have been having the flashing or blinking icons in File Explorer for several months now. I have reached out to Dropbox Support and have reloaded and clean installed etc. to no avail. I have also sent them videos of the screen. As other have reported I have the idential issue on three computers, quite high end specs, two laptops and a desktop, all Windows 10 Pro and different ages but completely up-to-date. I have 330,000 files (many photos) and 1.2TB of data in Dropbox. I have virtually all folders as Local on the desktop, and selected folders as Local on the laptops. If I am oganising files and folders the only way I can manage this and stay sane is to exit from Dropbox, and then restart it when I've finished those tasks. After exiting Dropbox everything is fine.
As I have decided I want all my data in the cloud, and selected Dropbox for this, it is very disappointing that this issue continues with no real support from the Dropbox developers it would seem. All my interactions with customer support have been the "try this" stuff, although it has apparently been sent to the techs, but no response. Maybe they're all working on new features! However, as others have commented, it really is a showstopper and I'm now also looking at OneDrive.
> This is a request to allow users to disable the overlays:
>
>
> IMPORTANT: there's a box on that page "vote for this idea" - go vote for it and maybe +1 the thread to give the problem more visibility.
pepehands, while they're at it, maybe they could even give us a third option for the icon overlays:
- constantly flickering icon overlays (classic mode)
- disable icon overlays
- properly functioning icon overlays
- This is really unacceptable, Dropbox... I think I started using your product when it was still in beta, and I used the free version until few months ago when I decided to go all-in and put ALL my files there.
And I hit this wall... which has been there for so long!
What about a simple "preference" for excluding the icons?
Or the (nicer) OneDrive approach?
I'll try the registry hack but I feel it may be the time to go Microsoft.. such a pity. - No, I did not open a ticket since it is very clear that the problem has not been solved.
I don't have time to lose with useless-proven things like unomstalling and reinstalling.
Sorry mate. - Sounds like the too-often quoted definition of insanity... Repeating the same action over and over and expecting a different outcome.
On a related note, it's like coming to the Dropbox Community over and over and expecting to get any help at all. Insanity. Please send me a magic link too... BUT just don't expect me to click it.
I've already raced round and round the "tech support" tree for days on end with ever increasing time consuming requests to "stand on my head and spit nickles" without any real help.
Jeez, this has been reported by dozens of users and probably affects hundreds of users and has been experimented on by tech support with NO PROGRESS since first reported.
Are you going to tell us poor suffering end users that you have actually fixed ANY user's problems with blinking icons in all the years it's been reported? If you have, then POST THE SOLUTION HERE... and otherwise, how about tech support SOLVE THE PROBLEM inhouse, and then post the product with necessary improvements to ALL USERS who have wasted hours and been frustrated by this DEFECT for month after month after month.
We all envy your lack of soul-crushing icon overlay refreshing.
It happens on multiple machines, very different specs.
It's clearly a conflict - and clearly doesn't happen on every system (because Dropbox employees would have fixed it by now).
The problem is Dropbox takes no action in resolving it, but rather runs us through hoops to do testing that is their responsibility. It could, and likely is, technically, 'caused' by a conflict with some other software - but this is something Dropbox is PAID to find through TESTING - and RESOLVE BEFORE shipping and charging customers for broken features.
And yes, I am shouting (not at you, or even support) because it makes me angry to be treated as a beta tester and patronized by a company that gives it's support staff (with whom I sympathize - support is not the problem here) inadequate guidance - and they are left to mindlessly run us all through a list of 'fixes' that waste even more of our collective time.
Just read through the thread. This is a ridiculous problem, inexcusably handled. And, honestly, quite simply resolved - for those who have the problems -- at the very least, allow users to DISABLE the feature and get on with our lives.
Until then, we either suffer, move on or hack our registries, and Drobox becomes more of a curse word than a trusted brand.
clevercrow1 Thought you moved to OneDrive 4x weeks ago? Or was that clevercrow ? I so, why do you keep on posting here using CAPITAL LETTERS that some people can interperate as SHOUTING?
I use Dropbox and Dropbox Business on 3x different computers. All the latest versions of Dropbox (Beta) and Windows 10. No Explorer icons flickering. Did it occur to you that it could be related to the hardware you are using? My Surface laptop is 2 years old, the HP one 8 years old and the Desktop 1 year old. But all work just fine. Sounds like an incompatible driver issue or something.
Just my 2 cents.
Regards
Casper
Edit:
Thanks to anonymous I now use ShellExView to remove Dropbox's invasive buggy overlays. Still awkward and annoying, and needs to be done every time Dropbox forces an update - but much better than ad hoc registry deletions. From their post:
Be sure that you only disable Icon Overlay Handler as shown below:
Then restart explorer with Ctrl+E to apply the changes.
---End Edit
It really is inexcuseable.
I finally discovered a way to hack into my registry and delete specific dropbox elements (icon overlays), which stops the problem, but every time dropbox updates, I have to go back in and do it again.
It's not for the faint of heart bc it involves deleting registry keys, but I am stuck with dropbox and suffering so it was worth it.
Here are the steps I take - I'm not recommending anyone do this - only posting this as an example of how HORRIBLE dropbox is that it requires a user to do something like this to simply use the product:
1. Launch Windows Registry Editor (type regedit in Windows search box to find it)
2. In regedit, navigate to this folder (I just saved this location in a file so I can paste it into regedit directly, or you can click through to it):
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers
Note the title "ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers" - this is the term for the annoying little check/etc icons that are rendered on top of the folder icon.
3. Inside this folder I found a number of Dropbox registry entries (I've deleted them already, but I think there were 5 or 6).
I deleted every Dropbox file in that folder - right click or press del key and confirm you want to permanently delete the key.
4. Restart Windows Explorer
May be other ways to do it, but I do it this way:
Launch task manager (ctr/alt/del)
In the Processes tab, under Apps, I usually see Windows Explorer listed - right click on it, select 'restart.'
After I do this, I have no more dropbox icons in windows explorer - until Dropbox updates and reinstalls the icons - then I have to do it over again.
I also noticed there are instances where I still see the icons - when a program opens explorer to find a file, for example. I haven't bothered to try to find a simpler way to resolve every instance of the icons, or find a way to block dropbox from installing that component.
ANYWAY - like I said, I can't recommend this approach because it may break other things (so far hasn't for me but ???) - and yes, this is terrible and dropbox is terrible - at some point it will either resolve itself or I will change services, I don't know.
this is madness pepehands
