all 'FILE EXPLORER' FILE icons flashing whenever dropbox is running

[alan78]

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 process magically all the icon switching stops, thi sis constant and doesnt seem to stop!

What can i do?

I also seem to have 3 DropBoxThumnbailGenerator.exe processes running?

Thanks

[RonAZ1]

Hi Tim,

So now I think I might be having 2 problems at the same time, the Dropbox issue and also maybe a bad cable on the hard drive.  I'm going to switch over to a laptop docked to my monitor system and see how that works, while I figure out what to do about my desktop computer.  I just don't have time to try to figure it all out while I'm as busy as I am.  Thanks again for sharing your findings.

Best,

Ron

[clevercrow1]

Glad to hear that your one problem has a straightforward logical explanation.

Hope that Dropbox support is able to make progress on our common problem.

[clevercrow1]

Lusil,

I'm continuing to experiment on this problem as it severely affect my ability to use Dropbox in conjunction with my eBay sales.

Disclaimer:  I am directly comparing OneDrive with Dropbox to be able to gain insight as to what the source of the problem(s) is/are.  I am not endorsing any products at this point.

Ok... so what I am trying is to set up my eBay sales on OneDrive in addition to Dropbox (starting with identical folders/files).  This is a modest portion of my Dropbox folders.

When I view the root eBay/OneDrive folder using the Windows Explorer and select "Details" there is a column labeled "Status" that contains the "cloud status" of the files/folders and the file/folder icons are "plain" (not showing the cloud status).  If I change the view to Large Icons the file/folder icons are again "plain" and the "cloud status" is conveyed at the beginning of the name of the file/folder.  See screen captures 1 & 2.

If I instead look at the Dropbox version of these files (remember these are independent duplicates of the OneDrive files), I see different views for both "Details" and "Large Icons".  In the Dropbox version, there is no "Status" column and the "cloud status" of the files/folders is shown as part of the files/folders.

My question, why is this different and is it possible that Microsoft uses this technique to avoid the "blinking icon" problem we are all experiencing?

An answer from someone who knows "Windows" would be most helpful and enlightening.

[Lusil]

Hey @RonAZ1, sorry to hear that you're having trouble getting back to me via email.

I'd sent you a ticket to the email connected to your Community profile. You can check which email is associated from here by:

1. Clicking on the Dropbox logo on the top left corner of this page. 
2. Selecting your avatar on the top right corner. 
3. Clicking on Settings. 
4. Under Basics in the General tab, you should find the email in question. 

If for any reason you can't access that email address right now or you can't find my message, you can submit a ticket via this link and let me know the ticket ID that's created. 

Try again and I'm here if you have any trouble along the way. 

@clevercrow1, thank you once again for sharing your ongoing investigation with us. I'm afraid though there's not much further I can do from my end. My colleague who specializes in this and who's reviewing this case for you would be better equipped to answer your questions on the matter. 

Thank you for your continuous effort and time.

[RonAZ1]

I submitted the ticket today. Thanks @Lusil

[Jspangehl]

I am just hoping to bump a reply as to the solution to this problem. Windows 10, flashing happens whenever files are updating.

Brings file management in dropbox using explorer to a halt. As organizing files is what causes the problem, its devastating to productivity. 

If only the dropbox desktop could recognize a folder rename or move for what it is, and replicate the change on the server instead of deleting and reuploading every renamed file. It has to be doing that if the files are online only anyway.

Obviously, we could probably solve the problem by changing to online only, but that doesn't suit everyone.

Since this never used to be an issue, it almost seems like it was a problem intentionally introduced in order to push people to online only. I can understand why that is preferable to Dropbox. But it is also preferable to most people who have limited bandwidth. There are ways to push people toward that goal (incentives, surcharge for the fully local option) that are better than disrupting countless hours of real people's work.

[clevercrow1]

Hello Jspangehl,

In my case going silent deserves some comment and I'll also comment on your concern that this is intentional.

After several rounds of suggestions for different kinds of reinstallation of the Dropbox app from the tech support person assigned to my case, I finally was unable/unwilling to continue to just "try things" in order to find a solution to the blinking icons.

In my case, I was having the problem on three different machines where the machines were of different types and ages.  In that the problem was universal with "me" I was unwilling to keep trying things on individual machines and concluded that the problem was NOT with my machines, per se, but affect many many Dropbox users.

In the meantime, I had been experimenting with OneDrive and found no issues whatsoever when I duplicated my file structure to MS.  One notible with this was that the method used to indicate the status of the files in OneDrive is much different than Dropbox.  

So I don't think your comment about Dropbox doing anything intentionally to drive the community to use Online only can be supported.  I don't see why that would benefit them particularly anyway.

However, I do believe this problem is widespread (much wider than just a few individuals reading this forum) and that it could be easily verified/produced on machines local to the Dropbox tech support.  If they had their hands on an affected computer CERTAINLY they should be able to duplicate the problem.  I conclude that it does what it does because of what they do when they are updating files.  From my viewpoint, whenever ANY file in the Dropbox structure the GRAPHICAL representation of the ENTIRE Dropbox Folder blinks constantly in the File Explorer until ALL updating/synching is occuring.

NOT MY PROBLEM... and as I hinted at, I found the OneDrive implementation to be without issues so I am only providing a duplicate folder structure in Dropbox STILL HOPING that their tech support people will announce a solution or release an update that eliminates the problem.  

I personally don't care to invest large chunks of my time to "try things" for Dropbox Tech Support.  This problem is WELL DEFINED and the basic mechanism is OBVIOUS albeit I don't know enough about Windows to know how they internally handle updating icons, etc.  That's Dropbox's problem.

Personally I was supprised by the assumption by Dropbox Tech support that the problem had something to do with "my machine" when all three of my machines were affected.  And that many other individuals also experience this problem kind of eliminates "my network" as the problem as well.

Good luck to us all and it would be nice to hear that THEY have finally announced a solution.  After weeks and weeks, I can't understand WHY this is so hard.

[pepehands]

Has anybody actually had this problem solved? I only see complaints about it. 

I've been having the same problem for a long time but it finally became too much so I searched and found this sad thread.

Do I really have to switch to OneDrive?

(Yes, I've tried the solutions suggested here, among other things, and no, not interested in being a tester for dropbox)

[clevercrow1]

I understand your frustration... I have it too.  Seems like it would be a problem that could be fixed by Dropbox programmers (well defined... when you have it, it's obvious and persistent.)  However, I, like you, have been plagued by the "blinking icons" while Dropbox syncs for long months with no one really working from known symptoms to a solution.

On the other hand, I have been "forced" by the situation to give OneDrive a try, and since I have a subscription to Office 365 and have a "free" 1T of OneDrive storage, and was surprised to find it far easier to work with "online" files and well integrated into File Explorer and other major software.

My last conversation with technical support via a chat window resulted in "nada" while I was fed some deliberately misleading information... namely, I asked if there were any programs etc. while would automate transfers among "clouds" so that files could be easily transferred.  I was told "No" ... but now that I have had time to research the issue I found a fairly large number of "cloud-cloud" syncing and xfer sites... some even having a "free" membership with limited data exchange (actually using that now to move some software off Dropbox).  Oh yeah... it's MultCloud.

So, sad to say, I have been underwhelmed by Dropbox not providing a solution within months knowing it is so obviously an understandable problem with known (to Dropbox programmers) how the issue of syncing employed whatever tools to provide the icon status.

I guess... see you one OneDrive.

[gabriel_g]

10 months later, and the problem still persists. Is there any news from dropbox on this problem?