Dropbox has taken over files into my PC, and how I can restore them

[dsm5]

I bought a new PC a couple of years ago and decided it would be a good idea to install Dropbox.  I am not a techie and somehow every single document and file that I have created, despite being saved to my PC, was also saved in dropbox.
I really did not want this to happen as I wanted to keep dropbox for the important and quick-to-access stuff.
The really bad news was that it also decided to transfer massive historic files into itself without my wanting it too, hence the knotweed analogy - I simply couldn't find a means of stopping it as none of the google search steps matched what I was seeing in dropbox. There was no 'pause syncing' button.

Today I deleted a few unwanted files but decided to remove the software from my desktop.  

Every single file that I had saved to my PC has been removed, this even though they were only meant to be saved on my PC, not in dropbox.

I accessed the app and emailed certain files to myself but they cannot be downloaded.  How is this even possible?
What's the solution to:

1. Preventing dropbox from stealing every piece of my data and storing it in itself if / when I re-install it?

2. Recovering my spreadsheets etc without manually reconstructing them?  That would take days and a huge amount of lost income.

Thanks if you have read this far.

[anonymous]

Hi there, I have the same problem and call it the same thing - hijacking. I did enable the backup because I do want a backup. I just also want to be able to directly access my files from my hard drive. I'm trying to do this because when I try to download files from Dropbox  I keep getting a pop-up that says "Are-you-sure-you-want-to-copy-this-file-without-its-properties". But I DO want to download the files WITH their original properties (eg, pictures with the dates they were taken in the properties); Dropbox changes the dates to the day I'm downloading). I've also tried copying the folders on my hard drive to a usb drive, but get the same pop-up, presumably because the folders are linked because of, as you said, backing them up. Is there a way to keep my hard drive folders independent of Dropbox while still backing them up?

[anonymous]

Hi there, I have the same problem and call it the same thing, Dropbox hijacking my hard drive. I've reposted this in the same thread because I'm on a deadline and need to figure this out asap. I did enable the backup because I do want a backup. I just also want to be able to directly access my files from my hard drive. I'm trying to do this because when I try to download files from Dropbox  I keep getting a pop-up that says "Are-you-sure-you-want-to-copy-this-file-without-its-properties". But I DO want to download the files WITH their original properties (eg, pictures with the dates they were taken in the properties); Dropbox changes the dates to the day I'm downloading). I've also tried copying the folders on my hard drive to a usb drive, but get the same pop-up, presumably because the folders are linked because of, as you said, backing them up. Is there a way to keep my hard drive folders independent of Dropbox while still backing them up?

[Megan]

Hi @anonymous, sorry to hear about that, let me help! 

Are you trying to download the content from our website when you see this error? Are the files you're trying to copy over to your USB inside the Dropbox folder; or just on your hard drive?

Keep in mind that, when you enable Backup, you allow Dropbox to move the content in the Dropbox folder. If you want to keep your file paths the way they were before you used this feature, you'd need to disable it, and move them back to their original folders. 

That way, you could only back them up manually. 

Let me know of any more details!

[anonymous]

Thanks for replying!

I've tried both, downloading from my account on the dropbox website and also copying from my hard drive to my usb drive.

I read after I posted my problem that I should disable the backup so I did that (dropbox checkmarks are no longer beside the folders on my hard drive), then I tried to copy the folders from my hard drive to my usb drive but I got the same message asking me if I'm sure I want to copy the files without properties.

[Rich]

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@anonymous wrote:

"Are you sure you want to copy this file without its properties?"
I've tried ... copying from my hard drive to my usb drive.

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This isn't a Dropbox message; it's from Windows. Your files have metadata; extra attributes that are embedded in the file. What the message is saying is that you're copying a file which has file attributes to a file system that doesn't support some of the attributes that your files may have. This is common when copying files from NTFS partitions to drives that are formatted as FAT, FAT32, and other partition types.

This page goes on to explain it further (and better).

[anonymous]

Thanks for replying!
Yeah, I've read that about the file systems and formats but I don't understand why that's an issue in the first place. Like why did the formatting even change if these files are mine to begin with? Why does dropbox need to do that to back up someone's files? Onedrive doesn't do that. I'm doing a free dropbox trial to compare services and so far it's been frustrating even beyond this problem.

[Rich]

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@anonymous wrote:
Like why did the formatting even change if these files are mine to begin with? Why does dropbox need to do that ...

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Dropbox didn't do anything, and your files didn't change their formatting. This message typically happens when copying files from one file system, such as NTFS which is the default for Windows, to another file system, such as FAT32, which is a common format of many flash drives, for compatibility reasons.

The service involved, be it Dropbox, OneDrive or even just a regular file copy, doesn't matter and has nothing to do with it. Read the page I linked to for a better understanding of what a file system is, how formats differ, and the compatibility issues when copying files between them.

[anonymous]

Thanks. I'd actually seen that article before but didn't realize that Dropbox doesn't somehow have to do with one of the different file systems mentioned, since I thought it had something to do with my problem (I've never encountered it before with other cloud services). I'd also read responses in the forum and elsewhere in which they attributed it to whether Dropbox backup was enabled or not. That was actually the response I got from a Dropboxer on this forum. So if this is likely a Windows-flash drive compatibility issue, do you have any advice on how I can save the properties of my files, save for converting the destination drive? I'm not very computer literate (use my pc for basics - eg browsing the internet, watching streaming platforms, creating docs for work that are basically Word/Excel/PowerPoint kind of docs) and I'm hesitant to try any conversion workarounds and such.

[anonymous]

Oh, I also had the same pop-up message when I was trying to download folders from my Dropbox account to a 2nd PC's hard drive (new PC that I bought). That was the original method I tried to get my folders before trying to save them to the USB drive. The 2nd PC is on the same Dropbox account and that was why I initially thought Dropbox had something to do with it.