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Installer won't begin

I'm using Windows 10 on a desktop. I got a message saying 'update dropbox' - click the button and it starts downloading 'Dropboxinstaller'. When I click on this exe file to install it nothing (#) happens. I then get the message about updating dropbox again! [# there is a blue wheel while the computer thinks about it, Norton tells me the file is safe, and then nothing happens. No splash screen, nothing.] I uninstalled Dropbox and rebooted. No change. Tried the Offline installer. Nothing. Starting to get a bit frantic now! Please help!

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Jane

Hey @MDawes,

I appreciate your speedy reply, I think we've spotted the culprit!

You may disregard the previous steps. Could you navigate to the "Boxifier" settings, un-check the box next to "Block Dropbox updates" and apply this change? Reboot your pc once and then try installing the latest stable version of the application on your desktop. Please keep in mind that the most recent Stable Build is 32.4.23.

Please keep me updated here on the results!

Warm regards,

JaneA

All comments

Jane

Hey @MDawes,

Thanks for getting in touch on the Dropbox Community with this detailed description of the issue!

Seems that something is blocking the installation. Just as a first troubleshooting step, could you temporarily disable your antivirus and re-download the latest stable version of the application from the website? If this persists, then the link to the offline installer here (Windows) or here (Mac) will probably have this resolved.

Again, if none of the above steps help you get the application on your desktop, please let me know here.

Will be awaiting your reply, so that we fix that together!

Kind regards,

JaneA

MDawes

I tried this and it didn't work.

I turned off Norton, then tried to install Dropbox. Nothing. Then I used the offline installer. Again, it didn't open the exe, didn't do anything at all.

So I turned anti-virus software back on.

Any more suggestions of things I can try, please?

Thanks.

Jane

Hey @MDawes,

Thanks for your prompt reply, I’d be glad to send you some more steps to follow!

It appears that something is blocking Dropbox, so I’d suggest proceeding with a fresh re-install. Before that, I’d like to ask you whether you’re using an application called “Boxifier”. If you do, please let me know in your reply, since it may be the cause of the issue.

If this is not the case, please follow the steps below:

#1. Quit Dropbox by clicking on the Dropbox icon on your system tray, then click on the gear icon and select "Quit Dropbox".

#2. Uninstall Dropbox:

#3. When the uninstall finishes, please restart your computer to ensure that the uninstall is complete.

#4. After this, please proceed to delete remaining registry entries:

a) Click the Start button. Type REGEDIT in the search box and press Enter.

b) In the Registry Editor, navigate into the following locations until you find the keys for "Dropbox" and "DropboxUpdate", they will be in either or both of the following two locations:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\

c) In both or either of these folders, please delete only the "Dropbox" and "DropboxUpdate" folders by right-clicking on the individual folders and selecting "Delete".

#5. Then, please delete the Dropbox remaining folders:

a) Open a Windows File Explorer (not Internet Explorer).

b) Type %LOCALAPPDATA% into the address bar (include the % percent signs) and press enter.

c) Delete the folder "Dropbox" from the resulting window.

d) Please repeat these steps with the following folders as well (it's OK if you don't find a Dropbox folder in any of those locations):

%APPDATA%

%PROGRAMFILES%

%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%

e) Then restart your system.

Please note that deleting any of these folders will not delete the files in your Dropbox folder.

#6. Download the newest version of Dropbox and double click on the downloaded file

#7. During the initial setup and sign in process apply any Selective Sync settings you may have had prior to the reinstall and select the Dropbox folder location (if not in the default location).

IMPORTANT NOTE: Because this process removes the previous settings and configuration, if you wish to avoid re-downloading your Dropbox content you will need to manually choose the location for Dropbox to sync to, otherwise you will create a new Dropbox folder and start to download your content again.

At the end of this process, after clicking "Open my Dropbox folder", it might take some time to re-index the files and sync any pending changes. Please note that any changes made to the files in the Dropbox folder, the web interface or other linked devices while the folder was "off-line" may generate conflicted copies.

Please keep me updated on the results in your reply here!

Warm regards,

JaneA

MDawes

Thanks for the quick response. We are using Boxifier. [I use Dropbox to backup a removable disk - Boxifier seemed to be the only way to make that work.]

Should I still follow the instructions, or do something different?

Many thanks.

Jane

Hey @MDawes,

I appreciate your speedy reply, I think we've spotted the culprit!

Please keep me updated here on the results!

Warm regards,

JaneA

MDawes

Thank you so much!

Can't believe the issue was so straightforward!

Sorry to have caused you so much work - thanks for your help with this. Very much appreciated.

Jane

Hey @MDawes,

Sure, that's why we're here!

If it's not too much trouble for you, would you mind taking a minute of your time to fill out a survey sharing your experience using the Dropbox Community? You can access it here: http://bit.ly/2lNKIxT .

[ Please feel free to get back in touch here at any time if you have any other Dropbox questions, it'll be a pleasure to work with you again in the future! ]

Happy Dropboxing, hope you have a great weekend ahead,

JaneA

mstevensvr4

Yes this fix worked perfectly. I saw similar discussions on another group and will work to update

Regards

Mark

remi4

I got the same problem but i dont use Boxifier.

I have tried all of the previously mentioned directive and it did not work.

Do we have another solution to start the installation?

Walter

Hey @remi4; welcome to our Community and thanks for joining the discussion here.

Can you please let me now your computer's OS and build and also provide some additional information regarding the issue you're experiencing?

If you're getting any specific errors, please, send us a screenshot so we can have a further look into this.

Thanks!

PS: You can find a list of our official installers in the link below, in case you want to give our latest, stable version (v. 104.4.175 at the moment) a go:

https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Desktop-client-builds/ct-p/101003000