Waiting to be linked to a Dropbox account

Montecarlo57

I have installed Dropbox on my wifes desktop pc and it works fine. I installed it on her laptop and I can use the web based homepage to log in and upload files fine, HOWEVER, the system tray icon is grey and gives the message'waiting to be connected to a Dropbox account'. When I click 'Click here to get sign in and get started', a set up dropbox window pops up and a blue icon revolves, and then stops, forever!! It is version 52.4.60 and I have uninstalled it and reinstalled it twice. Anyone got any suggestions?

Jane

Thanks for keeping me updated on the progress here @Montecarlo57, let me send you some additional troubleshooting steps below!

 

For starters, if the gray Dropbox icon has disappeared from your system tray, it means that the app isn’t running, so you have to re-launch it from your Search menu bar on your bottom left of your screen. 

 

In case you still experience the connectivity issue & you’re unable to link your account to your desktop, you may keep in mind that connection issues like the one you’ve describe usually mean there is a proxy, firewall, antivirus or other type of security program in the way. Could you make sure that you’ve selected No proxy on your proxy settings? Also, can you make sure you've configured your firewall to work with Dropbox if you’re on a working environment and that the domains listed here are allowed or whitelisted? Incorrect date and time on your PC could also prevent Dropbox from getting a secure connection, please make sure this is not the case before checking anything else. Also, as you’ve mentioned that Dropbox works correctly on your device, can you clarify if you’ve attempted your wife’s installation on the same network? 

 

Following, if your date and time are correct please check other security applications (note: you may reference this resource that goes into more detail on the latest known security programs that may cause you an issue when interacting with Dropbox). 

 

Let me break it down in more detail below. If you have an antivirus and/or firewall running, make sure you do the following:

- Allow "Dropbox" (or "Dropbox.exe") to access ports 80 (HTTP) and 443 (HTTPS).

- Add dropbox.com to the list of approved sites (white list) and make sure it is not on a black list.

- In general, you need to allow *.dropbox.com and *.getdropbox.com to access all the hosts in our domain, since our IPs are constantly changing you need to approve/unblock by domain.

- Some antivirus have special features that scan SSL traffic, please review your vendor's documentation and make sure you exclude Dropbox from the list.

- Some firewalls also act as proxies for your computer, so you might need to add them in the proxies Preferences panel to correctly connect.

 

Finally, if you have ever used Norton utilities, you may need to run the Norton Removal Tool, even if you have already uninstalled Norton's software. More information can be found in these two links:

 

https://support.norton.com/sp/en/us/home/current/solutions/kb20080710133834EN_EndUserProfile_en_us

https://support.norton.com/sp/en/us/home/current/solutions/kb20100320035324EN_EndUserProfile_en_us

 

I know that this is a very detailed checklist, though please let me know of the results & I’ll make sure sure to check back with you asap. Thanks again for your cooperation! 

 

Mod note: updated links in post [last edit 2023]