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Dropbox Re-installation Won't Use Previous Folder

McAfee found a virus in Dropbox file win32api.cp35-win32.pyd and couldn't quarantine it, so I uninstalled Dropbox and re-installed it. The file is clean now, but I need Dropbox to use the folder it was previously using, which is \Dropbox. When I try to change the folder location to there, it says, "This folder already contains a Dropbox directory." Well, yeah... did you figure that out all by yourself?

Will someone please explain the logic behind not letting Dropbox use its previous folder, and how to make it use it, short of deleting the folder and letting Dropbox recreate it and copy all those files from the cloud which are presently already here?

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Walter

Hey there @GollyRojer - sorry to hear about this.

You should have gotten an "Advanced" option when re-installing our software on your computer normally which in turn would enable you to point your Dropbox Folder to your pre-existing one. Did you see that at all?

When you re-install the Dropbox software and you do not want to re-download all of your files from the server, you need to choose the "Advanced" setup option during the installation process. Then you need to choose the parent folder of the existing Dropbox folder as the location for this new install.

Let me know what you find and we'll take it from there, if needed that is. Thanks!

All comments

Walter

Hey there @GollyRojer - sorry to hear about this.

Let me know what you find and we'll take it from there, if needed that is. Thanks!

GollyRojer

According to this article, you can do it during installation by clicking "Advanced settings" while choosing folders to sync. As far as I have been able to determine, that option isn't available after installation, so I guess you better be sharp and catch it as it goes by.

https://www.dropbox.com/help/desktop-web/advanced-reinstall

GollyRojer

Hi, Walter, I appreciate the reply. I did find an article that told me what you said, so I uninstalled again and ran installation again.

It's difficult to understand why an option that is available during installation is not also available afterward. I realize that on a shared computer a user might be either inadvertently or deliberately trying to use someone else's folder, but that is also the case during installation. A simple "Are you sure?" or "Use existing folder" would be so much nicer than having to re-run installation just to get to that option.

Walter

If you didn't get it at all when re-installing I'd suggest that you logged a ticket with our support team so we can look into this internally with all of our tools available. If you find any troubles with this, let me know and I'll reach out via email from my end.

Thanks in advance @GollyRojer!

Walter

Thank you for this feedback @GollyRojer - I'll pass your comments to our dev team for consideration.

In the meantime, note that you should be able to move your Dropbox Folder anytime supposing that your user account must have permission to write to the desired location and that the drive must be in the correct format. Drive specifications and systems requirements can be found in this Help Center article.

If there's anything else I can help with, do let me know!

JCKruger

Hi Walter

I Found Advanced setup and chose it. It offers the parent location and I then select it.

Dropbox problem 1.JPG

I then get the message "There's already a folder called Company name Drobox."

Dropbox problem 2.JPG Please help. I'm so fustrated that this has to be so difficult.

JC Kruger

Walter

You'll need to point it to the prior level of your folder structure @JCKruger.

For example, if your old Dropbox folder was added to: C:\Desktop\Dropbox you would need to choose C:\Desktop and the client will try and create a new Dropbox folder.

If you're connecting with the same Dropbox account as before, Dropbox will detect the existing folder and will then prompt you to merge the Dropbox folder. Upon merging the desktop version of Dropbox will check the existing files and the server versions and update accordingly.

Let me know how it goes!

JCKruger

@Walter wrote:
You'll need to point it to the prior level of your folder structure @JCKruger.
For example, if your old Dropbox folder was added to: C:\Desktop\Dropbox you would need to choose C:\Desktop and the client will try and create a new Dropbox folder.
If you're connecting with the same Dropbox account as before, Dropbox will detect the existing folder and will then prompt you to merge the Dropbox folder. Upon merging the desktop version of Dropbox will check the existing files and the server versions and update accordingly.
Let me know how it goes!

Hi @Walter

Thanks for the reply.

Please see above at step 2, I choose the same parent folder as you mentioned. I'm quite clear on that step.

And then, please see point 4b. It gives me the option to merge ("do you want to add all the files in that folder to your dropbox") and then I select yes. It simpy returns me to "theres already a folder named..."

Would you like to check using teamviewer?

Regards

JC Kruger

Walter

Thanks for your efforts so far JC.

We're not currently set up for remote sessions but rest assured our team is here to help.

As at this point we'll need more account specific information I'd suggest that you referred to your existing ticket and wait for an update there. To expedite matters further, I've gone ahead and just passed your comments there to have all the relevant information under one place.

Let me know if there's anything else I can assist with in the meantime.

JCKruger

@Walter

Thank you very much. Will wait on an update on the ticket.

JC Kruger

jallen327

Did this get resolved? Because, even though there is a solution marked here, it's definitly not solved. My computer (An Apple Computer) is doing the exact same thing.

I used the same procedure the orginal poster used, and got the same broken result. It won't let me merge the folders. It only wants to rename the old one, and loops endlessly back to the previous dialog box when I select "Merge".

There may be a hard-drive space issue, because a second copy of everything that is already on the online dropbox won't fit on my hard drive again. It's already there in the original dropbox folder on my hard drive, and should just need to be merged. Which it refuses to do.

jallen327

I was finally able to get dropbox on my mac reinstalled after I hunted down every hidden folder and preference file for dropbox and deleted it. I left the main Dropbox folder in place but deleted the hidden cache folder that was inside it. That seemed to do the trick.

I think the hidden cache folder inside the Dropbox files folder was responsible for the program hanging up. Regardless, I'm just happy its working again.

ItalianStallion51

I am also stuck in this exact same endless loop and cannot find a solution. I had already deleted all traces of dropbox from the instructions in this link, and I have had no luck. https://help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/desktop/advanced-reinstall I have tried this cycle of uninstall-reinstall 3 times and I am losing my patience with Dropbox.

ItalianStallion51

Problem solved through online chat. My storage location was not on the C drive, so that may have complicated things. Not sure. Anyway, here are the instructions if you are re-synching to a folder in a drive other than "C":

"So in essence, the simplest process that you will be able to follow is, to rename the existing Dropbox Folder as (old) Dropbox. Allow the desktop application to create the new Dropbox Folder in the standard location, and pause syncing. If it creates that in the C drive, move that folder to the other drive, and then move the content from the old Dropbox Folder to the newly created one [that you just moved]. And resume syncing. The application will need to take some time to index those files, and compare them with dropbox.com, but it will not be fully re-downloading these files from the beginning."

I installed directly to the other drive from the beginning and dragged the files right in. So far, so good. Will update post if indexing fails.