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If I can, how do I fix the Access is denied error message?

Over the weekend I installed the May 2019 update to Windows 10. For the most part, it's been fine. The only issue I'm having is with Dropbox. Every time I log into Windows on my home desktop, I get an error message from Dropbox telling to look at a .txt file. I've looked at it and here's the error its giving me:

PermissionError: [WinError 5] Access is denied: 'C:\Users\Rod\AppData\Local\Dropbox'

Looking at the error I can immediately see what the problem is. After the update, there IS no "'C:\Users\Rod\" on my machine. Well, technically there is, but its empty. Unless I'm mistaken, for whatever reason, the May 2019 to Windows 10 has migrated all of my personal information from "'C:\Users\Rod\" to "'C:\Users\Rod.000\". Again, technically the problem isn't so much a permissions issue as it is a "folder not found" issue. Dropbox's error is wrong.

But let's leave that aside for the time being; how do I fix this problem? Is there a registry key I should edit? Or should I simply uninstall Dropbox and re-install it?

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Walter

Hey there @Rod-F - sorry to hear you're having issues with our desktop app.

At first, could you let me know if you've restarted your computer since you first got this error?

If you did and the error persists, please make sure that's there no antivirus that could be causing this (you can disable them temporarily).

If everything else fails, you can go ahead and re-install our software.

Let me know the results!

All comments

Walter

Hey there @Rod-F - sorry to hear you're having issues with our desktop app.

At first, could you let me know if you've restarted your computer since you first got this error?

If you did and the error persists, please make sure that's there no antivirus that could be causing this (you can disable them temporarily).

If everything else fails, you can go ahead and re-install our software.

Let me know the results!

Cheayol

Hello~

1. Check Event Log for any Errors:

Tap Win key + R to open the Run window. Now, type “eventvwr” and tap Enter.
Hit Windows Logs as well as System.
Find the errors if any! There will be a red exclamation mark at the end if there are any errors.
Simply check the information in details.

Then start Command Prompt as Administrator:

Tap the Start button, go to All Programs, and tap Accessories.
Simply Right-click on Command prompt, and again tap on Run as administrator.
When the User Account Control box comes up, confirm it, and tap Continue.

2. Or you can Get Rid of Write Protection on Hard Drive:

Go to Start and tap on the “Run” option.
Type “regedit” into the command box.
Now, go to this path: “ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies”
After that, double click on the “WriteProtect” key and get the value changed to zero.

If this error causes data loss issues, you'd better retrieve the data first. You can try Bitwar Data Recovery if needed.

Good luck.

stephmacd

I'm getting the error on startup "Couldn't start Dropbox".

I've looked at the error log and it would seem that my local profile has become corrupted at some point and Windows has created a new profile for me, Steph.000, but Dropbox is still looking for the path C:\\Users\\Steph\\AppData\\Local\\Dropbox\\instance1 which no longer exists. I've pasted the error log file below. How do I get Dropbo to recognise the new user path C:\\Users\\Steph.000?

bn.BUILD_KEY: Dropbox
bn.VERSION: 94.4.384
bn.constants.WINDOWS_SHELL_EXT_VERSION: 37
bn.is_frozen: True
machine_id: 13dd3f1d-9ecd-4852-8cbf-1cbc1d0df783
pid: 1560
cwd: 'C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Dropbox\\Client'
real_path='C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Dropbox\\Client'
mode=0o40777 uid=0 gid=0
parent mode=0o40777 uid=0 gid=0
HOME: None
appdata: 'C:\\Users\\Steph\\AppData\\Local\\Dropbox\\instance1'
real_path='C:\\Users\\Steph\\AppData\\Local\\Dropbox\\instance1'
not found
parent not found
dropbox_path: 'C:\\Users\\Steph\\Dropbox'
real_path='C:\\Users\\Steph\\Dropbox'
not found
parent mode=0o40777 uid=0 gid=0
sys_executable: 'C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Dropbox\\Client\\Dropbox.exe'
real_path='C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Dropbox\\Client\\Dropbox.exe'
mode=0o100777 uid=0 gid=0
parent mode=0o40777 uid=0 gid=0
trace.__file__: 'C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Dropbox\\Client\\94.4.384\\python-packages.zip\\dropbox\\client\\ui\\common\\boot_error.pyc'
real_path='C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Dropbox\\Client\\94.4.384\\python-packages.zip\\dropbox\\client\\ui\\common\\boot_error.pyc'
not found
parent not found
TMP: C:\Users\Steph.000\AppData\Local\Temp
TEMP: C:\Users\Steph.000\AppData\Local\Temp
tempdir: 'C:\\Users\\Steph.000\\AppData\\Local\\Temp'
real_path='C:\\Users\\Steph.000\\AppData\\Local\\Temp'
mode=0o40777 uid=0 gid=0
parent mode=0o40777 uid=0 gid=0
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "dropbox\client\main.pyc", line 8039, in main_startup
File "dropbox\client\main.pyc", line 3283, in run
File "dropbox\client\main.pyc", line 1754, in startup_low
File "dropbox\client\main.pyc", line 1306, in safe_makedirs
File "dropbox\overrides.pyc", line 212, in makedirs
File "dropbox\overrides.pyc", line 225, in makedirs
PermissionError: [WinError 5] Access is denied: 'C:\\Users\\Steph\\AppData\\Local\\Dropbox'

Rich

@stephmacd wrote:
How do I get Dropbo to recognise the new user path C:\\Users\\Steph.000?

Go through an advanced reinstall.

https://help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/desktop/advanced-reinstall