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Upgrading hard drive, but keeping hard drive letter, how?

Hi,

Dropbox is snynced on my internal data hard drive (D:). I installed a second one (currently (E:)), that I want to sync the DropBox to. BUT I really have to keep the drive letter (D:), because all my files a linked that way.

Was is the best way to do this? I don't want to risk anything. Bandwith is good enough to sync fresh.

Thanks for your help!

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Walter

Hey @flw, welcome to our Community and happy Monday!

For starters, have you made sure that the desktop app is 'up to date' and not still syncing in your system tray?

If you made sure that syncing is finished, the safest way to do this would be to unlink your account from the desktop app through the app's preferences (under the Account tab) and then rename (or remap) your internal drives via your computer's options to suit your needs (i.e. swap the drive letters).

At this point, you can rename your-now unlinked- Dropbox folder to something you can distinguish or copy/move it to the new location (the now renamed D drive) and then try to relink the account through the app's preferences again, choosing your D drive (assuming you've renamed or remapped them first).

If you copy or move the old Dropbox Folder inside your now renamed D drive, you should be able to point to that via the app's preferences to avoid re-downloading all of your files to your computer, or you can let the app create a new Dropbox folder and sync your files until it's up to date in your system tray.

I hope this helps!

David Doron

I have the same issue. If I do the following, is there any risk:

My Dropbox folder is \Dropbox

1. Update the Dropbox App

2. Sync until I get "Up T Date"

3. Quit Dropbox Desktop App

4. Copy the Dropbox folder to the root of the new disk

5. Remove the old disk

6. Change the new disk's letter to D

7. Restart Dropbox Desktop App

Megan

Hi @David Doron, happy Monday!

That sounds like the safest way you can go on about it.

Just keep in mind, that upon restarting the app, you should be able to access the app's "Advanced Settings" in the get-started pop-up window, and choose the option "I want to choose where to put my Dropbox".

You'll choose the drive, and allow for the app to re-index everything.

If you have any questions, let me know!

David Doron

Hi Megan. I have about 7TB of data on my drive D (8TB disk size). I have a new, larger disk. I want to have the Dropbox folder on the new disk, under the same letter D. If I re-sync it will take ages to download the files from the web. How can I swap disks without loosing data or wait weeks to download files?
Thanks. David.

Megan

Hi @David Doron, if you follow the steps mentioned above, the app should just re-index the files without syncing them from scratch.

That'll save you time. If you have any other questions about the process, let me know.

David Doron

Thanks, Megan.

One more question: there are folders that are "On Line Only". When I copy them to the new drive it takes ages.

So, following your expert advice, what happens if I:

1. Install the new disk as E.

2. Move the Dropbox folder from D to E using the Dropbox desktop app preferences

3. Once done, quit Dropbox, Change the E drive letter to D in Windows

4 Restarting the app, access the app's "Advanced Settings" in the get-started pop-up window, and choose the option "I want to choose where to put my Dropbox".

5. Choose the (new renamed) D drive, and allow for the app to re-index everything.

Am I on a safe ground?

Thanks. David

Megan

Hi @David Doron, you should be, yes.

If you're feeling insecure about this process, and just to ease your mind you can always save your Dropbox folder as a backup on an external drive. Provided of course, that you have that ability.