The latest update from June 30 leads to me unable to open or copy the files under the boxcryptor folder. How to rescue the files?
Same issue here, Dropbox's new "Dropbox for Windows update" https://help.dropbox.com/installs/dropbox-for-windows seems to be the culprit, wasted a whole day trying to access files encrypted with Boxcryptor Classic. After trial and error, created some workarounds:
Hi @Aernout, let's jump right into this!
Would you mind clarifying which version of the Dropbox desktop app you're using? You can find this by hovering your mouse over the little Dropbox icon in your task/menu bar, next to your WiFi. See more about it here.
If you could walk me through the steps that you follow in order to open your files, that'd be great. Also, do you get any specific errors?
Feel free to send over any screenshots you might have, in order for me to have a visual too.
Keep me posted, and we'll take it from there!
I've got the same problem. Dropbox desktop version is 227.4.4774. Files listing in Boxcryptor Classic drive is OK, but files can't be read. Windows says "Can't read from file or source disk". Please let me know what more info do you need to pinpoint the problem, I'll gladly provide it.
Hey @Idaho, thanks for letting us know about this.
Are you having the same issue with the most recent stable version as well?
@Hannah Yes, the problem persists on 228.4.5567.
Hey @Idaho, let me also jump in here!
Can you send me a screenshot of the message you get when trying to open these files?
You should be able to click the camera-like icon when replying back to us, and attach your screenshots there.
Also, how many days has this behavior been present?
Sure. It's in polish, but it translate (roughly) to "Can't read from file or source disk".It happened just after Dropbox update to 227.4.4774 - Dropbox reindexed files in the end of this update and Boxcryptor can't decrypt it anymore from that exact point.
I know this happened after update to 227.4.4774 because the problem occured on my desktop PC. I've suspected Windows od Dropbox update, so I started my laptop with network disconnected. I copied files from Boxcryptor to external disk (without any problems) and turn on the network. Dropbox updated to 227.4.4774 and from this point I could not access Boxcryptor data, the same way as on desktop PC.
I just had a dropbox update this morning and now I have the same issue, no access to files in the boxcryptor folder.
@Megan My version is now 227.4.4774
Hi @Aernout @Homebrew @Idaho,
Thanks for letting us know about this. Can you try to make the Boxcryptor files available offline inside your Dropbox folder?See if this works and let me know how you get on. If you're still running into issues, we'll investigate further.
I think it thinks they are already available offline, I only get these options when I right mouse click on the desktop folder:
I tried downloading a copy of the BoxCryptor.bc folder from dropbox online but hit the issue that I can open the files but it is just gibberish since it is the encrypted version of the file.
One thing I just noticed that I didn't realize yesterday is that I have a drive mapped to the boxcryptor folder, when I try and access the files using this method (which is my normal method) I get the error "A device attached to the system is not functioning". If I go directly to the Dropbox folder and then BoxCryptor.bc and then access the file I can open it but then it is gibberish since it is the encrypted version.
It seems whatever the update did it stopped me being able to see the decrypted versions of the file.
Hope this helps, thanks.
@Neal Boxcryptor folder is marked with green "check mark" with green background, which states "Always available on this device". Still not working.
Hi @Idaho,
Thanks for letting me know!
Can you try the following steps and let me know if this works:
Let me know how you get on.
Thank you @Neal for your support. I'm using Boxcryptor Classic. I've removed location, re-added it and nothing changed. Advanced options in Boxcryptor Classic, while mounting the drive are:
That was when things stopped working for me, after that Dropbox for Windows update.
hi, any updates to this? I'm running into the same issue and worried about the integrity of my files
thanks! this worked for me. spent most of the day trying to recover files I could no longer access before seeing this work around.
Hi @abneo,
Thanks for sharing these workarounds, it's greatly appreciated!
@Aernout @Idaho @Homebrew Can you try giving these steps a go and let me know how you get on?
@Neal @abneo solution allowed me to access Boxcryptor files, thanks! I've moved from Boxcryptor Classic to Cryptomator.
Glad to hear it @Idaho!
Managed to get access to my encrypted files due to remembering I had dropbox/boxcryptor installed on my old laptop that hadn't been connected to the internet for a while. I made sure it was offline so no updates could run then copied my encrypted files over that I had backed up from dropbox online via USB drive. I copied the files into a folder in the boxcryptor directory and they then became decrypted.
Needless to say I saved them all off immediately unencrypted to a local directory, doubt I'll be using boxcryptor going forward since this has made me cautious about future updates.
Hope this helps somebody. I tried a few different ways to access the files on the old laptop before I could see them unencrypted, I may have had to made sure boxcryptor wasn't running before I copied the files to the boxcryptor folder then restarted it to successfully see them.
Thanks.
Thanks for sharing @Homebrew!
Just for some context as to why this might have happened, we don't provide customer support for another product (i.e. Boxcryptor Classic) which is not from Dropbox.
Since the company that developed this software officially stated that they also don't offer support for Boxcryptor Classic anymore (because it reached its end-of-life), we can only help customers that struggle with .bc files to troubleshoot and find a workaround from the Dropbox side.
Thanks for letting us know how you got around it and I'm glad to hear everything worked out.
Reinstalling the software and opting out worked! Curious if the Dropbox for Windows updates will be mandatory in the future. @Neal any insight on this? Why exactly does this new sync engine break Boxcryptor's functionality?
Hi @iakoubtchik,
Since the company that developed this software officially stated that they also don't offer support for Boxcryptor Classic anymore (because it reached its end-of-life), we can only help customers that struggle with .bc files to troubleshoot and find a workaround from the Dropbox side.In short, it's not Dropbox that isn't making sure it's compatible with Boxcryptor, it's the other way round.
i can understand why you aren't checking all 3rd party apps that operate within your service for compatibility when you push out updates. That's a near impossible task and not your responsibility. I do think the technical issue, which @iakoubtchik was asking about, is something worth investigating. While it ultimately may be best for a boxcryptor update to fix the issue, an update to dropbox maybe an easy solution. Boxcryptor is no longer receiving updates, so the only hope those users have is for an update from Dropbox. I can understand with all the other issues in this latest build, boxcryptor compatability being a low priority bug. I still do hope it is added to a list for review given you acquired boxcryptor's assets a few years back ago and maybe integrating some of their code and features into dropbox: https://blog.dropbox.com/topics/company/dropbox-to-acquire-boxcryptor-assets-bring-end-to-end-encryption-to-business-users).
Thanks for the additional context @buddyguy, we'll take your feedback to the team.
