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Forum Discussion
Moving or Copying Dropbox To Another Computer
I just moved 80 Gbytes of Dropbox folders and files (not that much really) to my new computer. First I copied them to an external hard drive. Then I installed the Dropbox application on the new computer. Then I copied all of the files from the external hard drive to the Dropbox folder on my new computer. Six days later (yes, I have a slow but steady DSL Internet service), it's still uploading every one of those files. These files were already in the cloud and still on my old computer.
All I can ask is, "WHY!?" These files had already been uploaded and indexed on my old computer and existed in the cloud. Why would my new computer have to re-upload them and not just re-index them? It makes me think that it would be quicker just to download the files from the cloud (download speed on most Internet services being quicker than upload speed). But this also seems unnecessary since I can copy those same files much faster using an external hard drive or even my LAN for that matter.
This has happened to me before. It seemed ridiculous then and it still does. It makes me want to discard cloud storage altogether and stick with redundant computers for backup and external hard drives for access on other devices.
So, anyway, can someone tell me how to avoid having to upload all the files all over again when moving or copying files from one computer to another?
Hey jrlbell, there are some steps you can follow, so that the application doesn't sync your Dropbox files, but only indexes them.
This however would require to have your Dropbox files already on your new computer and not on an external drive.
These steps are:
1. Rename your existing Dropbox folder to "Dropbox (old)" or similar.
2. Install Dropbox and select the location that you want for the Dropbox folder.
3. When the installation is finished, Dropbox will immediately start to sync.
4. Pause syncing or exit Dropbox.
5. Move only the content of "Dropbox (old)" into the newly created Dropbox folder. When the move is complete, and not before, resume syncing or re-launch Dropbox.This should cause the app to index the files, instead of redownload them.
I hope this helps.
- Jay
Dropbox Staff
Hi jrlbell, thanks for bringing this to our attention.
Have you amended the bandwidth settings on the Dropbox desktop application for the files to upload or sync faster?
Did the Dropbox desktop application state that the files are syncing, or indexing, when you click the icon in the system tray/menu bar?
This will help me to assist further!
Hi Jay,
Yes, about three days into the upload I went through the settings and realized that the Bandwidth for uploads was limited, so I changed that to unlimited.
The Dropbox app (hovering over taskbar icon) indicates (and indicated) "Uploading". When I click on the taskbar icon at the bottom of the window it simply says "synching." I'm down to 38 files left after more than a week (I believe it was a total of 48k files or 90 GB) to start. However, I can't say that the 38 files left aren't ones I've created since starting this whole thing.
I do know what it looks like when Dropbox is simply indexing because I kept the dropbox on the old computer but moved the files (using the built-in move function) to a different drive. The indexing takes a infinitesimal fraction of the time.
Thanks for looking into this. It will help when I transfer files to another computer.
Hello,
I have searched but I can't find an answer that matches up with my issue. I had Dropbox on my old computer, multiple partitions and folder structures.
I have physically moved all of my files from the old computer to my new computer because it's faster than downloading. New computer has a single drive and single partition and different folders. How do I install Dropbox on the new computer? There doesn't seem to be a way to match up old folders with new folders. Do I need to delete my account and start afresh?
Thanks,
-AJ
- Rich
Super User II
ajhuff wrote:
I had Dropbox on my old computer, multiple partitions and folder structures.
What does this mean? Dropbox only has a single folder that it will sync. It can't sync files and folders from multiple drives/partitions. How, exactly, was your Dropbox set up?
How do I install Dropbox on the new computer? There doesn't seem to be a way to match up old folders with new folders.In most cases it's possible to move your Dropbox folder to a new computer so it won't have to download everything again, though it WILL have to re-index everything. If you're going to do this, I would suggest that you have all files synced to the original computer first (i.e. not using Selective Sync and all files marked as Available Offline).
First, copy your existing Dropbox folder to the new computer and rename it to Dropbox_OLD or similar. Install Dropbox and select the location that you want for the Dropbox folder. When the installation is finished, Dropbox will immediately start to sync. Exit the Dropbox application. Move the content of Dropbox_OLD into the newly created Dropbox folder. When the move is complete, and not before, re-launch Dropbox.
At this point Dropbox will begin indexing all of your files. This process will take a while, especially if you have a lot of data to go through. During this time it may say that files are uploading or downloading, but it's only transferring comparison data and any changes that it finds. Be patient and LET IT WORK.
This is the process I follow for each new computer and it's worked well each time. I just did it again over the holiday, no issues.
- I understand that there is only one Dropbox folder. But now everything is on my new computer. Some of the old folders still exist many have now moved to accommodate other folders from other partitions on the old computer. Point is none of the folder structure on the new computer matches the old, so it doesn't match what Dropbox has in the cloud.
In essence I want to start over.
-AJ
