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Forum Discussion
Problem with backup (folders not in default location)
Long Story - Short Version
New pc/laptop.
Installed 2nd hard drive/ssd
Moved location of ALL my folders (public and private) to 2nd drive. Path D:\Users\XXXX(name of user)\folder(music, documents, videos etc)
Installed upgraded dropbox with 1 year free gratis 100gb storage. because i bought a 2k laptop.... and discovered DropBox Backup& Sync..
It won't run because folders are not in default location. IE C:\user\XXXX\Folder
Duh! Of course they ain't! And I dont want them there EVER!
The repair option will move the folders back to C: and I DO NOT WANT THAT TO HAPPEN - EVER!
And because of this, the backup funtion won't work. This is sloppy programming! I was using Glacier from Synology (which is FREE BTW) and i just point it at my folders and BOOM! backed up. This bit of software cant even backup if the files are not where DropBox programmers have decided they must be. Really Bad Idea. anyone these days with a pc or laptop, which can use a second drive WILL move their folders off the boot drive. unless they have a death wish, of course...
pcuser wrote:
... i just point it at my folders and BOOM! backed up. This bit of software cant even backup if the files are not where DropBox programmers have decided they must be.
That's not how the backup feature works with Dropbox. It doesn't back up those folders from their original location and just copy the data to your Dropbox account. It MOVES those folders into your Dropbox folder so they sync like any other file or folder in your Dropbox. It can only move them into Dropbox if they exist in their original location.
- Rich
Super User II
pcuser wrote:
... i just point it at my folders and BOOM! backed up. This bit of software cant even backup if the files are not where DropBox programmers have decided they must be.
That's not how the backup feature works with Dropbox. It doesn't back up those folders from their original location and just copy the data to your Dropbox account. It MOVES those folders into your Dropbox folder so they sync like any other file or folder in your Dropbox. It can only move them into Dropbox if they exist in their original location.
not going to happen. most modern users will have either a virtual partion or a 2nd hdd/ssd to store their data on. moving that data back to the "C" drive is not an option, just so dropbox can copy them to the cloud.
because of this oversight or deliberate mistake, I am now using a 3rd party software option to back up my data to the cloud.
And once my DP promotional offer is over, so will my account be closed too... Until the next free offer, of course
Late reply to this, but I just discovered this thread after facing exactly the same issue myself and thought this might help you and/or others in the future:
Since all that the Dropbox backup feature does is actually move your desktop/documents/downloads etc. folders INTO the Dropbox folder, you can do this manually through the Windows file explorer instead (not sure about the process for other platforms) to achieve the same effect, rather than Dropbox not being able to recognise the folders unless they are in the default location.
1) First, move your Dropbox folder onto the D drive if it's not already - click on the Dropbox application icon in the taskbar right-hand corner, click your profile picture and select Preferences. Go to the Sync tab and under 'Dropbox folder location' click Move. Set it so that the location is D:\Users\XXX\Dropbox and move all the files over (might take some time if there's lots of files in your Dropbox already).
2) Now open Windows file explorer, navigate to your Desktop folder, right-click on it and select Properties. Under the Location tab click on 'Move...' and navigate to the Dropbox folder, or manually type the file path D:\Users\XXX\Dropbox\Desktop and click OK. Hit yes if it asks to create the new folder and if you want to move all the files over to the new location etc.
3) Repeat this process for Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, Videos etc. and any other locations you want to move.
Now your default locations for saving to these folders are contained within your Dropbox folder on the computer and therefore will automatically sync and backup any changes that are made to your Dropbox account. Hope this helps!
I installed dropbox as usual in one of my computers. But it won't backup the desktop because it says it's not in the default location. However I never changed it. The only thing I can think of is that the OS is set to spanish and the desktop folder is called the "escritorio" folder. But that's so very standard that I'm surprised it doesn't work. It's very frustating but at the same time made me not use my desktop as much for important documents.
- Nancy
Dropbox Staff
Hi bronderblazer, and welcome to the forum.
Have you tried to back up your Downloads or Documents folders, as well, by any chance? Do you see the same error, in this case?
Also, can you clarify what’s the exact filepath of your Desktop folder at the moment? You can also upload screenshot of it, if you prefer (just make sure your personal username isn’t showing).
I install your app to mantain a folder to share between various machines an when it start to "backup" my documents folder (I don't want this, only a specific folder) I stop the app then my "my documents" folder dissapear from my harddrive...
I'm tryn to recover the files (more than 120GB of data) and hope I can do it but now I start a fight against your app and your company, I know I haven´t a compensation but you have to learn to do as the user choose not only that olnly you want
I uninstalled Dropbox Backup yesterday (don't ask) and everything went well. I have always been able to see my Dropbox Backup files in the Dropbox folder (as hidden files). I reinstalled today and again everything went OK. However, I cannot see those files in the Dropbox folder any more, not even as hidden files. A bit of research suggests that they should be in Library/Cloud Storage. They are not. In fact, they don't seem to be anywhere. Where are they? I am running Ventura 13.1 on my 2020 iMac.
Hi, Megan
I re-installed (164.4.7914) today but when I uninstalled I didn't remove any settings as I had every intention of reinstalling and am busy backing up the usual folders (Desktop, Documents etc.) and all seems to be going well. It would appear that I when uninstalled I had been using a previous version of Dropbox which caused a relocation of the files I am backing up to Dropbox folder but hidden and links were maintained to my User/folder. The files I am backing up now appear to be remaining untouched in their original location i.e., in the User/ folder, but I am led to believe they should be being copied or moved (which?) to User/Library/Cloud Storage but they haven't (It's empty!). My files are being copied to the website. Can you reassure me that the files I have in my User/ folder are completely safe?
BTW I didn't receive any warning that such an upgrade was about to happen. Hmm. Also, in Backup my Mac is now called Mac (1) and is that name is unchangeable which is very irritating!
Do you think that a complete uninstall is advised and then a restart from scratch. If so, could you please advise me on how to do that.
