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Dropbox has taken over files into my PC, and how I can restore them
I bought a new PC a couple of years ago and decided it would be a good idea to install Dropbox. I am not a techie and somehow every single document and file that I have created, despite being saved ...
Hi there, I have the same problem and call it the same thing, Dropbox hijacking my hard drive. I've reposted this in the same thread because I'm on a deadline and need to figure this out asap. I did enable the backup because I do want a backup. I just also want to be able to directly access my files from my hard drive. I'm trying to do this because when I try to download files from Dropbox I keep getting a pop-up that says "Are-you-sure-you-want-to-copy-this-file-without-its-properties". But I DO want to download the files WITH their original properties (eg, pictures with the dates they were taken in the properties); Dropbox changes the dates to the day I'm downloading). I've also tried copying the folders on my hard drive to a usb drive, but get the same pop-up, presumably because the folders are linked because of, as you said, backing them up. Is there a way to keep my hard drive folders independent of Dropbox while still backing them up?
Megan
Dropbox Community Moderator
Dropbox Community ModeratorHi anonymous, sorry to hear about that, let me help!
Are you trying to download the content from our website when you see this error? Are the files you're trying to copy over to your USB inside the Dropbox folder; or just on your hard drive?
Keep in mind that, when you enable Backup, you allow Dropbox to move the content in the Dropbox folder. If you want to keep your file paths the way they were before you used this feature, you'd need to disable it, and move them back to their original folders.
That way, you could only back them up manually.
Let me know of any more details!
Thanks for replying!
I've tried both, downloading from my account on the dropbox website and also copying from my hard drive to my usb drive.
I read after I posted my problem that I should disable the backup so I did that (dropbox checkmarks are no longer beside the folders on my hard drive), then I tried to copy the folders from my hard drive to my usb drive but I got the same message asking me if I'm sure I want to copy the files without properties.
- Rich
Super User II
anonymous wrote:
"Are you sure you want to copy this file without its properties?"
I've tried ... copying from my hard drive to my usb drive.This isn't a Dropbox message; it's from Windows. Your files have metadata; extra attributes that are embedded in the file. What the message is saying is that you're copying a file which has file attributes to a file system that doesn't support some of the attributes that your files may have. This is common when copying files from NTFS partitions to drives that are formatted as FAT, FAT32, and other partition types.
This page goes on to explain it further (and better).
- Thanks for replying!
Yeah, I've read that about the file systems and formats but I don't understand why that's an issue in the first place. Like why did the formatting even change if these files are mine to begin with? Why does dropbox need to do that to back up someone's files? Onedrive doesn't do that. I'm doing a free dropbox trial to compare services and so far it's been frustrating even beyond this problem.
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