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mrswilliam's avatar
mrswilliam
Explorer | Level 4
7 years ago
Solved

Old versions of Documents replacing new versions

I have two laptops, Windows 8.1 (my main device) and Windows 10 which I rarely use.  8.1 had to go into a repair shop so i set about setting up dropbox on W10 with dropbox. It had some old files on i...
desktop
sync
  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    7 years ago
    Hey mrswilliam & Wilu, I appreciate it that you both circled back to me here letting me know of your current state of affairs. Initially I’m glad to hear that you’ve both been able to work around the previous syncing issues & I’m here to send you some pro-active tips for future reference!
     
    Now mrswilliam, I’m right on the same page with you after the last bit you added in your last post that your deleted files re-appeared & I can confirm that you took the most appropriate course of action, therefore you may reference the same set of steps in case you experience that again in the future. 
     
    Spoiler
    Often when you delete files or folders, they don’t immediately disappear from every synced computer. If you have a synced computer running an application that is using the file, that will cause the file to reappear in your Dropbox account. Or, if you’re seeing a shared file or folder reappear after deletion, it may be that a person you shared it with is accessing it.
     
    If you check the previous versions of the file and see that it was accessed from an application on another computer, you can delete it off of that computer to stop it from reappearing in your Dropbox.
    Following, when it comes to your remarks Wilu, you may have an additional look on my post here that explains how Conflicted Copies are created & ways to avoid them, as well as some tips regarding versioning. 
     
    Once again, thanks a lot to both for your ongoing cooperation & contribution on this conversation, it’s been a pleasure discussing this behavior with you, as each interaction helped me shape a slightly more coherent picture of what you were experiencing. 
     
    Our Community wall is always open to further inquiries or feedback & it’ll be a pleasure to hear back from you in the future. Happy syncing & take care until we talk again! 
Wilu's avatar
Wilu
Explorer | Level 4
7 years ago

Hi, I have a similar problem:

when both my Computers are online, I have no problem to synchronize: I change a file on one CP, a few seconds later I get the new version A on the second CP and vice versa. If one CP is offline (Dropbox off) I get a mess: I can change my document to version B, save on Dropbox and later, when I open Dropbox on the second CP it will sync my document to old version A on both CP, losing the new version B totally.

How can I prevent this?

Jane's avatar
Jane
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
7 years ago
Hey Wilu, let me clarify a bit for you below! 
 
If one CP is offline (Dropbox off) I get a mess: I can change my document to version B, save on Dropbox and later, when I open Dropbox on the second CP it will sync my document to old version A on both CP, losing the new version B totally.
 
Based on your description, it seems that both devices are intermittently disconnected, therefore the issue you’re facing with files reverting to an earlier version may have to do with an incorrect installation. I’d suggest starting off from there, in order to understand what could have possibly gone wrong. 
 
Here are the initial recommended checks to tackle this discrepancy: 
 
  • Can you confirm that you’re running the latest Stable version of the application on your computers (57.4.89) :arrows_counterclockwise:/ :white_check_mark:, you’ve made all OS updates & you’re not using Symlinks nor referenced files? (Based on your description, it’s my understanding that you’ve only installed Dropbox on these two devices, which you can easily check on your Security tab online.)  
  • From there, you may running a brief test by syncing a newer version of a file after toggling your WiFi to Off> Update locally & Sync, which will indicate what happened. (Note: It would be best if you could repeat on each device.) 
  • Last but not least, in case you suspect that something similar may occur, you could use the Web Uploader to update your files, which will replace the older version with the new one. 
Let me know of how you get on with these pointers or in case you have any update & I’ll do my best to check back with you more closely! 

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