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JimmyInTN's avatar
JimmyInTN
Explorer | Level 3
2 years ago

Can I access "My Documents" on a different computer?

I think my Windows 10 profile has gotten corrupted. On the login screen, there is no password box, just a link to Sign In and when I click that, eventually a dark gray box pops up with no text or anything in it. Eventually it closes and goes back to the login screen. In order to save room on the hard drive, I had the My Documents folder hosted on Dropbox. If I were to install Dropbox on an old gateway laptop I have, would I be able to get access to the My Documents that I had saved from my laptop that bit the dust?

8 Replies

  • Hi, JimmyInTN ,

     

    Assuming that your Windows 10 computer already synced the files to Dropbox, you should be able to retrieve them by installing Dropbox on your gateway laptop. Though, a faster way to confirm is to log in the Dropbox web interface (https://www.dropbox.com) through a web browser.

     

    Cheers

  • JimmyInTN's avatar
    JimmyInTN
    Explorer | Level 3
    2 years ago

    When I log in to the Dropbox website though, My Documents is not listed. The only things listed are a few folders I shared online with a customer I was doing work for.

     
  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    2 years ago

    JimmyInTN wrote:

    When I log in to the Dropbox website though, My Documents is not listed.


    Perhaps the folder wasn't syncing? How, exactly, was your Documents folder hosted on Dropbox? What steps did you take to do it?

  • JimmyInTN's avatar
    JimmyInTN
    Explorer | Level 3
    2 years ago

    It was so long ago, I don't remember, but I think it was when I first installed Dropbox. I know I had 2 My Documents folders. One had the dropbox logo in the bottom of the icon. The other one contained a shortcut to the dropbox one.

  • JimmyInTN's avatar
    JimmyInTN
    Explorer | Level 3
    2 years ago

    The fact that the files were not on my hard drive and that I could access them, means they are out there somewhere. I just have to figure out how to get to them. 

  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    2 years ago

    Hey JimmyInTN, I'm assuming you've also checked locally on the device, right? 

     

    If I were you, I'd search for some example file names using the File Explorer, to see if you can find anything there. 

     

    While you're at it, please feel free to check your events page, just to get an idea of your account's activity. Let me know if you see anything related to the missing files there. 

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