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Solved
Completely disable "Dropbox on Startup"
When starting up my computer and logging in to the user account, I do NOT want Dropbox to be starting, at all. The files Dropbox needs are not even accessible unless I as the user take a particular ...
Hey ben
I launched a boot trace to find the cause of the problem and I noticed that the corresponding option in the preferences of the application does not disable the startup at all. It has the only role of requesting a "quiet close" of the Dropbox processes during the startup phase. It also explain why you still see Dropbox in msconfig even after unchecking the box...
That said, Dropbox create a key for its own startup, hidden in Windows registry, the only option to fully disable Dropbox at startup is to remove it from there.
Lets find it in one of the following paths:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
You should find the line:
Dropbox "C:\Program Files (x86)\Dropbox\Client\Dropbox.exe" /systemstartup
Backup it if necessary and just delete it. Done, no more Dropbox at startup!
Note: You may have to repeat the operation regularly as Dropbox updates could recreate startup reg key anytime 😋
I don't know what support system you use, but a ticket there might be a good path forward. I do think there are some changes needed to the Dropbox software here.
Jane
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffI'll be awaiting your next email!
In my first post, I wrote,
There are no tasks, Dropbox or otherwise, in the Startup tab of Task Managerbut I did not include a screenshot for that. Here it is:
In the nonpublic ticket, I learned that Dropbox has separate logins for the app, this Community (which is described as "social media"), and the support ticket system. This makes the process more confusing than necessary.
I sent the log file, but it was of no use; the support ticket agent could not figure out why Dropbox continued to start up and could only suggest that I go back to Microsoft.
This was a new installation of Windows on a brand new machine. Microsoft has already responded by making clear they have no responsibility for how third party apps behave. There is a legitimate use case for apps being able to embed themselves in various places in the startup process, and it is up to each app to provide effective user controls that actually make the desired changes in the app. If the app does not respect the user's choices, that's not Microsoft's fault; it's the app maker's. This really should be an FTC issue for violations of what Dropbox is telling the user!Hey ben
I launched a boot trace to find the cause of the problem and I noticed that the corresponding option in the preferences of the application does not disable the startup at all. It has the only role of requesting a "quiet close" of the Dropbox processes during the startup phase. It also explain why you still see Dropbox in msconfig even after unchecking the box...
That said, Dropbox create a key for its own startup, hidden in Windows registry, the only option to fully disable Dropbox at startup is to remove it from there.
Lets find it in one of the following paths:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
You should find the line:
Dropbox "C:\Program Files (x86)\Dropbox\Client\Dropbox.exe" /systemstartup
Backup it if necessary and just delete it. Done, no more Dropbox at startup!
Note: You may have to repeat the operation regularly as Dropbox updates could recreate startup reg key anytime 😋
