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Hundreds of background processes, new windows opened
Dropbox seems to be stuck in a loop, and opening hundreds of background processes. This consumes all my CPU capacity, then eats at my memory and disk space. See attached pics. There also seem to be windows being automatically opened, as my typing or mouse clicks in other apps is interrupted when the hundreds of background processes are opened. The number seems to level off after about 1650 (about 100 are from other sources; I waited for a few minutes after startup to start the dropbox app, and didn't have too much trouble until I opened other programs that access files on Dropbox).
I went through the file permissions troubleshooting, and it came back with an error about the cookies file. I couldn't find it in order to try to fix it.
\Users\(username)\Cookies\*: Access is denied Performance Post Dropbox and other apps startupprocesses post startupprocesses pre-startupperformance pre-startupSuccessfully processed 644 files; Failed processing 1 files
I appear to have resolved this, by uninstalling, removing my local dropbox folder and re-installing (and allowing the subsequent download). Now I only see 4 Dropbox related processes, and system performance is normal.
It appears that the issue was actually related to firewall changes in my network. Apparently Dropbox was spawning processes that would then wind up waiting indefinitely, instead of completing and exiting. Apparently there is no check for system load, number of child processes, etc. And the question remains as to why the Dropbox servers are now showing up on my block list.
While this fix worked for me, if folks have a significant amount of data in their Dropbox, they may be more reluctant to try it.
26 Replies
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- Lusil
Dropbox Staff
Hi there WillHermann, thanks for checking in with us and for the screenshots!
As a first step, could you confirm for me if you've tried rebooting your computer?
If you have, could you let me know what you see when you hover over your Dropbox icon that's next to your computer's clock?
Keep me posted!
I've restarted at least 8 times in the effort to fix this problem, varying whether Dropbox is to start upon login or not.
When I hover, I get Dropbox 89.4.278, Up to Date
[IMAGE LINK IS BROKEN AND CANNOT BE DISPLAYED]
- Lusil
Thanks for your swift reply, WillHermann.
I'd be more than happy to send you a ticket so that we can have a better look into this.
Before I do though, could you confirm if you've checked this article out, which provides some suggestions on how to tackle high CPU/RAM usage?
Let me know what you find!
1-all files synced
2-disabled our anti-virus, still getting the problem. Don't feel comfortable turning off the windows security. can't think of another app
3-I already described the error I get when setting permissions, and I can't figure out how to fix it
4- all files synced, not excessive
5-I don't think so...
6-In regular hard drive
7-no symlinks, other users in same folder not having issues
Is this a chatbot? Can I call someone?
Fun new twist: those hundreds of processes are starting up without starting the Dropbox app
- Lusil
Thanks for checking those out for me, WillHermann.
At first, I can confirm: 100% human. :upside_down:
Moving on to your main concern though, from your initial screenshots, I'm afraid I don't see any processes that relate to the desktop app.
Also, since the desktop app isn't running when you experience high CPU, the cause could be related to an external factor, such as a third party app (for example, I can see that you're running a few that show up at the very top of the list under Power usage).
For this reason, I'd recommend looking into other third party apps that could be causing this.
If you're still having trouble with this or you reach a dead-end, please contact our Support team for a more in-depth look. Thanks!
I have the exact same problem. It all started after the update of 26.01.2020.
Instead of having us trying random things (I refer to the article that you pointed above) and telling us to restart, just admit that dropbox **bleep**ed up completly with the latest update and have cost us quite a few human hours already.
I can confirm that after uninstalling dropbox I managed to regain control of my computer and finish some urgent work that i needed done, but apparently that means I have no longer the auto-sync from my hard disk.
Please solve the problem and post the solution. I am fairly sure it must be quite widespread!
Thank you in advance.
I have the identical problem. Hundreds of Dropbox processes, chewing up all available memory, CPU, and disk cycles.
No tray icon to shut them down, and system too un-responsive to manually stop each of the multitudes of processes.
I uninstalled Dropbox as well. I'll be waiting to hear of a fix before I re-install - or if it takes too long, I'll switch to an alternative service.
- Lusil
Hey Minas S. and UnableToUse, thanks for nudging us on this thread and sorry to hear that you're also having trouble with high CPU/RAM usage.
I'd be more than happy to help look into this with you, and to ensure that I have a better visual of what you're seeing, could you send me a screenshot (without any personal info) of your Task Manager (Windows) or Activity Monitor (Mac) showing these processes?
Keep me posted!
Having un-installed Dropbox so I can actually use my computer, I no longer can generate the desired images, sorry.
I can share the method I used to make my computer responsive enough to un-install Dropbox:
PowerShell> Stop-Process -name "Dropbox"
I really hope you can fix this, as I'd prefer not to have to migrate to another service (with all of my family and all of our devices).
