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This folder already contains a Dropbox directory. (Dropbox 3.03 on Fedora 21 (x64)
Is this some kind of a joke? I keep my dropbox folder on a separate partition to simply redirect the dropbox daemon to that location and not have to go through the whole download process all over again. Now, after a fresh install of Fedora 21, installing this new version of dropbox prevents me from pointing it to the previously installed location stating 'This folder already contains a Dropbox directory.'.... THIS NEEDS TO BE FIXED NOW!
- Uninstall Dropbox if it's installed. Rename your existing Dropbox folder to Dropbox_OLD or similar. Reinstall Dropbox and select the location that you want for the Dropbox folder. Keep in mind that external drives are NOT recommended as data loss can occur under the right conditions. When the installation is finished, Dropbox will immediately start to sync. Pause syncing or exit Dropbox. Move the content of Dropbox_OLD into the newly created Dropbox folder. When the move is complete, and not before, resume syncing or re-launch Dropbox.
At this point Dropbox will begin indexing all of your files. This process will take a while, especially with 700GB of data to go through. During this time it may say that files are uploading or downloading, but it's only transferring comparison data and any changes that it find. be patient and LET IT WORK.
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1. exit dropbox
2. rename rejected folder to anything (e.g. add 1 character to end)
3. start dropbox
4. move folder to new drive/location, ok to move everything
5. exit dropbox
6. delete newly created folder
7. rename original folder back to original name
8. start dropbox, wait for sync, check and delete selective sync conflicts
I am a rather new user of Dropbox, and I just encountered the same issue, which resulted in a very negative user experience for me.
I bought a new PC and installed the old HD containing my Dropbox folder in the new system. Upon installation I was unable to simply choose my old folder for Dropbox Desktop again - instead of that I had to move my data back and forth through my whole system.
The complete procedure took me several hours over two evenings, instead of a simple mouseclick on my old dropbox folder during the installation. A function to turn of sync completely is also missing, everytime I restart dropbox / my PC the software started syncing to the wrong folder again. I had to remove and reinstall the software several times, to delete files that have been downloaded to wrong folders already, and all this left me with a very bad impression and the concern that I probably even lost data during the messed up setup process.
I normally don't make such statements, but I wont extend my subscription for this service unless this is fixed soon(TM). I update my PC system regularly, and this kind of unnecessary obstacles is a no-go for me. I mean...the software even realizes that there is an existing Dropbox folder, why can't I simply choose it during the setup? oO
Have a good day!I totally agree with Zoltan. This issue has been open for two years. I think Dropbox is doing great things, but this is a friggen no brainer. DB's sync alogorithm is obviously pretty **bleep** good, if it can do what it's doing now -- why not add this feature and make it complete? IMO, this is the single most important feature to be added. I pay a lot of money for this system, and I expect better sync capabilities. Just for the record, in the last two years, I have had to "move" my Dropbox three times. This means each time I have to wait hours for a resync... Come on, DB, get you s**t to gether!
- This is ridiculous, a synchronization software that can't synchronize an existing folder.
You know you can just switch the original folder's name, move the folder in the app, then switch the names again. It's sketchy, but it works.
If the folder has 10k files with a total of 700 gigabytes, also synced to 10+ computers it would generate a massive network, disk and CPU load, since dropbox would rename, move and re-rename all copies of the data.
- WARNING: the accepted solution is NOT the correct solution.
This will not work in cases where synching was not working before reinstallation. Specially now since we reached a phase where the still available installer on dropbox website is too old to update itself and therefore will NOT sync.
If there is any file out of sync on local machine from previous installation it will overwrite the data on dropbox cloud storage. also if folders were renamed or moved you will end up with duplicate data.
If you are sure that all files are at sync, then simply download all files again. this takes longer but is safe. Three years later this joke is still a joke. I've been using dropbox for years but there are so many options I shouldn't have to do this kind of jury rigging in 2017. How can you take THREE YEARS to patch something so simple?
On the 12-15-2014 :
"Hi Nathanel, This is a known issue that we are working on fixing. Can you download 2.10.52 for now?"
And 3 !! years later. You are what ? Still working on it ? With the millions you make per month with all your users you are still working on it ? You want us to buy you a keyboard and pay for a programmer maybe ?
