Backup software errors with cache placeholder reparse points.

[bspachman]

Hi all--

One of my Windows machines has started throwing errors on every backup. The error is:

19-Mar-2024 01:07:07 -05:00 Error: C:\Users\<user>\Documents\My Dropbox\.dropbox.cache\qebcobkqbgpbzfynfuwbof\placeholder.zip: Unexpected reparse-point type: 00000044

And it throws the same reparse-point error for each of the 90 files in the oddly-named directory. All the files in that directory are “placeholder.xxx” with different file extensions. It just started doing this on March 15, so I’m guessing there was an auto-update of Dropbox that changed something.

Any ideas on how to clear the error other than simply removing the directory from the backup set?

Thanks!

[Rich]

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@bspachman wrote:

Any ideas on how to clear the error other than simply removing the directory from the backup set?

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Excluding the .dropbox.cache folder from the backup set is the proper solution. There's nothing in that folder that you would need in the event of a system or drive crash. It's used by Dropbox to store chunked files during the sync process, and as a temporary storage for deleted files before they're purged.

[bspachman]

Thanks! I agree that excluding is the simplest way to go, but it does make managing the backup configuration more tedious. I have this same question out to the backup software's developer, so at this point, I'm mostly wondering why this change happened after years of the backup program and Dropbox coexisting peacefully. 🙂

[Glen B.]

My backup burped on those placeholder.xxx files too. First time it happened was on this week's weekly backup. Hasn't happened in the previous decade. I agree that excluding it from the backup set is one solution, sure, but it does make the config messier. Instead I deleted the folder named "qebcobkqbgpbzfynfuwbof" that contained all those .xxx files. Let's see if DropBox can live without it.