'Couldn't start Dropbox' message in Windows. OperationalError.

[leahvangelia]

Hi, 

When accessing a shared folder in dropbox, I noticed that it hasn't updated and saw that the app hadn't started at all. Then I tried to open the desktop app and the message "Couldn't start dropbox" appeared. There is no solution in at the link to help articles. I check the antivirus, but no files are under restriction. 

More info: 

bn.BUILD_KEY: Dropbox
bn.VERSION: 196.4.6900
bn.constants.WINDOWS_SHELL_EXT_VERSION: 71
bn.is_frozen: True
machine_id: 4ca98b80-a784-49d7-bc96-8b98968ea6cb
pid: 13416
cwd: 'C:\\WINDOWS\\SysWOW64'
     real_path='C:\\Windows\\SysWOW64'
           	mode=0o40777	uid=0	gid=0
     parent	mode=0o40777	uid=0	gid=0
HOME: None
appdata: 'C:\\Users\\mihai\\AppData\\Local\\Dropbox'
         real_path='C:\\Users\\mihai\\AppData\\Local\\Dropbox'
               	mode=0o40777	uid=0	gid=0
         parent	mode=0o40777	uid=0	gid=0
dropbox_path: None
                    	not found
              parent	not found
sys_executable: 'C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Dropbox\\Client\\Dropbox.exe'
                real_path='C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Dropbox\\Client\\Dropbox.exe'
                      	mode=0o100777	uid=0	gid=0
                parent	mode=0o40777	uid=0	gid=0
trace.__file__: 'C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Dropbox\\Client\\196.4.6900\\python-packages.zip\\dropbox\\client\\ui\\common\\boot_error.pyc'
                real_path='C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Dropbox\\Client\\196.4.6900\\python-packages.zip\\dropbox\\client\\ui\\common\\boot_error.pyc'
                      	not found
                parent	not found
TMP: C:\Users\mihai\AppData\Local\Temp
TEMP: C:\Users\mihai\AppData\Local\Temp
tempdir: 'C:\\Users\\mihai\\AppData\\Local\\Temp'
         real_path='C:\\Users\\mihai\\AppData\\Local\\Temp'
               	mode=0o40777	uid=0	gid=0
         parent	mode=0o40777	uid=0	gid=0
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "desktop/dropbox/client/main.py", line 8152, in main_startup
  File "desktop/dropbox/client/main.py", line 2662, in initialize
  File "desktop/dropbox/client/main.py", line 1633, in startup_low
  File "desktop/dropbox/client/multiaccount/instance_database.py", line 694, in __init__
  File "desktop/dropbox/client/multiaccount/instance_database.py", line 141, in __init__
  File "desktop/dropbox/sqlite3_helpers.py", line 946, in __init__
  File "desktop/dropbox/sqlite3_helpers.py", line 911, in rebuild
  File "desktop/dropbox/sqlite3_helpers.py", line 953, in _load_db
  File "desktop/dropbox/sqlite3_helpers.py", line 959, in _do_migrations
  File "../win32_x86_64_dropbox_virtual_env/python38/Lib/contextlib.py", line 113, in __enter__
  File "desktop/dropbox/sqlite3_helpers.py", line 659, in cursor
  File "desktop/dropbox/sqlite3_helpers.py", line 646, in conn
  File "desktop/dropbox/sqlite3_helpers.py", line 627, in _create_conn
  File "desktop/dropbox/sqlite3_helpers.py", line 545, in connect
  File "desktop/dropbox/sqlite3_helpers.py", line 536, in load_sqlite_ext
sqlite3.OperationalError: The specified module could not be found.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

[Megan · Accepted solution]

Hi @leahvangelia, let's see what we can find together! 

My colleague posted the relevant steps, in order to remedy this here. Would you mind giving this a go, and then update me on the results? 

Thanks a bunch!

[leahvangelia]

Hi Megan, 

Thanks for you response. After re-installing the the app, the problem seems to be solved. 

[Megan]

Awesome news @leahvangelia! 

Happy to see that your issue is now resolved! If you need anything else, we'll be one post away. 🤗