Error 0x80070780 when copying a file out of Dropbox folder even with Dropbox uninstalled

[paulsimongb]

I have just got a new Windows 11 laptop and was trying to move files to it and re-organise and everything has gone wrong. The standard folders of Documents, Pictures, Music and Video are now either inaccessible or have duplicates else where.

I am trying to copy a file from under the Dropbox folder to a folder outside Dropbox and it will not let me. I continually get the above error. Some files have copied and others have not so I now have some of my files under the dropbox folder and others elsewhere

Dropbox is uninstalled so it is definitely not trying to sync the file.

I have tried ChkDesk C: /F /R

Scandisk

DISM

I have Admin rights

etc

but nothing has cured this.

It almost seems that Dropbox is acting like ransomware.

How do I regain control of my files to be able to copy them away from Dropbox?

I have been using Dropbox for years, largely because it used to be OneDrive that caused this sort of issue, but that no longer seems to be the case.

Regards

Paul SImon

[Megan]

Hi @paulsimongb, let's jump right into this! 

Let me start by saying that what you mentioned above sounds more like a Microsoft error, than a Dropbox related error. Also, the fact that the app is uninstalled when this happens, shows that it might not be directly related to Dropbox, but let's have a look into this. 

You mentioned your Documents, Pictures, Music and Video paths. It sounds like you used our Computer backup feature. Did you disable the feature, before uninstalling the app? 

One last thing, have you rebooted your device, in case this does the trick for you?

Let me know more!

[paulsimongb]

Hi Megan

Yes I have re-booted the laptop several times

I didn't explicitly disable backups before uninstalling Dropbox. However, I had set Dropbox not to load at startup and I had re-booted before I uninstalled it, so it was definitely disabled.

It seems that this error can be caused by Dropbox, OneDrive, and various other pieces of software. Possibly more a question for Microsoft, but my assumption would be that if I am an Administrator, then I have full control over my files, however, it seems that this is not always the case.

This problem is only affecting files under the DropBox folder, which why I think it is related to DropBox.

Regards

Paul

[paulsimongb]

Do I need to re-installed Dropbox, turn off backups, and then uninstall again?

[paulsimongb]

One thing I am not clear about, is whether the files do actually exist on my hard drive. Eg if it says the file is 92KB, is it possible that this is only a placeholder and the file only exists in the DropBox cloud? I don't think that is the case as the folder containing the file does not exist in DropBox.com.

If I try to open any file it will not open. It says that the file format is corrupt. So, the file does not exist in DropBox.com and cannot be accessed on my new laptop's hard drive.

Fortunately, I can still access it on my old laptop and on an external hard drive.

I am going to try raising this on a Microsoft forum as well

Regards

Paul SImon

[Hannah]

Hey @paulsimongb, sorry to jump in here. 

It would be a good idea to disable backup, if you never did, so do try to reinstall the app and try it, to see if it helps.

And I would definitely suggest you reach out to Microsoft, see if they have some insight on the particular error and update us here, once you know more.

[paulsimongb · Accepted solution]

Hi,

I found that I could not open, copy, or move any files under the DropBox folder. The only thing I could do was delete. It must be a very curious security setting that would allow you to delete a file but not to read it (Open or Copy are effectively a read option - Move is effectively a Read and Delete operation).

I had already uninstalled DropBox.

I have deleted everything under the DropBox folder and then the DropBox folder itself.

I have changed references from the standard system short cuts such as documents back to their original locations eg C:\user\<me>\Documents

I have then recovered my data from an external hard drive.

I am sure that you might want me to work with Microsoft and Dropbox to get to the bottom of what caused this. However, you can also probably understand why I am not going to risk using Dropbox again.

I have already lost 1.5 days of my time

I have lost a small amount of data, but fortunately as it was a new laptop I had only changed a few files since the last backup was taken, and all my email is on an Exchange Server.

[rbacha]

I get the same error code with some of the files in some folders while other folders in files and the same parent folder can be copied from DropBox to my local drives. I never had this issue with Windows 10, and it only started a few weeks ago when I installed Windows 11. I see Dropbox is trying to say it's a Windows issue, but shouldn't Dropbox understand why Windows 11 is causing this error? I use Dropbox for work from my home computer and the Windows 'File Explorer' exchange tool is very efficient versus the online clunky Dropbox version.  I hope Dropbox takes this seriously to try to resolve the issue versus just saying it's a Windows 11 issue. Dropbox needs to run an update to get their software working on Windows 11.

Best,

[Walter]

Hey @rbacha - sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

Can you please let us know the version and the status of the Dropbox desktop app as shown in your taskbar? 

Does the issue persist on the latest, stable version of the app?