I get an error message that Windows System Restore failed?

[Richard P.44]

Hi

When I run Windows System Restore it fails with this error message

System Restore failed to replace the file (D:\Users\*******\Dropbox\.dropbox.cache\qebcobkqbgbzfynfuwbof\placeholder.bat) with its original copy from the restore point. An unspecified error occurred during restore. (0x80070780)

I have completed system recovery from an image without problem but on several occasions I have come up against this error when trying to correct a problem using system restore which would be easier to use if I could. I still have the problem if I run the system restore in safe mode with the same failour message

Any suggestions on allowing the restore to work

Richard

[DrinkWaer]

I have the exact same issue right now and it's a major pain in the behind. This bothers me to no end and it's absolutely fantastic to see that Dropbox have known about this issue now for over 2 years and yet they clearly don't care the tiniest little bit about their customers. I really don't want to move over to OneDrive but I guess you leave me no choice?

[DisbelievingAndDisappointed]

Great news. July 2021 and the issue is NOT fixed. My system has just been bricked by Dropbox. Thanks guys.

Can you at least reply and acknowledge that you're seeing these comments..?

[DisbelievingAndDisappointed]

This is a known and acknowledged issue since 2019, however Dropbox support no longer responds in the other thread and I am now also bricked by this bug. Deleting the .dropbox.cache folder didn't help, so I cannot restore.

https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-installs-integrations/I-get-an-error-message-that-Windows-Sy...

Major red flag that they've not bothered fixing this.

[Milarvoz]

Same here, my pc which didn't have all my files backed up is now bricked. Thank you dropbox, now I will use other sync service and warn everyone I know about this

[bhbleakley]

It has killed me 5 separate times on a brand new machine with Windows 11 and I won't be able to stay with Dropbox if this is going to happen over and over again. It's completely untenable for dropbox to kill windows every 10 days or so.

[yomain]

Gee, how about this for a "How we use Dropbox" story! Sure, Emmet backed up a decade of photos, but how about John has NO PHOTOS and NO COMPUTER and has been sitting around for 3 days with his bricked computer trying to work out a solution to the "placeholder.bat" problem that Dropbox knew and kept quiet about since 2018.

Never a single warning to customers: by the way, you're going to lose your restore functionality.

If Google's motto is "Do No Evil," the Dropbox mentality here must be "Do Evil" : Keep quiet and maybe the customers will never know they're making all these restore points they'll never, ever be able to use...HA HA HA!! This must keep the Dropbox engineers cracking up for days.

Think about the irony here: a company that we all pay dearly to PROTECT OUR FILES ends up DESTROYING OUR ABILITY TO RESTORE OUR COMPUTER! 

Absolutely maddening.

Can anyone say "Class Action Lawsuit" ???

[bhbleakley]

I saw somewhere else in reading that I can't find now that it is smart sync that is corrupting the file, so I turned smart sync off during the most recent fresh install. Subsequently, I was able to successfully update Windows 11 without having to restore/being unable to do so because of a corrupted dropbox cache file, but it's only been 10 days, so I can't say with certainty that turning off smart sync is a truly viable workaround.

[Skulcar]

Is this fix working on Windows 11 as well? Thanks

[Lokiwuh]

As they don't respond, it's obvious that Dropbox is still not addressing this issue. They obviously don't care about their customers or your data. To those of you who are capable, you can use a nextcloud server as a replacement for Dropbox. It can be set up on Windows or Linux. It's free and it can be found here https://nextcloud.com/ good luck!

[codeveroby]

I'm here in 2022 and this was not solved yet. DropBox completely bricked my computer system recovery image.

Worst app ever. I'll make sure to post 1 star reviews everywhere I can.