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Hi, how do i reduce the characters in the name given to to the backup folder "My Mac (macminis-Mac-mini.local)" because I am unable to open some documents as the app I want to use cannot handle paths with components that are too long.
I tried changing my computer name in Apples system preferences but that has not made a difference, so it seems this original name in brackets was stored after the first sync, so there could be some preference or settings file I can change?
I have tried turning off the backup option and that clears out all the folders for My Mac however when I turn on the backup feature they re-appear with the long name in brackets rather than the shorter name given to my mac.
Ok, I managed to work around the problem by unlinking Dropbox first then linking it again, now its picked up the new computer name.
However this is not the best solution, Dropbox should allow users to edit the name as required as it took a while to sync my information again, it would have been quicker with a preference setting somewhere.
Hi Ginderg!
Could you please explain how you did unlink Dropbox and then link it again without breaking things? I'm having the same issue.
Thanks!
Hey @ginderg and @dubstepic!
@ginderg amazing job on the troubleshooting there. I have to admit, I'm impressed!
Happy to see that your issue is resolved for now! If you need anything else, don't hesitate to give me a shout.
Also, @dubstepic can you clarify, if you simply want to unlink your Dropbox desktop application or disable the Computer Backup feature?
Let me know!
Megan
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support
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Hi @Megan!
Ideally I'd like to keep the backup folder but rename it to a more code friendly name (ie: no spaces nor special characters in the name) Instead of the default name "My Mac (computerName)"
Is this at all possible?
Thanks
Megan
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support
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Need help with something else? Ask me a question!
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Hi @Lori,
I would like to try this too - having spaces in file names causes problems for a number of scripts and command line utilies. To be clear though, will this rename the backup folder to, for example, "My_new_computer_name"? Or will it still be in the form "My Mac (My_new_computer_name)"? Because it is the spaces that are a problem, so if this doesn't remove them I don't want to try it.
Cheers
Oli
It would have been nice if this link was included in this thread. It would've saved me 45 minutes of searching around why unlinking and confirming my computer name wasn't resolving my folder being labeled "PC (2)"
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