Syncing from some folders, Backup from others

[bugsinthecar]

Hi there,

Like this user, I have C:\ and D:\ drives on my local machine.

All the content I want to store in Dropbox is on the D:\ drive, and that's where my live-syncing Dropbox folder is stored:

There are other folders on the D:\ drive with which I'd like to use Backup (not live-sync)—that is, take snapshots of them, such that if something happened to them on my local machine, they would be recoverable from Dropbox Backup.

However, when I walk through the steps in the Backup documentation, my C:\ folders appear under "Modify folder selection"—not the D:\ folders I want to back up.

My question: How can I use Backup with folders on my D:\ drive?

Thanks!

[Hannah]

Hey @bugsinthecar, thanks for posting your query!

The Dropbox backup feature can currently only backup your system created folders (desktop, documents, downloads, etc.).

Manually created folders in the D drive cannot be backed up.

You'd have to manually move them into your Dropbox folder, to sync them.

I hope this clarifies things, but let me know if you have any questions.

[bugsinthecar]

Hi Hannah, thanks for the quick and clear response!

My system did create the D:\ structure, actually, seemingly as part of Windows default installation on my machine.

It seems like a strange product choice that Dropbox Backup can work only with certain drive partitions...it's a product intended for users who might want to restore all their content, yes?

Are there plans to change this? Or do you have a suggested workaround so that I could use Dropbox Backup? With Amazon deprecating their Backup product this year, it seems likely that there'll be a lot of users shopping for a replacement (including me!).

[bugsinthecar]

@Hannah Any thoughts? (Sorry I didn't @ you last time!)

[Jay · Accepted solution]

Hi @bugsinthecar, currently, there isn't any information on if this would change in the future. There isn't any official workaround to make it see the D drive either to add folders from there.

[JoeyJoeJoe]

Pretty weak. 

I have TB of data and years of work in 'C:\workspace' and 'D:\' drive that I would like to back up to Dropbox. I am positive I can do this with Google Drive no problem. I'm already paying for a 2TB plan on Dropbox and would rather not have to migrate everything already in Dropbox over to Drive.

But it sounds like that's the solution here though, unfortunately.