Windows 10: renamed user folder (added "_"; now Dropbox only starts when run as Administrator

[ajho]

I renamed my Windows 10 Home account by replacing a space ("AJ Ho") with an underscore ("AJ_Ho"), and now the Dropbox desktop program only starts up when I select the "Run as Administrator" option on my local account.

How can I get Dropbox to start up normally?

Uninstalling and reinstalling the Dropbox program doesn't fix the problem. Neither does changing my local account into an administrative account.

Below are the contents of dropbox_errorhz92lvmt.txt:

bn.BUILD_KEY: Dropbox
bn.VERSION: 140.4.1951
bn.constants.WINDOWS_SHELL_EXT_VERSION: 52
bn.is_frozen: True
machine_id: 579fc6d5-74f4-45f0-a5f7-170bde7718ef
pid: 19216
cwd: 'C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Dropbox\\Client'
real_path='C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Dropbox\\Client'
mode=0o40777 uid=0 gid=0
parent mode=0o40777 uid=0 gid=0
HOME: None
appdata: 'C:\\Users\\AJ Ho\\AppData\\Local\\Dropbox\\instance1'
real_path='C:\\Users\\AJ Ho\\AppData\\Local\\Dropbox\\instance1'
not found
parent not found
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\\140.4.1951\\python-packages.zip\\dropbox\\client\\ui\\common\\boot_error.pyc'
real_path='C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Dropbox\\Client\\140.4.1951\\python-packages.zip\\dropbox\\client\\ui\\common\\boot_error.pyc'
not found
parent not found
TMP: C:\Users\AJ_Ho\AppData\Local\Temp
TEMP: C:\Users\AJ_Ho\AppData\Local\Temp
tempdir: 'C:\\Users\\AJ_Ho\\AppData\\Local\\Temp'
real_path='C:\\Users\\AJ_Ho\\AppData\\Local\\Temp'
mode=0o40777 uid=0 gid=0
parent mode=0o40777 uid=0 gid=0
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "dropbox\client\main.pyc", line 7856, in main_startup
File "dropbox\client\main.pyc", line 2796, in initialize
File "dropbox\client\main.pyc", line 1668, in startup_low
File "dropbox\client\main.pyc", line 1267, in safe_makedirs
File "dropbox\fsutil.pyc", line 655, in safe_makedirs
File "dropbox\overrides.pyc", line 238, in makedirs
File "dropbox\overrides.pyc", line 238, in makedirs
File "dropbox\overrides.pyc", line 251, in makedirs
PermissionError: [WinError 5] Access is denied: 'C:\\Users\\AJ Ho\\AppData\\Local'

[Walter · Accepted solution]

Hi @ajho, sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

Could you please try an advanced reinstall and let me know how it goes?

Thanks!

[ajho]

Hi Walter,

The advanced reinstall did the trick; thank you! (All I had to do was delete the "Dropbox" folder under %LOCALAPPDATA% and point the Dropbox install to my existing main Dropbox folder; no Registry edits or any other deleted folders!)

[Walter]

Glad to hear you're back up and running @ajho - thanks for keeping me in the loop too.

See you around the Community and take care!