Dropbox and Parallels

[bobv]

My Mac (iOS 10.12.6) is running Parallels (v15.1.4) so I have a Virtual Machine of Windows 10 Home.

I have Dropbox installed and it shows like this on my Mac:

but it shows on the PC side like this:

That is, there are two folders on the PC:

   Dropbox (\\Mac) (B

   Dropbox

Only the second one has the Dropbox icon on it.

I'm not sure what's going on.  The contents of the two folders on the PC don't seem to be completely identical and files don't always sync between them (or maybe I'm not waiting long enough?).  Sometimes a file is visible on the Mac side and sometimes it isn't unless I manually copy it from one Dropbox folder to the other on the PC.  

I worry about the folders not being in sync (and what is being saved on Dropbox.com and what is not??) but I mostly want to know - am I using twice as much space on my local hard drive than necessary?

Any help to understand what is happening would be appreciated.

[Walter]

Hey @bobv; thanks for posting on our Community!

I don't see any syncing icons on your files on any of your screenshots. Could you take a look at the system tray (for Windows) and menu bar (for Macs) and let me know what the desktop app is reporting at the moment? 

Thanks!

[bobv]

Thanks for your response.

On the PC side, the system tray icon says "Dropbox 111.4.472" and "Up to date".

On the Mac side, the menu bar icon says "Dropbox 111.4.472", "uploading 100 files..." and "Downloading 5,192 files..."  Several hours later these number have not changed. (!)

-Bob

[Daphne]

For the Mac side, can you try these steps to fix any incorrect file permissions that could be causing the stuck sync?

Also, before switching between the setups, I would recommend always checking that the desktop app is showing "up to date", to make sure everything is synced.

[bobv]

Thanks for your response.

>> 5.  While holding the Option/Alt key, click "Fix Permissions".

>> If the syncing is still stuck after allowing a short time for the changes to take affect,

>> please follow through the steps again and choose "Fix hardlinks"

I don't have "Fix Permissions" or "Fix hardlinks" options on that tab.  The only buttons that I have are <Sign Out> and <Add team account>.

-Bob

[Walter]

Have you made sure that you're holding down the 'Option/Alt' key when on your account's tab in the app's preferences, Bob?

[bobv]

Yes, holding down the Option/Alt key does not have any effect on what is visible on the Accounts tab.  

[Walter]

If you're on the Windows side, try 'Alt+H', Bob. 

Otherwise, send us a screenshot of what you see in order for us to have a visual as well. 

[Walter]

Quick follow up here as the screenshot wasn't visible at first @bobv.

Could you reboot your machine and let me know if you still can't get the mentioned buttons to show up?

Is the app installed on this machine with admin privileges? 

[bobv]

See screenshot of the Mac side above.

Alt-H brings up the options on the PC side, thanks.  But "Fix permissions" runs CWINDOWS\SYSTEM32\icacls.exe which opens a blank DOS window and it doesn't go away.  At least, not after several minutes.  Hmmm....but when I forced that window closed, it said that permissions were fixed.  But the Mac side says that it is still syncing the same number of files.

Thanks for your help.