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Dropbox constantly creating desktop.ini files - how do disable this?

Dropbox constantly creating desktop.ini files - how do disable this?

ysu
Helpful | Level 6
Go to solution

As per the title; the latest dropbox is now generating desktop.ini files pretty much as soon as they're deleted (they were recreated only on dropbox starts earlier, so a delete upon startup was all I needed).   This is detrimental for me; how can I disable this behaviour? 

They are pretty meaningless files, too, this is all in it:

 ■[ . S h e l l C l a s s I n f o ]
I c o n R e s o u r c e = C : \ P r o g r a m F i l e s ( x 8 6 ) \ D r o p b o x \ C l i e n t \ D r o p b o x . e x e , - 2 3 0 1

 

Edit:

-for anyone stumbling onto this one-
There is no solution, dropbox support is unable to reproduce the issue (using windows built-in file manager does not show the file!).
There's also no promise of any solution, ever.  This is what you get you bloody miserable user for paying for this product.

Best Option: use another product.

35 Replies 35

Walter
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution
Hey @TCN-Publishing; thanks for joining the discussion here. 

Can you please clarify if you've enabled the hidden files to be shown on your computer? 

Also, I don't see any syncing icons or the app's status in your screenshot. Could you take a look take a look at your system tray and let me know if it's syncing or showing 'Up to date'?

While we're at it, have you ensured you're using the most up to date version of your device's OS? 

Walter
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


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TCN-Publishing
New member | Level 2
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My system and dropbox app are both up to date.

My system is set to show hidden files and folders. 

The system tray shows that dropbox sync is complete and up to date.

 

 

Daphne
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution
The building icon on those folders means that this is a team folder within your Dropbox account @TCN-Publishing, so that you can identify the shared team files from private ones.

Have you perhaps changed the arrangement or layout within these folders? The OS will create these desktop.ini files to store the info regarding any changes in the layout or settings of folders.

In this case, it seems the system is generating these files, as the Dropbox app ignores small system files like desktop.ini.

Since they're hidden files, you shouldn't see these if you disable the option to "Show hidden files" on your computer.

Daphne
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


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Jernau
Explorer | Level 3
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After many years as a happy Dropbox customer I will not be renewing my subscription this year.

The product has been in decline for years and this is the last straw.

I came here hoping for a fix to a simple and idiotic bug and this thread killed off my last hope.

The questions being asked show just how little clue they now have about their own product, let alone it's users. 

grandpotentateuniverse
Explorer | Level 4
Go to solution

I just had this show up after doing a complete reinstall of Windows and applications.  It really doesn't bother me in most folders, but it bugged me to see this file on my desktop.  I like to keep the desktop tidy.  I do not save files or programs to the desktop, only shortcuts.  

 

I found the root cause to be that this appears in any folder that is being backed up to Dropbox.  So if I right-click the folder and select "Manage Backup", I could simply deselect the desktop folder.  This means my shortcuts are not automatically backed up, but that is not a major concern.  If I wish, I can manually copy the contents to a subfolder of documents or elsewhere to save on Dropbox. 

 

As far as other folders, the visibility of these .ini files are controlled by opening the folder in explorer, click "View" and selecting or deselecting "Hidden Items".

 

So for me, the problem is solved.  I'm surprised that Dropbox support could not respond to the issue.

 

Here is what the Dropbox selections look like:

grandpotentateuniverse_0-1626262246513.png

 

demonova
New member | Level 2
Go to solution

This is an email that I sent to the technical support about this problem. It took me some time to solve it but I hope it will help you guys in some way.

__________________________________________________________

 

After looking into this a little bit more I found the reason for the problem, and the solution also. I will try to make it simple.

 

First, there are two types of folders:

 

  1. The normal folder
  2. The building folder

 

They are both team folders, but the difference is that the building folder has connected to the main dropbox web page in somewhy. Meaning if the folder gets created on the dropbox web page or modified by changing the access or anything that has a direct action with the folder via the web page dropbox will install the “Desktop.ini” file which is then responsible for the building icon. Any folder that has been created by you using the file explorer will be a normal folder.

 

Now, the “Desktop.ini” file cannot be deleted, BUT there is a 2 solution for this. The first solution which is the simple one is moving the content file into another file that’s it. 

 

However, let's say we have a thousand files! What should we do now? Rather than moving them one by one and wasting days of hard work here is the second solution. 

 

You have to follow the steps carefully: 

 

  1. Move all the files that have a building icon into one folder and let's call it folder “X”
  2. Sign out from your account in dropbox
  3. Rename the folder “X” into any other name and let's say “X new”
  4. Sign in again in Dropbox and make sure that when the program asks about the path of installation choose the same path as the old dropbox folder
  5.  Now, Dropbox will sync the files on your pc with the cloud files. So, this is what will happen. Dropbox will notice that the folder “X” is missing and will download it from the cloud at that same time dropbox will find a folder called “X new” and it will be recognized as a new folder that has been added by you! So it will be treated as a normal folder.

 

Now, after dropbox finishes syncing you will have 2 folders. 

 

  1.  “X“ folder
  2.  “X new” folder 

 

Now, you have 2 folders one of them full of “Desktop.ini” files which will result in seeing the building icons, and the other one will be the normal folders icon. Simply delete the “X” folder, and now you have the same folder content but without the building icons.

 

Note/ Its better to make the files online-only mode before doing any of the steps

 

 

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Top contributors to this post

  • User avatar
    demonova New member | Level 2
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    grandpotentateuniverse Explorer | Level 4
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    Jernau Explorer | Level 3
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    Daphne Dropbox Staff
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    TCN-Publishing New member | Level 2
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