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Something very odd on my wife's PC. Her Desktop is being synced to Dropbox, taking up unnecessary Dropbox space. If she deletes something from the Dropbox version of Desktop, it disappears from her PC desktop. Dropbox has been newly reinstalled, we have declined the offer to automatically sync Desktop, Documents, etc, yet still it is there. In the desktop app preferences, under Backups, This PC still has 'Set up', which is supposed to mean that these things should not be syncing, nor taking up space in Dropbox.
Put simply, she wants to choose which folders to sync to Dropbox, and these should not include Desktop, Documents, or anything else she has not chosen. On my machine, this all works perfectly. I am at a loss to understand wat is different on hers.
Walter
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support
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Many thanks for your reply, Walter. I don't understand how the computer backup can still be enabled - we have twice reinstalled the desktop app, both times making sure all the offered sync boxes are not ticked. Before reinstalling, I went into the web app and deleted the 'MyPCxxx' folder. When I reinstalled the desktop app, it still insisted on this integration between Dropbox and Desktop, though of course the desktop was now empty, so I had to restore everything in the web app.
I'm afraid the article is of little help. It states:
To turn off computer backup:
yet under Backups we do not have 'Manage backup', we just have 'Set up'.
We do not want Dropbox to take any interest in the Desktop or Documents at all, though trying to achieve that has been a monumental waste of time so far. I've been happy with Dropbox for many, many years, but this situation is leading me to look for less unwieldy alternatives.
Walter
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support
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Thanks again, Walter. I shall have a go at that tomorrow and report progress!
OK, I've tried that now. Uninstalled the desktop app, went into dropbox.com/settings/security to unlink the PC, but it was not listed as a linked device. Should I perhaps be unlinking BEFORE uninstalling the desktop app?
Walter
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support
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Tried it that way round - disconnected device in dropbox.com, uninstalled desptop app, reinstalled desktop app, signed in again, left ALL offered sync folders unticked, save, skip. Result: exactly the same. The Dropbox backup of the laptop is still there. If I delete something from within the Dropbox version of Desktop, it immediately deletes from the real PC Desktop as well. Do I need to go through the process again, this time bravely deleting the PC backup folders from dropbox.com?
Answering my own question, I have repeated the exercise, this time deleting the My PC folder from Dropbox.com after disconnecting the device. I have then uninstalled the dropbox app, reinstalled it, saying NO to all the offered syncs. Result? Exactly the same. The Dropbox folder on the PC still contains the My PC folder which I have just deleted on Dropbox.com and INSISTS on the umbilical cord between the laptop desktop and the Dropbox link to the laptop desktop: delete a file in the Dropbox desktop and it is lost from the PC desktop.
I am grateful for the offer of the forum help on this, which is a great kindness, but must say I am disappointed that Dropbox itself can offer no support on what it is pretty basic issue. Time to go elsewhere, I think.
Walter
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support
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