Wanted to turn off Desktop sync, it deleted all the files from my computer instead

[Ruthcatrin]

So how to I restore all the files back to my computer??  I did the compute back up thing not realizing it would do a live syncing constantly thing.  That live syncing slowed my computer down SO MUCH.  So I turned off the sync.  And it deleted all the synced files from my computer!  And when I try to download them from my dropbox it says zip file download failed!  How do I get my stuff back!?

[Ruthcatrin]

Ok, I found the files saved in the Dropbox on my desktop.  

Dear Dropbox that WAS NOT COOL.  While I love the idea of being able to backup my computer, THAT was a completely useless tool.  Not cool.  VERY not cool.  It first slowed down things SO MUCH and then it essentially rearranged my computer without my permission.

[Art_in_LA]

Completely agree ... I wanted to just try the backup solution and this app completely re-arranged my Documents folder. What a horrible implementation!!

Did you just drag and drop them back to their original location? Everything OK? I hope other things aren't broken now.

[Ruthcatrin]

yes, thats what I did.  As far as I can tell everything is fine now.  But I spent several minutes completely freaking out as I tried to figure out how to fix it.

[Art_in_LA]

That app is so invasive!! I'm on a Mac and it messed up my Finder "Favorites" ... such a mess. Really unfortunate.

I just wanted to figure out how to backup my Mac Pictures folder, but all of this other stuff happened. I'm trying to underreact ... can get to fixing this until later today. Grrrr.

[Ruthcatrin]

I've been using the various functions of it for backups for my website for a while, and more recently to save some videos so I can view them on multiple devices.  But yes, the desktop computer sync thing needs some serious work.  Or at least a clearer explanation of what it does and how it does it, with better options for turning off the various portions!

[Art_in_LA]

It's unfortunate that the Dropbox tech support via Twitter is off for the weekend, and the email support request has a 24-48 turnaround. This kind of thing is heart attack level stress inducing when folders are moved like this. Bad form for sure.

I will try moving things back, see how it goes.

[Art_in_LA]

I think I have recovered everything now. Scary. Dropbox cannot move stuff around like that without any warnings, right? On my Mac, my Finder sidebar was all wonky, had to reset  all of that too.

In concept, this is a great idea, but the execution of it all is lacking.

[Art_in_LA]

Dropbox tech support got back to me this morning. I replied with my big concerns with their "Computer Backup" feature. The Dropbox App needs to be much clearer about what is about to happen -- such bad form to move my files around with the littlest of warnings! For now, I will use Dropbox like I always have, the one Dropbox sync folder in Documents on my Mac.

My primary use case, figure out a nice way to back up my Pictures folder to some cloud storage.

Thanks for posting here yesterday ... it was helpful to hear about someone else who was able to unwind things.

[Ruthcatrin]

It was nice to know I wasn't the only one.