Desktop app hangs after a few minutes (win10-64)

[DannyN]

Hi.

I'm an old Dropbox user and almost never had any issues in the past.

I started using a new laptop recently with Win10-64 and notice that after a few minutes the app hangs, like clicking on it takes for ever to pop up the menu, and it also hangs my context menu (right click) while in explorer...

Related stuff I think could be impacting but couldn't draw an explicit line. McAfee AV, Tortoise SVN, and usually on a VPN (Cisco) although sign off the VPN doesn't change anything.

I have to kill Dropbox from the task manager and restart it... it works for a while, then hangs the same.

Any advice will be much appreciated!

Thanks!

Dan

[Daphne]

Hey there @DannyN,

As a first step, if you haven’t already, please can you restart your device as this will restart your Windows Explorer as well as reload the Dropbox visual elements.

If the above doesn’t resolve the issue then please can you try temporarily disabling any antivirus or security programs on your computer. Should this step also show no difference in the behaviour, then please go ahead and do a basic re-install of your Dropbox desktop app by uninstalling and then downloading/installing again from here.

Please do bear in mind the 3 device limit if you are a Dropbox Basic user and please don’t uninstall the software if you currently have more than 3 devices connected. Simply let me know this and we can follow an alternative route.

Looking forward to hearing what you find - Thanks!

[DannyN]

Hi Daphne and thank for the prompt response!

I've restarted and kept security off as well as VPN for a while, also re-enabled it and connected to VPN and it hasn't hanged yet.

I've tried restarting before as well as played with VPN and Security, but just like going to the doctor, it doesn't hurt anymore when you have the appointment 😉

If I see it doesn't hang anymore I'll mark as resolved later today.

Thanks for your help 🙂 and have a lovely weekend.

Cheers,

Dan

[Daphne]

Hey again @DannyN,

It's typical! But I’m glad to hear it’s going well so far Dan.  Needless to say, should you notice the issue again with the app then please don’t hesitate to @ me here to continue where we left off.

I hope you have a beautiful weekend too - Thanks!

[DannyN]

Hi again @Daphne

It looks the problem still happens... It usually triggers after some file updates happen... I see 3 instances of Dropbox (32 bits) in the Task Manager, and sometimes (not always) a Dropbox update and Dropbox Service. Not sure if that info helps at all.

I guess a clean reinstall (fully uninstall and reinstall) might be the next step, right? I recall seeing another discussion where the Dropboxer indicated a few spots in the registry as well as lingering files to be removed. Would you mind providing me with a detailed (and current) list of all what needs to be removed?

Also, should I remove my current content and have it re-sync? it's a decent amount of data and my Internet connection is not great, so having to re-sync everything could take a couple days, and I'd love to avoi it 😉

Thanks!

Dan

[Daphne]

Hey @DannyN,

Yes, what I would suggest would be to reinstall the software, and in this case (as you mentioned too) an advanced reinstall might be the best option here. I’ll place the steps within the spoiler below:

Spoiler

1. If running, quit Dropbox.
1. Click the Dropbox icon in your system tray.
2. Click the gear icon, and select Quit Dropbox.
2. Uninstall Dropbox.
1. On your desktop, click Start.
2. If on Windows 7, select Control Panel. If on Windows 8 or 10, search and click Control Panel in the start menu.
3. Click Uninstall a Program (7, 8, 10).
4. Select Dropbox from the list of programs and click Uninstall.
3. When the uninstall finishes, reboot your computer.
4. Delete the remaining Dropbox system folders (it's OK if you don't find a Dropbox folder in any of the following locations).
1. Open a Windows File Explorer (not Internet Explorer).
2. Type %LOCALAPPDATA% into the address bar and press enter.
3. In the next window, delete the folder named Dropbox. A prompt to enter your computer administrator password (not your Dropbox password) may appear.
4. Repeat these steps with the following folders. Deleting any of these folders will not delete the files in your Dropbox folder.
• %APPDATA%
• %PROGRAMFILES%
• %PROGRAMFILES(x86)%
5. Get the newest version of the Dropbox desktop app. Download now.
6. Navigate to the folder where you downloaded the installation file and double-click it. Do not launch the installer by right-clicking on the file and selecting Run as administrator.
7. Apply any selective sync settings you had before the reinstall.
8. Select the Dropbox folder location, if not in the default location.
• Important: Because this process removes the previous settings and configuration, if you wish to avoid re-downloading your Dropbox content you will need to manually choose the location for Dropbox to sync to. If you don't manually choose a location, you'll create a new Dropbox folder and start to download your content again.
1. To select your established Dropbox folder on your drive, click Advanced Settings after choosing which folders to sync.
2. Then choose the parent folder of your already established Dropbox folder. For example, if you have your Dropbox folder in the path D:\OtherDrive\Folder\Dropbox, select the folder D:\OtherDrive\Folder.

While re-installing the software, there’s no need to remove the Dropbox folder where the files sync to. Uninstalling the Dropbox app will leave the folder remaining on your computer like any other folder, and once you install the app again it will index the files within the folder and sync only new changes.  

Hope this helps, let me know how it goes - Cheers!