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Re: I get an error message that Windows System Restore failed?

I get an error message that Windows System Restore failed?

Richard P.44
Helpful | Level 7
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Hi

When I run Windows System Restore it fails with this error message

System Restore failed to replace the file (D:\Users\*******\Dropbox\.dropbox.cache\qebcobkqbgbzfynfuwbof\placeholder.bat) with its original copy from the restore point. An unspecified error occurred during restore. (0x80070780)

I have completed system recovery from an image without problem but on several occasions I have come up against this error when trying to correct a problem using system restore which would be easier to use if I could. I still have the problem if I run the system restore in safe mode with the same failour message

Any suggestions on allowing the restore to work

Richard

 

140 Replies 140

Mrtatemyballs
Helpful | Level 6
Go to solution
Never. Dropbox doesn't care.

kydimos
Helpful | Level 6
Go to solution

Dropbox have known about this issue for years. Solution should be fairly easy to implement but nothing has happened, so I wouldn't expect DP to do anything about it 😞   

SWH_chris
New member | Level 2
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I have 3 Dropbox accounts and will drop all three as soon as I install windows from scratch and restore from Dropbox. System Restore points that are so easy to use, but are, and I use this word specifically, corrupted by Dropbox. You all know it is true. If I had the luxury of having a laptop that worked enough to uninstall Dropbox the restore I would, but no can do. Amazing; the backup prevents the restore.

Lokiwuh
Helpful | Level 6
Go to solution

You A-holes should probably notify users so that they can create a disk image before they loose all their $h1t like countless others and myself! Because of this, I did not install Dropbox after my latest fresh install of Windows. At this point I do not believe I will be installing Dropbox on my system again. I'm currently afraid to reboot my other two PCs. They both have Dropbox installed so I'm sure all my restore points are fried on those machines as well. fkng pissed! I will be moving my things out of Dropbox. I and the many others should be compensated for the hell this has put us through and the countless hours we'll spend and have spent trying to get Windows and everything else back up and running. Not to mention the Thousands of gigs of information that we've lost and can never get back. This Is completely unacceptable. I smell a lawsuit! Dropbox should  and will be held liable! Dropbox has known about this PC destroying error for over 2 years and has done nothing to correct the problem. We could have done without weeks of BS and data loss, had these a-holes given their PAYING customers a simple heads up so that we could take necessary steps to create a system image. I will not leave this to be buried and forgotten. I will Share this information every chance I get. This company is trash and you will be treated as such! Hope your ready dropbox. You'll be seeing lots of me. This is going mainstream! I'm gonna $hit on your porch! 💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩

JacobRusso
Collaborator | Level 8
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I am adding one more step to a post I made a few months ago.   I know this is NOT a "Fix" for this issue, particularly if you are experiencing system problems.  However, it may save those of you, for whom Dropbox is critical, in the future... as it saved me.   The only thing that has worked for me is to Shut Down Dropbox, BEFORE creating a System Restore Point, as follows:

 

1. Exit Dropbox using the SysTray icon (drop-down your picture at the top right. 

2. Run the Windows "Services" Manager

3. STOP the "DbxSvc" ("Dropbox Service")

4. STOP the "Dropbox Update Service (dbupdate)" service

5. STOP the "Dropbox Update Service (dbupdatem)" service

6. Create Restore Point

7. START the Dropbox Services  

8. Click "Start", type "Dropbox" & hit Enter to start the Dropbox APP

 

After doing this, I was able to do a Restore based on that Restore Point.  I haven't tried to create a Batch File for this yet.

 

Now, Having said that... I received an eMail from Dropbox Tech Support, but I have NOT had time to test her suggestions.  I am posting it here in case some of you would like to try it.   Please let us know if you DO try the following suggestions and whether it works or not.

 

Hi Jacob,

Thanks for your patience. My name is Maddison, and I work in the Dropbox Advanced Support team.

As I understand it you're getting a Dropbox-related error message when doing a system restore. 

I would recommend using the steps below to clear the cache. This won't affect or remove the files in your Dropbox folder and will also free up space in your hard drive.

1) Stop Dropbox:
•	Click on the Dropbox icon
•	Click on your profile picture or initials to the right of the search bar, and select "Exit Dropbox"

2) Next, carefully follow the instructions here:

https://www.dropbox.com/help/328 

3) Restart Dropbox:
•	Run from Start > All Programs menu.

If the problem persists, please remove the Dropbox cache folder completely. This involves following the steps stated above to clear the cache folder, but this time try by fully deleting the main .dropbox.cache folder instead of deleting just its contents.

If you're still unable to perform the restore, please let me know. 

Regards,
Maddison

 

Best regards,

Jacob

Lokiwuh
Helpful | Level 6
Go to solution
In regards to the above Message, Removing Files or folders from your Dropbox Will not help the situation. That's what Dropbox has been saying since the beginning and if you read the full thread here you'll see that it does not work. Reading the entire thread you'll see the only thing that has been foolproof for people Is Creating another partition on your Hard drive for your Dropbox Folder . Exclude that entire Partition from Automatic system backups And you should be fine.

JacobRusso
Collaborator | Level 8
Go to solution

Lokiwuh, 

Thank you for the clarification, reminder, and suggestion.  I haven't created another partition for various reasons.  These include lack of space on my SSD, which means I would have to back up well over 120GB, then delete them all and restore them to the new partition.  Then, Dropbox would have to re-upload ALL the files, since they're in a different location.  However, I have ordered a new laptop, and I may end up doing this anyway before moving everything over to it.  Thanks again!

JacobRusso
Collaborator | Level 8
Go to solution

I received a "quasi-tip" from someone at Carbonite that pointed me in a strange direction.  Because I am in the middle of an incredibly critical and time-sensitive project, I cannot test it now.  But, just in case someone has the ability to try it, here it is.  Now, if the keys "FilesNotToBackup" or "FilesNotToSnapShot" do not exist, simply create them.  

 

1. Start "Regedit"

2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\BackupRestore\FilesNotToBackup
3. Add a Multi-string value with the Dropbox directory

     a. Right-Click in the window on right-side

    b. Select New

    c.  Select Multi-string value
3. Give the value a descriptive name, like "Dropbox"
4. Double-click the value to open the value editor 

5.  Enter the following string:   %UserProfile%\Dropbox\*.* /s

       (NOTE: This means to ignore all files inside the "C:\Users\{yourusername}\Dropbox" directory and Subdirectories.)

6. Click OK to close.
7. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\BackupRestore\FilesNotToSnapshot

8. Follow the above steps 2 thru 6 for this key.

9. Close Regedit

10. Create a System Restore Point

11.  Try to System Restore to the point you just created.

 

Please let us know if you were able to test this.

 

Good Luck & Best regards,

Jacob

 

nj-a
Explorer | Level 4
Go to solution

Sorry all, bad news: This problem will not be solved. For Windows 10 users who care about their system integrity it's time to move on to alternatives. Personally I'll be initiating a migration to OneDrive both personally and for my company. A colleague has been trialing it for some time and it has certainly changed and improved a lot since I first tested it back in the day.

 

Longer explanation:

Having experienced a laptop crash firsthand which was not recoverable due to this issue I raised a support request with Dropbox on Sept 4th. It took a long time but eventually it was escalated twice to a specialist at their Advanced Support Team. On Sept 25th I was told "This issue has been logged with our engineering team in the past who are still actively working towards a solution."

 

After repeatedly asking for a progress update / ETA I eventually received a surprising answer on Oct 14th: "At this time, we are no longer actively working on a solution for this problem."

 

For six weeks after that I've been pushing to clarify their reasoning behind this as it does not make sense at all to me. Especially not when I see how many in here that sadly have been struck by the same issue. I can just imagine how many more have been affected which are not finding this information here. Unfortunately for every reply back to Dropbox support they have re-iterated their decision, their team is no longer actively working on a solution for this problem.

 

I've been a happy paying Dropbox customer since September 2009 so I'm not really wishing to leave voluntarily. Unfortunately I cannot really trust a company with my data that does not care about an issue as serious as this.

 

Just thought I'd let you all know to not have any false hopes about the future.

Flash103
Explorer | Level 4
Go to solution

I too am now experiencing this problem. Like many people here, I found this thread and possible solutions to not contaminate the restore point AFTER it was already contaminated. All I can do now is vent here. I cannot believe that this has been going on for two-plus years with no clear fix. Instead, Dropbox finds it appropriate to stuff a jankey solution deep in some thread and call it a day? Wow. I've always enjoyed using Dropbox, and I think I've been using it for almost a decade now. Seems it is time to look for alternative solutions to Dropbox, and I'll make sure to mention this issue and Dropbox's lack of action for the past two years to anyone who is considering using the service or already is. Simply ridiculous and negligent.

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