device limit and "ghost" device

[marcodeangelis]

Hello there, hope someone can help me in solving this issue.
After a massive crash on my pc (one of the three devices registered to my free dropbox account) I had to reinstall the sys op (win7) and all the software from the scratch. It was fine but dropbox desktop software.
When I try to install it , an error message pops up on the screen about the number limit of the devices. For some strange reason your app still "see" somehow the old installation, but it is a sort of "ghost" device as it is not visible on the list and is impossible to uncheck it or exlude it, even from the other two devices.
So the situation now is 2 real device 1) android phone 2) apple mac desktop and the Ghost device (pc win7 crashed). So I cant add the brand new reinstalled pc. I'm stuck with this crazy situation.
It looks like dropbox has a sort of hidden files somewhere where the crashed pc still appear and is using the third slot available but it's invisible to me.
Any help?

[Walter · Accepted solution]

Hey @marcodeangelis; thanks for joining our Community!

I'm not sure if this would do the trick, but have you tried unlinking any devices that might be putting you over your account's limit from your security tab and then reinstalling the app on your computer?

Let me know how it goes.

[marcodeangelis]

Thanks Walter, problem solved.

Cheers

Marco

[RJayKay25]

I only have 3 devices linked to my Dropbox. One device (MacBook Pro) had to be repaired so I backed up everything and when I reinstalled from backup, Dropbox was missing. I tried to install Dropbox but got the message "only 3 devices allowed" or words to that effect. Somehow it thinks my MacBook is a new device rather than the existing 3rd device it is. How do I correct that?

[Lusil]

Hello there @RJayKay25, thanks for posting your question here. 

When you reinstall the desktop app, you may have unlinked your account from that device during that process. 

This means that when you signed back in again, the device was not recognized as existing since it was removed from your account. 

Could you have a look at your Security tab to see if it's still there?

How many devices are listed there?

Check it out and let me know what you find, cheers!