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Can't run Dropbox unless it has administrator rights

Can't run Dropbox unless it has administrator rights

Sammy G.
New member | Level 1

Windows 7 64bit
For some reason dropbox doesn't start with startup anymore because it needs administrator rights to start. If I try running the app normally without administrator rights, nothing happens, I see the cursor change to waiting for a few secs and then nothing. But if I right click and "run as administrator" it runs fine. This means dropbox can't run on startup. Any reason for this?

Should also mention that my account is an admin account.

22 Replies 22

Sammy G.
New member | Level 1

Nevermind. Fixed.

DaveC2
New member | Level 1

Sammy : This is a information based support forum.
.
I'm sure others may come into this same problem.
And they could benefit greatly by your explanation of what you did to correct it if you are able to supply it.

DavidGDFC
Explorer | Level 4

Suddenly, I have the same problem as well. I tried installing the latest version, which is currenty 3.2.6,, but it still doesn't work: I need to manually open it with administrative rights.

DaveC2
New member | Level 1

Try setting the installer to run as if its NOT in Windows 7 (unconfirmed that this has resolved the issue for some people)

DavidGDFC
Explorer | Level 4

Thank you, Dave. I forgot to say that I'm using Windows 8.1 (and the currently latest version of Dropbox, 3.2.6).

I've tried the following solutions:

  1. Uninstall and reinstall the programme.
  2. Unlinking and linking the laptop where I'm using it.
  3. Typing the three commands listed on an official Dropbox tutorial.

As far as I can see, it works in my netbook with Windows 7 Started, where I installed Dropbox today.

I'm running out of ideas and I'd really appreciate some help.

DaveC2
New member | Level 1

Then try setting it to NOT windows 8.1.
.
Locate the DROPBOX.EXE, you can get the path to it by looking at the shortcut link in the start menu
Then right click on the DROPBOX.EXE and change the comparability mode.
.
Im not saying this will work, its just something worth trying,

DavidGDFC
Explorer | Level 4

Thank you: I've tried compatibility with Windows 7, but I got the same result. The only thing that works so far is launching it as an administrator (which I already am, so this shouldn't be necessary). Dropbox has always worked very well and I don't understand why it's not working any more. Can you think of something else I can try?

Dave S.37
New member | Level 1

Hey this may help I have the same problem running Windows 8.1 64bit. Try locating the .EXE file for me it was C:\Users\"your user name"\AppData\Roaming\Dropbox\bin (you may need to show hidden files) right click the dropbox.exe file select the properties. Then on the tabs at the top select the Compatibility tab. You should see "Setting" with options under it. There is a box with run as administrator tick the box then hit apply and that should help.

Gabriel Z.
New member | Level 1

I have the sale problem on a clean install of Windows 8.1 64-bit directly from Microsoft and using the latest web installer from Dropbox. Even after flagging the dropbox.exe to run as administrator in my AppData roaming folder, it will not auto-start on log in.

I need to create a shortcut to said dropbox.exe on my desktop and manually launch it. Placing it in my Startup folder does not work.

Need more support?
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