Windows: Where is my DropBox configuration?
Posted by jpluimers on 2014/08/18
Running DropBox on a roaming profile is a pain, especially when DropBox auto-starts.
Limitation: you can now use it on only 1 PC in the roaming profile domain at a time (I’ve not yet tried Open Source Software and Windows 32-bit: Multiple Dropbox (Do It Yourself).)
The reason is that depending on the logoff/logon order of machines, DropBox will overwrite parts of its configuration, and then think it needs to start with a fresh configuration.
Solution:
- Make backups of the configuration
- Remove DropBox from the StartUp folder
Your StartUp folder is at %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup (I’ve renamed the DropBox.lnk file into DropBox.lnk.bin)
Your DropBox configuration is under %AppData%\DropBox and consists of quite a few .db/.dbx file pairs (which are plain/encrypted SqlLite3 database files) detailed at Jake Viens’ Forensic Blog: Dropbox Forensics, and a bin directory with the DropBox application.
I’ve not yet tried to decrypt these files, but it should be possible given Decrypting the Dropbox filecache.dbx file – new free tool! | Magnet Forensics.
The steps I took are devided in two pases: first time initialization and everyday use.
First time initialization
- Move the DropBox shortcut link away from the StartUp folder (for instance: move it to the desktop)
Normally it points to the full path of %AppData%\DropBox\bin\Dropbox.exe followed by the /systemstartup parameter - Run DropBox from the moved shortcut link
- Go through the registration process (you might want to move your files to a non-roaming location like under %LocalAppData%, I moved it to %LocalAppData%\DropBox).
- Let DropBox completely sync
- Quit DropBox
- Make a backup of
%AppData%\DropBox(I’ve a robocopy mirror script that copies it to%AppData%\DropBox.bak)
Everyday use
- After login, run the saved DropBox shortcut link
- If it fails: restore a backup
- If it succeeds: make a backup every couple of days (always make a backup when a new version of DropBox is installed)
Making a new backup
- Quit dropbox
- Make a backup of
%AppData%\DropBox(I’ve a robocopy mirror script that copies it to%AppData%\DropBox.bak)
Restoring a backup
- Quit dropbox
- Restore a a backup to
%AppData%\DropBox(I’ve a robocopy mirror script that restores it from%AppData%\DropBox.bak)
–jeroen
The Wiert Corner - irregular stream of stuff 
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