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currentcapital's avatar
currentcapital
Helpful | Level 6
9 years ago
Solved

Randomly deleted files and folders

Anyone else experiencing files and folders being deleted from Dropbox without human intervention?   I know that I'm going to get the stock Dropbox answer here that it can't happen, but I can expl...
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  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    8 years ago
     
    Hey Daz, 
     
    Welcome to the Dropbox Community, let me send over some tips below regarding your inquiry and we’ll take it from there! 
     
     SKBJ ‘s reply could point you towards the right direction, though you may need to dig deeper, depending on the behavior you’ve noticed. 
     
    Firstly, as Dropbox syncs any files added to it, a virus or malicious software would get updated to all computers linked to the account accordingly. If the virus or malicious software is in a shared folder, shared folder members and computers may also be affected. That being said, I’d strongly recommend removing it as soon as possible, as it’ll definitely create more issues in the long run. 
     
    Secondly, it recently came to attention that connecting or pointing external locations (i.e. Symlinking them) to your Dropbox folder might cause unexpected behavior, so it may appear to you as if files are randomly deleted. That being said, I’d advise you to have a look intro this as well, just as a possible scenario. 
     
    Regardless of the cause, if you need further clarifications or you’d like your account reverted back to a particular point in time, my advice would be to reach out directly to our team, who’ll guide you through the necessary steps and actions you’d need to take, so as to revert back to normal operations. 
     
    If you decide to go per my advice above, you may keep in mind that I’m always here to pursue a resolution, so please let me know a ticket ID I could reference in your next reply. 
     
    I’m looking forward to hearing back from you on this discussion! 
Watts H.'s avatar
Watts H.
Helpful | Level 6
9 years ago

I'm getting weird things going on as well:  folders/files appearing in my dropbox root directory without me doing anything -- because I have thousands of subdirectories and 10's of thousands of files, I don't know if these files got moved from lower directories or are old things I deleted.

 

By looking at the creation dates of these "new" folders and files in my MAC I can see this all appeared at the same time, 1 am some morning, when the only device I have that can access/change files had been powered down for hours.

 

I've sent more than 6 message to drobox "support" in the last week and have yet to have a coherent response.

 

And, it gets better, now all those files folders that appeared before, have magically disspeared, with no record of any of this occuring on the dropbox website "events" log (I have tested to see if all folder/file creations/deletions/moves that I initiate appear on same and they do...)

 

Dropbox is of no help -- I am going to quick mirror my drive and discontinue this service.

 

 

MichaelF's avatar
MichaelF
New member | Level 2
9 years ago

I have had a similar incident of thousands of files and directories being deleted. I believe I was attacked by a computer somehow logging on from the US since a Mac user shows as being logged on. There doesn't seem to be ANY way of getting through to some sort of real person at Dropbox to help, just a computerized virtual person with platitudes.

 

  • currentcapital's avatar
    currentcapital
    Helpful | Level 6
    9 years ago

    @MichaelF

     

    That sounds to me like a hack, but not being a computer tech, I'd be hesitant to confirm it. Usual advice that I've received is to change the passwords, which I know doesn't help right now but could do in the future.

     

    With regards to getting the files restored, hopefully you're able to do so via the console but if not, then ask on the support site to have the whole events restored. Be aware that it will take them ages to reply and to action, but this is really the only way.

     

    Best of luck!

     

    K.

    • Watts H.'s avatar
      Watts H.
      Helpful | Level 6
      9 years ago

      Just got a nice message from some minion at dropbox, telling me "not to worry"...

       

      Ummm...I pay them money to keep my data backed up and secure and their system is clearly not doing its job -- either by internal fault or security breach.  

       

      I will be leaving dropbox as soon as I can find an effective replacement

       

      currentcapital wrote:

      MichaelF

       

      That sounds to me like a hack, but not being a computer tech, I'd be hesitant to confirm it. Usual advice that I've received is to change the passwords, which I know doesn't help right now but could do in the future.

       

      With regards to getting the files restored, hopefully you're able to do so via the console but if not, then ask on the support site to have the whole events restored. Be aware that it will take them ages to reply and to action, but this is really the only way.

       

      Best of luck!

       

      K.

      currentcapital wrote:

      MichaelF

       

      That sounds to me like a hack, but not being a computer tech, I'd be hesitant to confirm it. Usual advice that I've received is to change the passwords, which I know doesn't help right now but could do in the future.

       

      With regards to getting the files restored, hopefully you're able to do so via the console but if not, then ask on the support site to have the whole events restored. Be aware that it will take them ages to reply and to action, but this is really the only way.

       

      Best of luck!

       

      K.



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