I have to laugh. I’ve been trying to get a beta version of Dropbox installed on my Windows 10 production desktop this morning. Trying, and failing, with nothing to show in Reliability Monitor, either. Then I decided to read the whole article about the new beta, which appeared on MSPowerUser on April 1 (no joke, alas). In a manner of speaking, Dropbox drops gentle reminder RTFM (read the fabulous manual).
Here’s what it says:
Note: Windows 10 users will need to uninstall earlier Dropbox desktop applications before installing the updated version to ensure optimal performance.
Guess what I didn’t do before trying the install? You got it in one: I did not first remove the old version before overlaying the new one. Sigh.
Heeding When Dropbox Drops Gentle Reminder: RTFM
Creature of habit that I am, I used winget uninstall Dropbox.Dropbox to remove the old version. Worked like a charm. Then I re-tried the Dropbox 196.3.6883 Offline Installer.x64.exe installer file. It too, then did its thing. And it took its sweet time, too.
But when all was said and done Dropbox came up just fine in Windows 10. It was smart enough to keep the old version’s login data, too, so I was able to get in and start working just like the old version. But by looking at the program’s about info I can see I’m running this latest (beta) version. Problem solved. Like I said: RTFM.
It never hurts to know precisely what you’re doing, before you start doing it. Otherwise, like me sometimes, you’ll have to figure it out as you lurch from one step to the next. Sigh again…
or…
…the new Dropbox installer could have detected that a previous version was installed, warned that the versiom change required it to be uninstalled, and asked if you wanted to uninstall it.
Similar to Wireshark and others.
Ha! Ha! You’re right: but that’s apparently not a priority for this development crew. But thanks for reminding me of how things can work when well designed and implemented. I need the occasional reality check!
–Ed–