{"id":359,"date":"2014-10-25T14:33:38","date_gmt":"2014-10-25T10:03:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/it.iam-afghanistan.org\/?p=359"},"modified":"2020-08-02T07:35:09","modified_gmt":"2020-08-02T03:05:09","slug":"how-to-run-two-dropboxes-on-your-computer-at-the-same-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iam-afghanistan.org\/it\/how-to-run-two-dropboxes-on-your-computer-at-the-same-time\/","title":{"rendered":"How to run two dropboxes on your computer at the same time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why would you want to have two dropboxes at the same time? \u00a0One illegitimate reason would be to get more dropbox quota. \u00a0We do not recommend you do this as this is dishonest – if you need more space please pay for it (or earn it in one of the many legitimate ways Dropbox gives you to earn more space)!<\/p>\n

A legitimate reason would be that you personally use dropbox for sharing files with people, and your organisation also uses dropbox and you want to keep the two dropboxes completely independent (sometimes it is an organisation requirement for them to be kept independent – as is the case in IAM).<\/p>\n

How do we do it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you are using a Mac, scroll down for instructions, they are below the Windows instructions. \u00a0As Windows is the most common operating system used in Afghanistan we’ll cover it first.<\/p>\n

Windows instructions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Googling this problem will come give you an assortment of\u00a0methods, including some using a portable version of dropbox or a tool called dropboxen. \u00a0Both of these methods have problems that mean that they now either don’t work or have a high risk of dropbox failing.<\/p>\n

We’ve combined parts of a number of different guides to come up with the best combination and added our own simple script to ensure that your second dropbox application is always able to run the current version of the dropbox software (a common failing of the solutions on the internet is that the second dropbox application doesn’t ever upgrade when new versions are released).<\/p>\n

Before we start, we assume that you have already installed dropbox on your computer and set it up with your work dropbox account and that you are reading these instructions because you want to know how to have your personal dropbox account on the same computer. \u00a0We also assume that you are using Windows 10 because it is free to upgrade from Windows 7\/8\/8.1 to Windows 10 and you wouldn’t be using anything earlier than Windows 7. \u00a0You will need a copy of the dropbox installation software. \u00a0If you only just installed dropbox then you should have the installation file handy – save it to a USB stick. \u00a0If you installed it a long time ago you could download it again, but dropbox often keeps a download that you could just copy. \u00a0Take a look in c:\\program files (x86)\\dropbox\\update\\download\\a_long_set_of_numbers_and_letters\\version_number\\ and you will hopefully find a file called dropboxclient_version.exe. \u00a0If it is here you don’t need to copy it to a memory stick, but if not you’ll need to download it from www.dropbox.com and copy it to your memory stick.<\/p>\n

Step 1: Create a personaldropbox user account on your computer<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Press WINDOWS-X on your keyboard (WINDOWS is the special windows key between CTRL and ALT on the left side of your keyboard) and choose Control Panel from the menu that pops up.<\/li>\n
  2. In the top right corner of Control Panel type “create an account” in the search box and press enter. \u00a0It will then show you a “Create an account” link. \u00a0Click on it. \u00a0At the bottom of the list of accounts that will be displayed there will be “Add a new user in PC settings”. \u00a0Click on this.<\/li>\n
  3. Click “Add someone else to this PC”. \u00a0You may have to wait a moment at this point while Windows does something mysterious. \u00a0After a while you will be asked “how will this person sign in”. \u00a0Choose”I don’t have this person’s sign in information”. \u00a0Then you will be asked to create an account for them. Don’t. \u00a0Choose “Add a user without a Microsoft account” from the bottom of the window. \u00a0Who’s going to use this PC should be “personaldropbox”. \u00a0The simplest thing is to use the same password as for your own account – since both accounts are owned by you. \u00a0Enter it twice and set the hint to anything you want. \u00a0Press Next.<\/li>\n
  4. Your account has now been created.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Step 2: Log on as the new user account and setup dropbox<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Press Windows-L to lock the computer.<\/li>\n
    2. You will now see two user accounts in the bottom left corner of the screen when you need to sign in, select “personaldropbox” and enter your password to log in. \u00a0Since this is the first time this user has logged in, windows will have to set things up for a few minutes and then you can continue.<\/li>\n
    3. Next browse to the folder we’re going to put the personal dropbox in. \u00a0So that it gets included in your computer backup we recommend that it be in C:\\users\\youraccount\\personaldropbox. \u00a0So open file explorer and browse to c:\\users\\ then open your account folder. \u00a0You will be asked to click continue to get permission to access this folder. \u00a0When you click continue you will be asked to enter an administrator password. \u00a0You should enter the password for (and choose the account of) your normal user account (assuming that user is the administrator of the computer – which is normally the case (if it isn’t the case you would already be aware of this!). \u00a0Once you have been granted permission and can see the contents of the folder,\u00a0click on the Home ribbon and click NEW FOLDER. \u00a0Type personaldropbox as the new folder name and press enter.<\/li>\n
    4. Before we started you found the dropbox installation software. \u00a0Now it is time to use it. \u00a0You need to install dropbox for this second user account – just run the installer as normal. \u00a0Note that if you install dropbox using an installer foun d in the dropbox program files folder described earlier, it will be a silent installer. \u00a0So after a little\u00a0while, go to your start menu and type dropbox. \u00a0If it appears then the installation is complete and you can run it. (on current versions of dropbox on Windows 10 this can be very quick)<\/li>\n
    5. The first time you run dropbox it will try to connect to the dropbox servers and then realise that it doesn’t hve an account yet, and will then bring up dropbox setup and ask you to log in. \u00a0Log in using your personal dropbox account.<\/li>\n
    6. Once you have successfully logged into dropbox,you need to change where it stores its’ files. \u00a0Look in the system tray (this is the bit next to the clock on your computer) and you should find the dropbox icon. \u00a0Click on it. \u00a0A window will pop up. \u00a0Click on the cog\/gear icon in the top right of the window, and click preferences. \u00a0This will open a new Window. \u00a0Click on the Account icon on this window. \u00a0The first item below that it in the window will be “Location” – click MOVE to change the location.<\/li>\n
    7. Click on “This PC” in the list of locations, then click on the C: drive, then users, then your account name, then the personaldropbox folder we created earlier. \u00a0Then press OK. \u00a0You will then be asked to confirm you are moving the dropbox folder to c:\\users\\youraccount\\personaldropbox\\dropbox. \u00a0Press OK, Then Press OK again. \u00a0This will successfully relocate the folder.<\/li>\n
    8. press WINDOWS-X and choose “Shutdown or sign out”, and then “sign out”. \u00a0Then log in as your normal account again.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Step 3: Hide the personaldropbox Windows account<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. There’s no need to have the personaldropbox user account listed when you log onto Windows, so we’ll hide it now. \u00a0Right click on this link and choose save link as hidepersonaldropboxacct.reg<\/a>\u00a0(it doesn’t matter where you save this as long as you can find it – you need it only once)<\/li>\n
      2. Double click on the file you just downloaded to run it. \u00a0You will be asked to confirm that you really want to make changes to the registry (yes you do). \u00a0Then it will tell you it has successfully made the changes. \u00a0Now the personaldropbox account will not be visible at login time.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Step 4: setup the second dropbox to upgrade and run<\/strong><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Right click on this link and choose save link as pdropboxupdateandrun.bat<\/a>\u00a0in your normal documents folder.<\/li>\n
        2. Open File explorer and browse to c:\\users\\personaldropbox. \u00a0When you try to open personaldropbox you will be told you don’t have permission, click continue to get access to the folder. \u00a0Do this. \u00a0Now you have the necessary permissions to setup dropbox to run for the personaldropbox user.<\/li>\n
        3. Press WINDOWS-X and select Computer Management from the menu that appears. \u00a0Then select Task Scheduler from the System Tools list. \u00a0Then wait while the middle pane of the Window updates to show a list of your tasks. \u00a0Then click create basic task<\/strong> (on the right hand side under “Actions”), and wait for the popup window to appear.<\/li>\n
        4. Enter “Personal dropbox” as the name. \u00a0You can put a description if you want. \u00a0Then press NEXT. \u00a0For when you want the task to start, choose When I log on<\/strong>. \u00a0Then press NEXT. \u00a0What action should be Start a program<\/strong>. \u00a0Then press NEXT. \u00a0For program\/script, press BROWSE and browse to the location where you saved pdropboxupdateandrun.bat above (it should be your documents folder). \u00a0When you find it, select pdropboxupdateandrun.bat and click OPEN. \u00a0Then press NEXT. \u00a0Tick the box near the bottom of the window that says “Open the properties dialog for this task when I click<\/strong> FINISH<\/strong>“. \u00a0Then click FINISH.<\/li>\n
        5. After a moment or so the current dialog window will close and the task properties dialog window will open. \u00a0Go to the\u00a0conditions<\/strong> tab and remove the tick in the power<\/strong> section next to\u00a0Start the task only if the computer is on AC power<\/strong>. \u00a0Then go to the\u00a0settings<\/strong> tab and add a tick next to Run the task as soon as possible after a scheduled start is missed<\/strong>, then remove the tick next to\u00a0Stop the task if it runs longer than 3 days<\/strong><\/li>\n
        6. Now in the centre pane of computer management, scroll down so that you can see the active tasks. \u00a0Click on the list in the active task box and\u00a0type “per” without the quotes. \u00a0You should see the personaldropbox task. \u00a0Double click on it and the window will change. \u00a0In the ACTIONS list you will see RUN underneath the heading “Selected item”. \u00a0Click on run. \u00a0It will open a black window and will ask you to enter the password for personaldropbox. \u00a0This is the password for the personaldropbox user account in Windows (not the personal dropbox dropbox account). \u00a0If you followed our instructions you would have made this the same as your normal windows account password. \u00a0Type this now.<\/li>\n
        7. Now the second dropbox should start and should appear in the system tray next to the clock. \u00a0You shouldn’t be asked for the password next time you restart your computer – it should all be automatic.<\/li>\n
        8. You can close any of the open windows at this time as you don’t need them any more.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Step 5: Get access to the personal dropbox<\/strong><\/p>\n

            \n
          1. To see your personal dropbox you can’t double click on the dropbox icon for it on the system tray like you would for your normal dropbox icon as it won’t work (you will have two icons. \u00a0This would normally be the second one), or you can open file explorer and browse to c:\\users\\your account\\personaldropbox\\dropbox or you can create a shortcut to it and place the shortcut on your desktop.<\/li>\n
          2. If you want a shortcut on your desktop go up a folder to c:\\users\\youraccount\\personaldropbox and right click on dropbox. \u00a0From the small menu that appears, choose Send to, Desktop (create shortcut). \u00a0Now go to your desktop and find the shortcut and rename it to personaldropbox or something else that will make sense to you.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Finished: Congratulations!<\/strong><\/p>\n

            (The following sources are acknowledged as references when preparing these instructions:\u00a0http:\/\/semi-legitimate.com\/blog\/item\/multiple-dropbox-instances-on-windows-7,\u00a0http:\/\/winaero.com\/blog\/how-to-hide-user-accounts-from-the-login-screen-in-windows-8-1\/)<\/p>\n

            Note: If you ever need to change the password on your personaldropbox windows user account press Windows -X and choose “Command Prompt (Admin)” from the\u00a0menu. \u00a0A command prompt window will open. \u00a0If you type NET USER at that command prompt and press enter you will see both your user accounts. \u00a0Now that you remember the exact name of your second user account you can change the password by typing NET USER the_name_of_the_second_user_account *
            \nThis command says change the password of that account by prompting you for it – so it will ask you for the new password (the same as your primary account) and then will ask you to confirm it, then it will confirm that it has changed the password for you.<\/p>\n

            Mac instructions<\/strong><\/p>\n

            There is a method to do this using a program called dropbox encore. \u00a0We don’t recommend this method as it has a documented problem when dropbox automatically upgrades to a newer version where dropbox no longer runs and you have to manually reinstall it. \u00a0This doesn’t seem very practical in a country where downloads are slow and you therefore want the upgrade to work the first time rather than having to download it manually and reinstall after it has already automatically downloaded an update and tried to install it for you.<\/p>\n

            Better alternatives are therefore:<\/p>\n

            http:\/\/theterran.squarespace.com\/blog\/2012\/6\/14\/use-two-dropbox-accounts-on-one-computer.html<\/a> – nice guide with pictures. Make sure you read through to the end to make the second dropbox automatically start every time you start your computer. \u00a0At the end of the instructions he also advises a setting change that will allow you to easily tell the two dropbox icons on your computer apart.<\/p>\n

            http:\/\/lifehacker.com\/5971204\/run-multiple-dropbox-accounts-on-one-computer<\/a> – two approaches given but not with pictures (the first approach is very similar to the link above that does have pictures). \u00a0Make sure you read the part about making the second dropbox automatically start every time you start your computer.<\/p>\n

             <\/p>\n

            How do I tell the \u201calternate\u201d Dropbox apart?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

            If you are running Windows, the second dropbox icon will appear on the system tray next to the first one (near your clock). \u00a0If you are running the standard Ubuntu desktop environment or Mac OS X, you should see a second Dropbox icon appear in the indicator panel in the top-right corner of the screen. The way to tell them apart is to look at the \u201cDropbox location\u201d on the \u201cAdvanced\u201d tab in the Dropbox preferences, or just choose \u201cOpen Dropbox Folder\u201d from the panel indicator menu. \u00a0On Windows the second one will always be the personal one because we are starting it later than the first one.<\/p>\n

             <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Why would you want to have two dropboxes at the same time? \u00a0One illegitimate reason would be to get more dropbox quota. \u00a0We do not recommend you do this as this is dishonest – if you need more space please pay for it (or earn it in one of the many legitimate ways Dropbox gives<\/p>\n

            Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-instructions-kb","category-kb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iam-afghanistan.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iam-afghanistan.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iam-afghanistan.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iam-afghanistan.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iam-afghanistan.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/iam-afghanistan.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1505,"href":"https:\/\/iam-afghanistan.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359\/revisions\/1505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iam-afghanistan.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iam-afghanistan.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iam-afghanistan.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}