Multiple instances will stay – New beta version

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This is the continuation of my previous post: No multiple instances anymore?

I did some further testing and it seems like I have found a way to stop Dropbox from entering the entire upgrade mechanism.

Please check out the new beta version and post in the comments if Dropbox starts updating itself or if it works flawlessly (please test this a few days, because the update routine does not start on every startup of Dropbox). You can check if Dropbox updates itself by looking at the tray icon. If it looks like Dropbox is syncing and the tooltip when hovering the icon says “upgrading Dropbox” then Dropbox is updating itself.

I ran multiple (10) Dropbox instances hundreds of times and the update routine never checked in. If this method works, then there will be no restrictions on the Dropbox status information, every instance should report it’s correct status.

Thanks for the votes, I didn’t thought that so many people would think about this issue.

11 thoughts on “Multiple instances will stay – New beta version”

  1. I have tested out the beta by replaced the exe’s in the dbpahk dirs that I use with the two instances I have running and they both work as they did before from my point of view. The syncing icon show the correct progress and completions when appropriate. I do not see the upgrading tooltip when hovering in the tasktray. However, I haven’t fiddled around with the dropbox binaries that dbpahk uses. Is there more you would like me to test with the binaries to see if I can try and make dropbox upgrade itself?

    And thank you for taking the time to throw this out to your audience and seeing what they want. It is a great program and really enjoy using it. The fact that you are willing to field the input of your user base and doing the hard work for us just means I enjoy it even more. Thanks for it.

    • No, there is nothing more you need to do. Just test if Dropbox does not update itself anymore, that’s all 😉
      The users are the basis for creating a full functional application, because they find errors you didn’t find and ask for new features and enhancements.

  2. I did the same as Roz: I replaced the exe file with the current beta version and tried this already several times. I tried it installed on a USB stick placed on a windows XP and a windows 7 laptop. I restarted several times and never got the “updating” message.
    Thank you very much for your hard work!!!

  3. Ich habe vorher eine andere PortableDropBox genutzt und bin gerade erst auf Dbpahk umgestiegen. Hierzu jetzt die Frage… Meine DropBox bleibt auf Version 1.1.45 stehen, obwohl derzeit 1.2.48 aktuell ist. Die neue Betaversion unterbindet jetzt dieses Update?
    In den Settings von AHK habe ich AutoUpdate und BetaVersionen von Dropbox angehakt.
    Grüße

    • Sorry, i’ll write it in english now.

      I just switched from another DropBox-portable version to Dbpahk. Now my question on the last beta: My dropbox remains in version 1.1.45 although the latest version of Dropbox is the 1.2.48. Is that the goal of the latest AHK-BetaVersion? In AHK Settings the option AutoUpdate and BetaVersion for DropBox is checked..
      Greetings

    • Deutsch ist kein Problem 😉 Ich habe schon mehrmals über dieses Problem geschrieben, aber ich werde heute Abend noch einen Beitrag dazu schreiben. Zusammenfassend ist es derzeit so, dass es keine Möglichkeit für DropboxPortableAHK gibt, den Dropbox-Ordner bei Dropbox-Versionen ab 1.2 einzustellen.

  4. Thanks for keeping the option “Run multiple Dropbox accounts on one computer”!

    On one of my machines, we use two Dropbox instances, since we share the computer, so for me it was really important to be able to run two Dropbox accounts at the same time!

    Big thanks! 🙂

    //sidenote: Will Dropbox continue to be able to update to latest version from time to time? If not, what are the drawbacks?… As far as I understand, to be able for us to run more than one instance of Dropbox, updates will be stopped?… (or am I wrong?)

    • Yes, Dropbox won’t update anymore, but not because of multiple instances, but of Dropbox encrypting its database. That makes it unpossible for DropboxPortableAHK to change the Dropbox folder path.
      There are no special drawbacks. The ‘features’ of the new Dropbox versions are the encryption – which you can get in DropboxPortableAHK as well – and the automatic folder import – which is not very valuable in my opinion.

  5. Any chance we might see this hack for Google Drive in the near future? Same issue will exist there with only being able to run one instance from a desktop version.

    • Maybe. Google Drive has not convinced me, yet, and I don’t have enough time to support another application at the moment.
      I might give it a try in a few weeks or so.

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