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jvel84 Author

Level 1

5 points

Install dropbox after changing account short name?

Hello everyone,

I recently bought a macbook pro and had parallels installed at the store. Since they installed it, the y created a user account with a dummy account name "macuser". When I got home, I changed the short name to a short name I wanted ("myname") without any problems. Everything seemed to work just fine. Then I tried to install Dropbox. I went to dropbox.com, downloaded their app and started to install. When I reached the point where the installation asks for permission to access my home folder, it referred to my old account name i.e.: "dropbox needs permission to access users/"macuser". Obvioulsy, when I type in my password I get an error message saying the home folder could not be reached.

Somehow the dropbox installation app seems to try to link to the home folder using the old short name.

I restarted the mac and logged in again, deleted the dropbox dmg and downloaded a new one. Started the process again and I still get the same error message.

Everything else works just fine, all my files open and I was able to install other apps wihout any trouble.

Can anyone help?

Thanks,

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)

Posted on Mar 3, 2014 6:30 PM

Best reply

Darla Mack

Level 1

35 points

Posted on Mar 23, 2014 3:07 PM

I'm having this very same issue. A few questions though:

Is the home folder name (macuser) still on you're HD? You might find it under Users>Deleted Users. If it is there I'm assuming that the folder is locked (little red circle on the folder). You might have to assign permissions to that folder by selecting it> get info> (look on the bottom at the permissions) then add your new name with read & write abilities.
If you are like me and totally deleted the "Deleted User" folder... the error message that you get might not shed any light because I'm still waiting for an answer from Dropbox Support on that.

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16 replies

Ziatron

Level 5

4,186 points

Jun 21, 2016 12:46 AM in response to ptypix

but I had the same problem and found the solution here (stack exchange site).

Using El Capitan, the Terminal procedure did not work for me. I received one error as I enter the items.

xxxxs-Mac-Pro-2:~ yyyyyy$ sudo mv ~/.dropbox-master ~/.Trash/dropbox-master.old

mv: rename /Users/yyyyy/.dropbox-master to /Users/yyyyy/.Trash/dropbox-master.old: No such file or directory

Note that, "xxxx" is my old short name, and yyyyy is the new short name.

Here's what I don't understand about DropBox. Using EasyFind I thoroughly and completely eliminated all traces of my old short name, and DropBox. yet, somehow it keeps coming back when I reinstall.

Strangely, when I go to the dropbox website I am automatically logged in without having to enter any passwords. I'm wondering if any cookies in Firefox could be resurrecting my old short name.

DropBox is "working" for me. However it is using my old, dead, short name. A name that I cannot use because another computer on our network has the same short name. I must find a way to change it.

Install dropbox after changing account short name?