GD4D (Google Drive For Desktop) came out during covid and was designed to replace the Google Bkup & Sync (aka 'Google Drive') that's been around for a long time. Over the past 4 months, Google has been making changes to the way it works.  GD4D users cannot refuse or postpone these changes - they just arrive one night. That has recently happened to Scott L, Jim and Joe. Several others received the changest in April.

Alas, it directly affects the CSBAstat managers and ADMIN who had converted to GD4D this year. How so? The changes rendered the software Dead In The Water (DITH2O).

Here's what/why Google made the changes:  https://support.google.com/drive/answer/10864219#zippy=%2Cwhat-happens-when-a-shortcut-replaces-a-folder-on-drive-for-desktop

CSBAstat is affected because it can only read files that are physically located on your hard drive. It doesn't care how they got there, For 19 years, reading files was easy breezy lemon squeezy.

The "files" in the new GD4D are "shortcuts" to the cloud. They are not physical files. They become physical files when the user opens the file and this initiates a request to have it downloaded. There is a slight pause but hardly noticeable. Microsoft's 'Windows Explorer' supports it well ... user eyeballs the 'files' in a folder, clicks on one of the 'files', GD4D downloads it and ta-dah ... the 'file' opens.

Good news -- CSBAstat can read the 'files' once they are local on your PC

More good news -- Jim found a way to make them always downloaded, just like before

Bad news -- programming changes are necessary but maybe not as difficult now

For GD4D users, you must wait for R8.4 sometime in the 3rd week of June. Until then, you cannot use the app.

If you are still running the original Google Bkup & Sync, you can still use the app.