thank you very much @ace and @mark4 for taking the time to reply to my post.
Sorry, I forgot to mention that I reinstalled the OS (Monterey 12.6.8) which did not help.
I am too chicken to upgrade to Ventura because my life depends on Dropbox with most files being stored locally and synced, and some files online only.
Ventura + Dropbox received so much bad press and bad comments in multiple forums, in particular problems with local files, ie forcing the user to go the online only route.
Would you happen to know the current status of Dropbox - Ventura, and if my fears are justified ?
thanks again very much