OT: Mac OSX' "replace folder" NOT undoable!!!

[felipe]

I just lost a days work by replacing a ******* folder in OSx.

What OsX does is delete the folder that's being replaced and then move over the new one.

While I admit that this is pretty much the way it should be (replacing a folder in windoze will actually synchronize its contents..) I didn't put much thought into "do you really want to replace the folder x with folder x?" until then.

WHAT I FOUND OUT AFTERWARDS is that there is no darn way to recover the original folder!
:bang:

You can undo placing the new folder, BUT the old one is gone for good, there is simply no way to retreive it.
Of course I was not the only dumbass to find this one out the hard way, and the utter hatred was later replaced by a feeling of inconsolable incompetence, but I honestly hope this hint might save a few from doing the same. 😀

Cheers,
Phil


P.S.: I bet the tech who came across this "feature" while testing the OS and obviously said "aww well, skip it" has his own apple-tech-internal fanclub and every time some poor f*** like me posts another thread about it - they bake him a huge yummy cake.

 

[Hexagon_Sun]

I just lost a days work by replacing a ******* folder in OSx.

What OsX does is delete the folder that's being replaced and then move over the new one.

While I admit that this is pretty much the way it should be (replacing a folder in windoze will actually synchronize its contents..) I didn't put much thought into "do you really want to replace the folder x with folder x?" until then.

WHAT I FOUND OUT AFTERWARDS is that there is no darn way to recover the original folder!

There is data recovery software for mac os x... i've used it before with sucess. You can probably download a trial version. Good luck, I wouldn't give up yet.

 

[wblanchard]

I used this product to recover lost files.

http://www.subrosasoft.com/MacSoftware/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1

 

[Doug]

Yes, if you have not done a lot of disk-intensive activity since the "incident" then chances of success with recovery software are pretty good. What you actually did was to change some entries in the disk directory; the deleted files are still there, just not in the file directory any more, and the space they occupied is counted among the disk's free space, available for other files. Same thing when you empty the Trash, unless you use the Secure Empty feature. This is the way it's been since the dawn of computing, well since the beginning of rewritable magnetic media anyway.

Of course an easier and surer way of recovering files is to copy them back over from your recent backup. 🙂

 

[felipe]

Thanks guys, I guess I have to buy either Data Rescue II or File Salvage, both were able to find at least SOMETHING (2.5gb of illustrator EPS files for instance..uhu)
I guess my 3 missing EPS files must be somewhere within this chunk of data but it's hard to find them since they don't have their original filenames anymore.

I actually didn't think of data recovery software at all in the first place, since Norton X screwed up my external harddrive a year ago..but thankfully the two mentioned above don't do that and instead find your missing files, like they're supposed to. 😀

Doug, I was copying the folder on my ext. HDD for exactly that purpose. I'ts just my brain wasn't working (at all?) after 18 Hours in front of the computer. 😀
Must be the radiation..

I'll keep you updated
Cheers,
Phil

 

[DerekF]

Mac OS X Finder has to be the worst application in an otherwise stellar operating system. It is definitely OS X's Achilles Heel, IMHO.

That being said, you should really consider making regular backups to avoid the whole issue of file recovery as much as possible. I use SuperDuper and backing up to external hard drives is so fast and relatively cheap these days, it almost makes no sense not to be factoring in regular backups as part of your normal routine.

 

[felipe]

Mac OS X Finder has to be the worst application in an otherwise stellar operating system. It is definitely OS X's Achilles Heel, IMHO.

That being said, you should really consider making regular backups to avoid the whole issue of file recovery as much as possible. I use SuperDuper and backing up to external hard drives is so fast and relatively cheap these days, it almost makes no sense not to be factoring in regular backups as part of your normal routine.

Actually most of the time the only thing wrong with the machine is the user sitting in front of it, but you're right the finder definetly is the worst part of OS X.. 🙂

Like I said I do make (weekly) backups to ext. HDD and DVD, but since I'm working on my ibook most of the time I have duplicates of all the client folders on my ibooks HDD.
When I come home I usually just drop the new files into to the existing client folders on the external HDD (and burn them to CDs/DVDs once the project is finished).

What happened this time was I was working with the ext. HDD connected, and somehow I managed to save the files to the client folder on the external drive rather than into the usual ibook folder.
And being braindead from working all day on this I managed to replace the folder...



BTW. File Salvage turned out to be rather useless compared to Data Rescue II (which found the files, took about 5 hours to search the HDD though.)
File Salvage definetly has better useability and is a lot faster but apparently it isn't as thoroughly as DR II..

Cheers,
Phil

 

[kmack]

May be now is the time to mention RSYNC. Rsync is a unix utility for remote copy and sync. I use it over a wireless network to my linux home server and over firewire to my firewire external hard drive. I have it automated to run at night at home. I only have to remember to leave my laptop on and open for it to work.