Re: Data doesn't always copy onto external drives

John Biltz wrote:
On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 17:38:01 -0700, John Biltz wrote
(in article <0001HW.C2E8EA79006EEF8DB042494F@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>):


On Tue, 14 Aug 2007 13:25:14 -0700, Robert Montgomery wrote
(in article <Kcowi.107877$xk5.64355@edtnps82>):


J.J. O'Shea wrote:


On Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:48:23 -0400, Robert Montgomery wrote
(in article <XNmwi.107849$xk5.2800@edtnps82>):



J.J. O'Shea wrote:



On Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:11:27 -0400, Robert Montgomery wrote
(in article <jfmwi.94680$tB5.78542@edtnps90>):




When I'm backing up my data, sometimes the data I manually copy from my Imac to my external Firewire drives doesn't copy.

First when I drag the files and folders from my computer to the windows of the external drives, the files and folders appear to have copied, but sometimes when I go back to look at those external drives' contents weeks later, some of the data that appeared to have copied and onto the external drives isn't there.

I wonder if this might be because I usually drag the old data from the external drives to the trash (leaving it there for a while in case I've made a mistake and need it again) and then drag the newly updated replacement files and folders from the computer onto the external drives.

I wonder if it would be more effective to drag the data from the Imac onto the external drives, thereby replacing the old data on the external drives (because the OS then asks me if I want to replace the data on the external drives, in which case I click on the "Okay" button).

I'm using OS 10.4.10 on a Late 2006 Imac.

Robert


Why don't you use one of the easily available free or cheap backup applications, such as Apple's own Backup, SilverKeeper, Retrospect, Carbon Copy Cloner, SuperDuper!, or any of a myriad others?

Because they can cause so many problems.


They do? News to me. I use SilverKeeper every week to back up my data, and SuperDuper! every ever so often to back up entire volumes at home, and I've used Retrospect since 1995 at work. Which problems would you be referring to, and are they of the same level as your _losing data_? Hint: I have _never_ lost data using SilverKeeper or SuperDuper!. Not even once. And the one time I lost data using Retro was when the tape broke... and I should have had two tapes, so that was my fault.



I'm afraid to use them because they can really screw things up. I've never used them before because they're so iintimidating and they can't be trusted.


Backup and SilverKeeper are among the easiest apps I've ever seen in operation. SilverKeeper, for example runs things this way:

1 launch app

2 select folder (or volume) you want to back up from

3 select folder (or volume) you want to to

4 hit the go button.

5 wait until all operations are complete

6 quit app.



And whyever do you drag things to the _trash_ first?

As I wrote above, it's so they're in a safe repository


The Trash is _not_ a safe repository. _Never_ put anything in the Trash that you don't intend to delete.



in case I realize I made a mistake, because I can retrieve them from the trash. I've rescued data from the trash many times that way. It's a lifesaver.


I suspect that I know why you're missing data.



Robert

Thanks, J.J. and you others. I didn't know that things pulled out of the trash can be mangled. But I seldom pull files or folders out of the trash anymore.

I suspect that my data losses are mostly instead caused by the occasional freeze or inadvertent ejection of the disks. It seems that I lose data from the external Firewire drives if the computer freezes. i think it's because the data isn't stored normally on the drives, as it would be during a normal shutodown, retart or (I wonder) log-out).

And just today I accidentally hit the Eject icon next to one of my Firewire drives in the Sidebar (a common accident for me), so the Firewire drive was summarily cut off.

Robert

I do it like you. Mainly it has to do with me checking how I'm naming things now compared to how they are archived and my external drive has 400 gigs on it and my laptop has 60.

So there ARE potential problems with the back-up programs. Those problems were the reason why I haven't used the back-up programs. They're probably the same drawbacks I read about years ago in the newsgroups, yet the drawbacks are dismissed by the other respondents in this thread.

As long as you are not ejecting the
external drive while actually transferring the data it will be fine. I think your problem is actually the opposite. If you are not ejecting the drive or shutting the whole system down the freeze may be causing the drive to lose the data because the file system isn't updated. Ejecting the drive resets the file system. A less reliable thing to do is erasing the trash because that generally resets the file system. If you want to keep the old stuff then just create a new folder called old and drop it into there. Nothing wrong with that and there are times it can be useful.



One other thing, have you considered the possibility that the drive is bad and is causing the data to drop as well as causing the freezes in your system.

Yes, but I don't think that's what's happening, because I think freezes and ejecting the disk will nullify manual back-ups to external drives.

Robert
.