Vanished File

[kafka]

I have just had a rather bizarre experience. Having just typed up the sixth page of my travel diary I closed and saved it (Word 2007) then ran my backup script. When I tried to open the file in Word I found that it was no longer on my hard drive. This has happened a couple of times over the last few days but I have always been able to extract it from the backup. This time I found that the file was missing from the backup as well. It seems that I have lost several weeks work.

I am at present using a program which is supposed to restore deleted files, however I have a feeling that the file won’t appear amongst the files which have been deleted. Is there something I might be doing during the backup which would have this result?

The original backup script backed up as normal, after which I changed it to incremental as I thought that any new files I added to a folder would be added to the script (ie backed up).

Help!

[davidsplash]

Can you tell us what operationg system you have and any updates to them and what other programs were running at the time. Any screen shots of your backup would help.

[kafka]

I have attached a couple of screenshots. not all of the files appear as they didn’t appear on the screen. I am using Vista Business and at the time of the backup I would have anyi-virus and firewall software in operation. I am not sure whether I would have closed Word.

I was under the impression that files remained on the hard drive even after they were deleted (i.e. nothing was ever fully erased) yet I cannot find the missing file using deleted file recovery software.

[spwolf]

can you send us your pbs script to support at conexware . com?

PowerArchiver Backup does not delete files though, so I do not know why would your file be deleted from the hard drive?

[kafka]

Attached please find both scripts which backup the file in question. TRAVEL DIARY backs up all the files in the Travel Diary folder, including the one that has vanished. BACKUP 1 OFTEN backs up all the files in the Travel Diary folder as well as other folders containing files which I want to back up fairly often.

Note that it is only the most recently added file, 2008 Europe.doc which has disappeared.

If the backup was incremental and I added a new file to the folder which was being backed up, would the incremental backup add the new file or ignore it because it hadn’t changed?
attachment_p_15877_0_travel-diary.txt
attachment_p_15877_1_backup-1-often.txt

[spwolf]

Incremental would add new files too and thats correct mode to use.

However if the file was not on the disk, it could not be added? Maybe somehow it got deleted and wasnt backed up either because it wasnt there?

[kafka]

I just conducted an experiment. I created a new document in Word (test.docx) saved it, checked that it was in the TRAVEL DIARY folder, then ran the TRAVEL DIARY.pbs. After the backup I opened Computer and found that text.docx was no longer in the TRAVEL DIARY
folder; it had vanished.

It seems to me that making the backup incremental means that only existing files which have changed are backed up. As test.docx was new rather than an existing file that had changed, it was not backed up.

This doesn’t explain why the original file vanished from my hard drive.

[kafka]

I just opened TRAVEL DIARY.zip from the DVD-RW and found it empty! Nothing had been backed up.

My aim in using Power Archiver is to be able to back up files when they have changed and to add new files to the backup. This is a lot quicker than doing a full backup and the DVD takes longer to fill up (I think). Is Incremental what I should be using? I don’t understand what Differential backup does

[spwolf]

@kafka:

I just conducted an experiment. I created a new document in Word (test.docx) saved it, checked that it was in the TRAVEL DIARY folder, then ran the TRAVEL DIARY.pbs. After the backup I opened Computer and found that text.docx was no longer in the TRAVEL DIARY
folder; it had vanished.

It seems to me that making the backup incremental means that only existing files which have changed are backed up. As test.docx was new rather than an existing file that had changed, it was not backed up.

This doesn’t explain why the original file vanished from my hard drive.

Incremental backup should backup all new and changed files. I just tested it and seems to work fine on my computer.

What version are you using? Beta 4? Thanks.

[spwolf]

From that shot, it looks like your backup is 42 MB large… how can it be empty?

[spwolf]

Also, are you backing up to the DVDRW drive?

[spwolf]

ok, i think i might be seeing the light here.

You are backing to DVDRW drive. Do you have some software that makes DVDRW drive accessible without burning files to it? From script, you did not use burn function, rather used D: drive as regular drive?

[kafka]

I must have been using D: drive as a regular drive.

I haven’t been using the burn function as I assumed I didn’t have the Pro version. I have just discovered that I can use the burn function. At the moment I am formatting a new DVD-RW as the backup to the old DVD wouldn’t proceed after I ticked the burn box.

I am using Version 11.00.52. About doesn’t indicate that this is a beta version.

I will report back when I have formatted the DVD and amended the scripts to burn to it.

[spwolf]

@kafka:

I must have been using D: drive as a regular drive.

I haven’t been using the burn function as I assumed I didn’t have the Pro version. I have just discovered that I can use the burn function. At the moment I am formatting a new DVD-RW as the backup to the old DVD wouldn’t proceed after I ticked the burn box.

I am using Version 11.00.52. About doesn’t indicate that this is a beta version.

I will report back when I have formatted the DVD and amended the scripts to burn to it.

wait, but how did you get all those files to D: drive? You must have had some kind of burning software installed that did it? Even if transparently?

[kafka]

I have Nero installed which I use for burning CDs. I have never ticked the burn box but the backups have always appeared on the DVD.

[spwolf]

there is an reason that I am asking - if there was some software burning to D: drive, there are some transparent utilities that make your DVDRW act as normal drive (not really, but they try).

In this case, if backup was originally burned somehow, you might be able to recover it by using Copy DVD to ISO feature from main PA window.

I am not sure how much do you know about how DVDR/RW drives work.

Basically every time burner writes something to the drive, it writes an “session”. Your Windows Explorer reads only last session. So each time new data is written, everything thats on the disc has to be written again or it will be lost - it is called importing session.

Reason I mention that is while Windows Explorer can read only last session, Copy DVD to ISO tool will give you an list of sessions/tracks to create ISO files from, including all of them, and you might be able to find your lost file in one of those sessions. Hopefully that works.

[spwolf]

@kafka:

I have Nero installed which I use for burning CDs. I have never ticked the burn box but the backups have always appeared on the DVD.

Nero has such software drive that makes writing to DVD’s transparent. As you can see, it is not perfect :).

Hopefully you will be able to recover data by using tool I mentioned.

[kafka]

After formatting a new DVD-RW I checked the Burn to CD/DVD/Blue-Ray box and pressed next. I was then informed that Directory of drive destination does not exist.

If Nero or something else is allowing me to burn the backup to the DVD, do I need to check the Burn to CD/DVD box? PowerAchiever Version 7 worked without any problems at all (incidentally, I must be using the Beta 4 version of PA 2009 as that is the only version of 2009 available.

Is there any point in my uninstalling PA 2009 and re-installing it? As it is I keep gettin prompted to register it despite the fact that I have entered the new licence details several times.

[kafka]

I have done as you suggested and copied the DVD to ISO. I now have an enormous ISO file. How do I open it to see whether it contains my missing file?

[spwolf]

@kafka:

After formatting a new DVD-RW I checked the Burn to CD/DVD/Blue-Ray box and pressed next. I was then informed that Directory of drive destination does not exist.

If Nero or something else is allowing me to burn the backup to the DVD, do I need to check the Burn to CD/DVD box? PowerAchiever Version 7 worked without any problems at all (incidentally, I must be using the Beta 4 version of PA 2009 as that is the only version of 2009 available.

Is there any point in my uninstalling PA 2009 and re-installing it? As it is I keep gettin prompted to register it despite the fact that I have entered the new licence details several times.

your problem is from Nero that somehow screwed up burning of the files. Problably some bug after burning a lot of sessions. I am not sure. In any case, it did not work somehow.

If you want to use PA Burner to burn those files, you need to have PRO version and check Burning box (uncheck D: drive as well).

[spwolf]

@kafka:

I have done as you suggested and copied the DVD to ISO. I now have an enormous ISO file. How do I open it to see whether it contains my missing file?

what track did you save to iso? did you have choice of several tracks? Try opening it with PA and see what you get inside.

[spwolf]

ah, it is not Nero - Vista have similar feature - if you format new DVDRW to support its Live FS, it will make your DVDRW behave like an hard disk (which it isnt)… it probably did not like that you were updating same file over and over as that does not work narutally on disc based media…

[kafka]

Can I use a new DVD-RW in PA without formatting it with Vista?

[kafka]

I have posted a query on a couple of sites asking how I can go about uninstalling or disabling Windows Live FS.

[kafka]

A further development. I planned to do some work on my DVD Slideshow (using Nero Express Vision). When I tried to open the project file from my hard drive it had vanished! Fortunately I was able to extract it from one of my backup disks.

I suspect that, in the case of the other missing file, it may have already disappeared from the hard drive so that when I ran the backup script the file was not there to backup. HOWEVER… Backing up the whole TRAVEL DIARY folder incrementally wouldn’t delete the file already existing on the backup disk, would it?

[spwolf]

@kafka:

A further development. I planned to do some work on my DVD Slideshow (using Nero Express Vision). When I tried to open the project file from my hard drive it had vanished! Fortunately I was able to extract it from one of my backup disks.

I suspect that, in the case of the other missing file, it may have already disappeared from the hard drive so that when I ran the backup script the file was not there to backup. HOWEVER… Backing up the whole TRAVEL DIARY folder incrementally wouldn’t delete the file already existing on the backup disk, would it?

nope, there is no option in the backup that deletes the files, even if you wanted to.

[kafka]

I uninstalled all Windows Live programs then conducted a test in which I created a file (test.docx) using Word 2007 and saved it in the TRAVEL DIARY folder. I then checked Computer to make sure it was, indeed, saved. I then ran the backup script which saved the compressed test.docx to the DVD-RW. I then checked Computer again and the file was no longer there.

I guess the next step is to use a new DVD-RW which has not been formatted, though I suspect that I will be asked to format it.

Incidentally, my trial version of PA 2009 runs out tomorrow, which is a nuisance as I have tried to register it a number of times using the new licence number.

[kafka]

Further news. I have just discovered that my CD/Record database has also vanished from my hard drive. This is really bad news as it contains about a thousand records.

I had hoped that I could extract the records database from my backup DVD, but since I uninstalled all Windows Live programs I can no longer access the DVD. This wouldn’t matter if it weren’t for the records database as I find that I can burn the backups to DVD via PowerArchiver as you suggested. I might have to re-install all the Windows Live programs (which might give me access to my backup disk), extract the Records folder, then delete them again.

Any suggestions?

[MarcFou]

If your running Vista Business and need to recover files that were deleted/removed from a drive, you could use the Previous versions feature. This is provided that System Protection is enabled on the drive where the file(s) were located.

[spwolf]

@kafka:

I uninstalled all Windows Live programs then conducted a test in which I created a file (test.docx) using Word 2007 and saved it in the TRAVEL DIARY folder. I then checked Computer to make sure it was, indeed, saved. I then ran the backup script which saved the compressed test.docx to the DVD-RW. I then checked Computer again and the file was no longer there.

I guess the next step is to use a new DVD-RW which has not been formatted, though I suspect that I will be asked to format it.

Incidentally, my trial version of PA 2009 runs out tomorrow, which is a nuisance as I have tried to register it a number of times using the new licence number.

you need to email us for the issue with reg number, via support form

[spwolf]

@kafka:

I uninstalled all Windows Live programs then conducted a test in which I created a file (test.docx) using Word 2007 and saved it in the TRAVEL DIARY folder. I then checked Computer to make sure it was, indeed, saved. I then ran the backup script which saved the compressed test.docx to the DVD-RW. I then checked Computer again and the file was no longer there.

I guess the next step is to use a new DVD-RW which has not been formatted, though I suspect that I will be asked to format it.

Incidentally, my trial version of PA 2009 runs out tomorrow, which is a nuisance as I have tried to register it a number of times using the new licence number.

you did not have to uninstall Live programs.

Save backups to some local folder on C:… what happens then?

[spwolf]

@kafka:

I uninstalled all Windows Live programs then conducted a test in which I created a file (test.docx) using Word 2007 and saved it in the TRAVEL DIARY folder. I then checked Computer to make sure it was, indeed, saved. I then ran the backup script which saved the compressed test.docx to the DVD-RW. I then checked Computer again and the file was no longer there.

I guess the next step is to use a new DVD-RW which has not been formatted, though I suspect that I will be asked to format it.

Incidentally, my trial version of PA 2009 runs out tomorrow, which is a nuisance as I have tried to register it a number of times using the new licence number.

when it comes to using Live FS, it only matters when you format DVDRW. If you do it so it supports Live FS, then it will support Live FS. There is no actual need to uninstall support for it.

[kafka]

I seem to have found the reason for the above problem (with help frpm PowerArchiver Support).

After installing PowerArchiver 2009 Professional I ran my backup pbs by clicking a shortcut icon which I had placed on my desktop after creating the pbs in PowerArchiver 2007. It was this action which caused my registered version of PowerArchiver 2009 Professional to become unregistered AND which resulted in my backed up file vanishing from its original folder.

When I deleted all the PA 2007 backup icons from my desktop and re-created them in PA 2009 I found that PA 2009 remained registered and the file did not vanish from its original location.

My tip, therefore, is that pbs created in PA 2007 should not be used in PA 2009.

I have a final problem which I will describe in a separate post.

[TBGBe]

Not sure if that is a bug or if it will need a convert routine - but should be solved one way or the other.