Windows Vista Forums

Weird and potential dramatic loss of files?
  1. #1


    Fabrice Guest

    Weird and potential dramatic loss of files?

    Hi,

    I experienced this morning a weird event: a FS popup asked me to delete
    files which were write protected. I noticed then that those files had not
    been touched for years. I looked into the status windows, and noticed that
    tons of files were being deleted.

    The description notes:
    "Deleted by Not Available on Not Available".



    There's always the possibility that I did something wrong, yet I suspect a
    pb on Foldershare side for the following reasons:
    * what is this computer Not Available??? Ok, I could understand maybe I
    change a computer name at some point, it's coming back online now, but it's
    unlikely, I only have 4 machines on FS so I know pretty well what's going on
    * what is this user Not Available ???
    * I did not touch those files for years
    * the deletion are happening on different libraries and therefore folders...

    I'm pretty scared because I had to shut down FS, and can't even investigate
    the pb (this is a production environment, and currently FS keeps on deleting
    files!!!). Furthermore the little description I have only says "Not
    available" did it on a "Not available" machine. Not helpful, if even
    meaningful!!!

    PLEASE, help!!! Has anyone experienced anything like that?

    Credibility note: I'm pretty experienced in IT and windows, and have been a
    user of FS since the beginning virtually. So I know most of its
    quirkinesses... That is beyond what I have ever seen!!!

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  2. #2


    Anthony R. Gold Guest

    Re: Weird and potential dramatic loss of files?

    On Thu, 6 Dec 2007 00:08:01 -0800, Fabrice
    <Fabrice@xxxxxx> wrote:

    > "Deleted by Not Available on Not Available".
    >
    > There's always the possibility that I did something wrong, yet I suspect a
    > pb on Foldershare side for the following reasons:
    > * what is this computer Not Available??? Ok, I could understand maybe I
    > change a computer name at some point, it's coming back online now, but it's
    > unlikely, I only have 4 machines on FS so I know pretty well what's going on
    > * what is this user Not Available ???
    FS believes that those files were deleted on a computer that is not at
    present connected and which has Editor or Senior Editor permission, and so
    the authority to delete files in that library. On the FS View Activity
    screen on your own computer you should be able to see on which machine
    those files were first deleted and from which those deletions propagated.

    Tony

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  3. #3


    Fabrice Guest

    RE: Weird and potential dramatic loss of files?

    I happened to have restarted it, just to see, and ... the files are now
    reappearing, with a description "Added by XXX" where XXX is my main machine.

    What it looks like is that it was marked "deleted" then "reappear" a bit
    like when a folder name is changed. However,
    a) I'm not aware all my folders changed names...
    b) I physically saw a file disappear from a folder, and reappear there
    later. I'm not sure that is the behavior when one changes a folder name. But
    maybe we should consider that the name change is occuring on another machine,
    so that maybe it...

    Very weird. If it is only a case of name changing in the folder structure,
    the behavior is very scary. (weird to see files moving back and forth between
    its original location and the FS trash ... and luckily back from hell ;-)

    If I don't post anything more, it means that everything is just back "normal".

    Let me know your thoughts however,

    "Fabrice" wrote:

    > Hi,
    >
    > I experienced this morning a weird event: a FS popup asked me to delete
    > files which were write protected. I noticed then that those files had not
    > been touched for years. I looked into the status windows, and noticed that
    > tons of files were being deleted.
    >
    > The description notes:
    > "Deleted by Not Available on Not Available".
    >
    > There's always the possibility that I did something wrong, yet I suspect a
    > pb on Foldershare side for the following reasons:
    > * what is this computer Not Available??? Ok, I could understand maybe I
    > change a computer name at some point, it's coming back online now, but it's
    > unlikely, I only have 4 machines on FS so I know pretty well what's going on
    > * what is this user Not Available ???
    > * I did not touch those files for years
    > * the deletion are happening on different libraries and therefore folders...
    >
    > I'm pretty scared because I had to shut down FS, and can't even investigate
    > the pb (this is a production environment, and currently FS keeps on deleting
    > files!!!). Furthermore the little description I have only says "Not
    > available" did it on a "Not available" machine. Not helpful, if even
    > meaningful!!!
    >
    > PLEASE, help!!! Has anyone experienced anything like that?
    >
    > Credibility note: I'm pretty experienced in IT and windows, and have been a
    > user of FS since the beginning virtually. So I know most of its
    > quirkinesses... That is beyond what I have ever seen!!!

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  4. #4


    Lasse Guest

    RE: Weird and potential dramatic loss of files?

    This has happened to me and many of my friends this morning as well. Seems
    all files containing special characters have been deleted. I'm from Denmark
    where we have three special letters (æ, å and ø), and so quite a few files
    are gone. I got all of them from the trash, but it will be quite some work to
    restore their locations.

    Symptom is the same as you described, i.e. "Removed by unanavailable on
    unavailable" and the later on "Added by" (blank) with the date set to some
    random date in the past. Some files have been removed and added in this
    fashion several times in a row by FS.

    Mailed support about this, and hope they will look into it as this is a
    seriously scary bug that kinda makes me not want to use FS until it has been
    resolved (!!!!!!). It happened both on my "My documents" sync (between
    desktop and laptop) but also on a larger shared library I have with some
    friends/coworkers.

    Lasse

    "Fabrice" wrote:

    > Hi,
    >
    > I experienced this morning a weird event: a FS popup asked me to delete
    > files which were write protected. I noticed then that those files had not
    > been touched for years. I looked into the status windows, and noticed that
    > tons of files were being deleted.
    >
    > The description notes:
    > "Deleted by Not Available on Not Available".
    >
    > There's always the possibility that I did something wrong, yet I suspect a
    > pb on Foldershare side for the following reasons:
    > * what is this computer Not Available??? Ok, I could understand maybe I
    > change a computer name at some point, it's coming back online now, but it's
    > unlikely, I only have 4 machines on FS so I know pretty well what's going on
    > * what is this user Not Available ???
    > * I did not touch those files for years
    > * the deletion are happening on different libraries and therefore folders...
    >
    > I'm pretty scared because I had to shut down FS, and can't even investigate
    > the pb (this is a production environment, and currently FS keeps on deleting
    > files!!!). Furthermore the little description I have only says "Not
    > available" did it on a "Not available" machine. Not helpful, if even
    > meaningful!!!
    >
    > PLEASE, help!!! Has anyone experienced anything like that?
    >
    > Credibility note: I'm pretty experienced in IT and windows, and have been a
    > user of FS since the beginning virtually. So I know most of its
    > quirkinesses... That is beyond what I have ever seen!!!

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  5. #5


    eruisi Guest

    RE: Weird and potential dramatic loss of files?

    I have the same thing happed to me. This is so terrible.
    A lot of my imprort stuff disappeared!

    The team should step up and explain this to us!

    "Lasse" wrote:

    > This has happened to me and many of my friends this morning as well. Seems
    > all files containing special characters have been deleted. I'm from Denmark
    > where we have three special letters (æ, å and ø), and so quite a few files
    > are gone. I got all of them from the trash, but it will be quite some work to
    > restore their locations.
    >
    > Symptom is the same as you described, i.e. "Removed by unanavailable on
    > unavailable" and the later on "Added by" (blank) with the date set to some
    > random date in the past. Some files have been removed and added in this
    > fashion several times in a row by FS.
    >
    > Mailed support about this, and hope they will look into it as this is a
    > seriously scary bug that kinda makes me not want to use FS until it has been
    > resolved (!!!!!!). It happened both on my "My documents" sync (between
    > desktop and laptop) but also on a larger shared library I have with some
    > friends/coworkers.
    >
    > Lasse
    >
    > "Fabrice" wrote:
    >

    > > Hi,
    > >
    > > I experienced this morning a weird event: a FS popup asked me to delete
    > > files which were write protected. I noticed then that those files had not
    > > been touched for years. I looked into the status windows, and noticed that
    > > tons of files were being deleted.
    > >
    > > The description notes:
    > > "Deleted by Not Available on Not Available".
    > >
    > > There's always the possibility that I did something wrong, yet I suspect a
    > > pb on Foldershare side for the following reasons:
    > > * what is this computer Not Available??? Ok, I could understand maybe I
    > > change a computer name at some point, it's coming back online now, but it's
    > > unlikely, I only have 4 machines on FS so I know pretty well what's going on
    > > * what is this user Not Available ???
    > > * I did not touch those files for years
    > > * the deletion are happening on different libraries and therefore folders...
    > >
    > > I'm pretty scared because I had to shut down FS, and can't even investigate
    > > the pb (this is a production environment, and currently FS keeps on deleting
    > > files!!!). Furthermore the little description I have only says "Not
    > > available" did it on a "Not available" machine. Not helpful, if even
    > > meaningful!!!
    > >
    > > PLEASE, help!!! Has anyone experienced anything like that?
    > >
    > > Credibility note: I'm pretty experienced in IT and windows, and have been a
    > > user of FS since the beginning virtually. So I know most of its
    > > quirkinesses... That is beyond what I have ever seen!!!

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  6. #6


    eruisi Guest

    RE: Weird and potential dramatic loss of files?

    As I note, all files disappeared are in non-English names.
    This is a very critical bug!

    "Lasse" wrote:

    > This has happened to me and many of my friends this morning as well. Seems
    > all files containing special characters have been deleted. I'm from Denmark
    > where we have three special letters (æ, å and ø), and so quite a few files
    > are gone. I got all of them from the trash, but it will be quite some work to
    > restore their locations.
    >
    > Symptom is the same as you described, i.e. "Removed by unanavailable on
    > unavailable" and the later on "Added by" (blank) with the date set to some
    > random date in the past. Some files have been removed and added in this
    > fashion several times in a row by FS.
    >
    > Mailed support about this, and hope they will look into it as this is a
    > seriously scary bug that kinda makes me not want to use FS until it has been
    > resolved (!!!!!!). It happened both on my "My documents" sync (between
    > desktop and laptop) but also on a larger shared library I have with some
    > friends/coworkers.
    >
    > Lasse
    >
    > "Fabrice" wrote:
    >

    > > Hi,
    > >
    > > I experienced this morning a weird event: a FS popup asked me to delete
    > > files which were write protected. I noticed then that those files had not
    > > been touched for years. I looked into the status windows, and noticed that
    > > tons of files were being deleted.
    > >
    > > The description notes:
    > > "Deleted by Not Available on Not Available".
    > >
    > > There's always the possibility that I did something wrong, yet I suspect a
    > > pb on Foldershare side for the following reasons:
    > > * what is this computer Not Available??? Ok, I could understand maybe I
    > > change a computer name at some point, it's coming back online now, but it's
    > > unlikely, I only have 4 machines on FS so I know pretty well what's going on
    > > * what is this user Not Available ???
    > > * I did not touch those files for years
    > > * the deletion are happening on different libraries and therefore folders...
    > >
    > > I'm pretty scared because I had to shut down FS, and can't even investigate
    > > the pb (this is a production environment, and currently FS keeps on deleting
    > > files!!!). Furthermore the little description I have only says "Not
    > > available" did it on a "Not available" machine. Not helpful, if even
    > > meaningful!!!
    > >
    > > PLEASE, help!!! Has anyone experienced anything like that?
    > >
    > > Credibility note: I'm pretty experienced in IT and windows, and have been a
    > > user of FS since the beginning virtually. So I know most of its
    > > quirkinesses... That is beyond what I have ever seen!!!

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  7. #7


    Fabrice Guest

    RE: Weird and potential dramatic loss of files?

    I want to add up to the behavior of what is now *obviously* a bug. Once the
    file with weird characters are removed, two interesting things happen:
    * on the other machines, they were not removed!!!
    * on the machine where the removal happen, if you restart FS, it reinstall
    them (coming from the other machine).

    So, it looks it's not too bad. Now for the bad news:
    I got the pb this morning and at noon, I was OK. Tonight, it did it again. I
    restarted FS, and it is bringing everything bad.

    So far, I've had the back and forth twice, but I'm sure we don't want that
    to go on forever.

    PLEASE, dear MS people, can you look into this disturbing behavior?

    "eruisi" wrote:

    > As I note, all files disappeared are in non-English names.
    > This is a very critical bug!
    >
    > "Lasse" wrote:
    >

    > > This has happened to me and many of my friends this morning as well. Seems
    > > all files containing special characters have been deleted. I'm from Denmark
    > > where we have three special letters (æ, å and ø), and so quite a few files
    > > are gone. I got all of them from the trash, but it will be quite some work to
    > > restore their locations.
    > >
    > > Symptom is the same as you described, i.e. "Removed by unanavailable on
    > > unavailable" and the later on "Added by" (blank) with the date set to some
    > > random date in the past. Some files have been removed and added in this
    > > fashion several times in a row by FS.
    > >
    > > Mailed support about this, and hope they will look into it as this is a
    > > seriously scary bug that kinda makes me not want to use FS until it has been
    > > resolved (!!!!!!). It happened both on my "My documents" sync (between
    > > desktop and laptop) but also on a larger shared library I have with some
    > > friends/coworkers.
    > >
    > > Lasse
    > >
    > > "Fabrice" wrote:
    > >

    > > > Hi,
    > > >
    > > > I experienced this morning a weird event: a FS popup asked me to delete
    > > > files which were write protected. I noticed then that those files had not
    > > > been touched for years. I looked into the status windows, and noticed that
    > > > tons of files were being deleted.
    > > >
    > > > The description notes:
    > > > "Deleted by Not Available on Not Available".
    > > >
    > > > There's always the possibility that I did something wrong, yet I suspect a
    > > > pb on Foldershare side for the following reasons:
    > > > * what is this computer Not Available??? Ok, I could understand maybe I
    > > > change a computer name at some point, it's coming back online now, but it's
    > > > unlikely, I only have 4 machines on FS so I know pretty well what's going on
    > > > * what is this user Not Available ???
    > > > * I did not touch those files for years
    > > > * the deletion are happening on different libraries and therefore folders...
    > > >
    > > > I'm pretty scared because I had to shut down FS, and can't even investigate
    > > > the pb (this is a production environment, and currently FS keeps on deleting
    > > > files!!!). Furthermore the little description I have only says "Not
    > > > available" did it on a "Not available" machine. Not helpful, if even
    > > > meaningful!!!
    > > >
    > > > PLEASE, help!!! Has anyone experienced anything like that?
    > > >
    > > > Credibility note: I'm pretty experienced in IT and windows, and have been a
    > > > user of FS since the beginning virtually. So I know most of its
    > > > quirkinesses... That is beyond what I have ever seen!!!

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  8. #8


    amos Guest

    RE: Weird and potential dramatic loss of files?

    It's happened to me also. All files contain Hebrew character … disappear.

    "Fabrice" wrote:

    > I want to add up to the behavior of what is now *obviously* a bug. Once the
    > file with weird characters are removed, two interesting things happen:
    > * on the other machines, they were not removed!!!
    > * on the machine where the removal happen, if you restart FS, it reinstall
    > them (coming from the other machine).
    >
    > So, it looks it's not too bad. Now for the bad news:
    > I got the pb this morning and at noon, I was OK. Tonight, it did it again. I
    > restarted FS, and it is bringing everything bad.
    >
    > So far, I've had the back and forth twice, but I'm sure we don't want that
    > to go on forever.
    >
    > PLEASE, dear MS people, can you look into this disturbing behavior?
    >
    > "eruisi" wrote:
    >

    > > As I note, all files disappeared are in non-English names.
    > > This is a very critical bug!
    > >
    > > "Lasse" wrote:
    > >

    > > > This has happened to me and many of my friends this morning as well. Seems
    > > > all files containing special characters have been deleted. I'm from Denmark
    > > > where we have three special letters (æ, å and ø), and so quite a few files
    > > > are gone. I got all of them from the trash, but it will be quite some work to
    > > > restore their locations.
    > > >
    > > > Symptom is the same as you described, i.e. "Removed by unanavailable on
    > > > unavailable" and the later on "Added by" (blank) with the date set to some
    > > > random date in the past. Some files have been removed and added in this
    > > > fashion several times in a row by FS.
    > > >
    > > > Mailed support about this, and hope they will look into it as this is a
    > > > seriously scary bug that kinda makes me not want to use FS until it has been
    > > > resolved (!!!!!!). It happened both on my "My documents" sync (between
    > > > desktop and laptop) but also on a larger shared library I have with some
    > > > friends/coworkers.
    > > >
    > > > Lasse
    > > >
    > > > "Fabrice" wrote:
    > > >
    > > > > Hi,
    > > > >
    > > > > I experienced this morning a weird event: a FS popup asked me to delete
    > > > > files which were write protected. I noticed then that those files had not
    > > > > been touched for years. I looked into the status windows, and noticed that
    > > > > tons of files were being deleted.
    > > > >
    > > > > The description notes:
    > > > > "Deleted by Not Available on Not Available".
    > > > >
    > > > > There's always the possibility that I did something wrong, yet I suspect a
    > > > > pb on Foldershare side for the following reasons:
    > > > > * what is this computer Not Available??? Ok, I could understand maybe I
    > > > > change a computer name at some point, it's coming back online now, but it's
    > > > > unlikely, I only have 4 machines on FS so I know pretty well what's going on
    > > > > * what is this user Not Available ???
    > > > > * I did not touch those files for years
    > > > > * the deletion are happening on different libraries and therefore folders...
    > > > >
    > > > > I'm pretty scared because I had to shut down FS, and can't even investigate
    > > > > the pb (this is a production environment, and currently FS keeps on deleting
    > > > > files!!!). Furthermore the little description I have only says "Not
    > > > > available" did it on a "Not available" machine. Not helpful, if even
    > > > > meaningful!!!
    > > > >
    > > > > PLEASE, help!!! Has anyone experienced anything like that?
    > > > >
    > > > > Credibility note: I'm pretty experienced in IT and windows, and have been a
    > > > > user of FS since the beginning virtually. So I know most of its
    > > > > quirkinesses... That is beyond what I have ever seen!!!

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  9. #9


    Mohammed Samji [MSFT] Guest

    RE: Weird and potential dramatic loss of files?

    Hi Fabrice,

    We are investigating the issue you are seeing below. This seems to stem from
    some updated services that went live this week.

    This bug is being tracked down and we will post an update tomorrow.

    In the mean-time, if you hit this issue you can recover the deleted file
    from the FolderShare Trash folder.

    We never delete any data, it is always moved to your FS Trash.

    Sorry for the inconvenience.
    -Mohammed


    "Fabrice" wrote:

    > Hi,
    >
    > I experienced this morning a weird event: a FS popup asked me to delete
    > files which were write protected. I noticed then that those files had not
    > been touched for years. I looked into the status windows, and noticed that
    > tons of files were being deleted.
    >
    > The description notes:
    > "Deleted by Not Available on Not Available".
    >
    > There's always the possibility that I did something wrong, yet I suspect a
    > pb on Foldershare side for the following reasons:
    > * what is this computer Not Available??? Ok, I could understand maybe I
    > change a computer name at some point, it's coming back online now, but it's
    > unlikely, I only have 4 machines on FS so I know pretty well what's going on
    > * what is this user Not Available ???
    > * I did not touch those files for years
    > * the deletion are happening on different libraries and therefore folders...
    >
    > I'm pretty scared because I had to shut down FS, and can't even investigate
    > the pb (this is a production environment, and currently FS keeps on deleting
    > files!!!). Furthermore the little description I have only says "Not
    > available" did it on a "Not available" machine. Not helpful, if even
    > meaningful!!!
    >
    > PLEASE, help!!! Has anyone experienced anything like that?
    >
    > Credibility note: I'm pretty experienced in IT and windows, and have been a
    > user of FS since the beginning virtually. So I know most of its
    > quirkinesses... That is beyond what I have ever seen!!!

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  10. #10


    amos Guest

    RE: Weird and potential dramatic loss of files?

    Dear Mohammed,

    Thank you for your reply, but it is easier said than done once you are
    talking about restoring 5000 files and more.

    Please note that for a better service of the software, you should make the
    trash folder just like the "wondows" trash folder. i.e. once you would like
    to restore a file it will be restored back to its original path.

    thank you,
    Amos

    "Mohammed Samji [MSFT]" wrote:

    > Hi Fabrice,
    >
    > We are investigating the issue you are seeing below. This seems to stem from
    > some updated services that went live this week.
    >
    > This bug is being tracked down and we will post an update tomorrow.
    >
    > In the mean-time, if you hit this issue you can recover the deleted file
    > from the FolderShare Trash folder.
    >
    > We never delete any data, it is always moved to your FS Trash.
    >
    > Sorry for the inconvenience.
    > -Mohammed
    >
    >
    > "Fabrice" wrote:
    >

    > > Hi,
    > >
    > > I experienced this morning a weird event: a FS popup asked me to delete
    > > files which were write protected. I noticed then that those files had not
    > > been touched for years. I looked into the status windows, and noticed that
    > > tons of files were being deleted.
    > >
    > > The description notes:
    > > "Deleted by Not Available on Not Available".
    > >
    > > There's always the possibility that I did something wrong, yet I suspect a
    > > pb on Foldershare side for the following reasons:
    > > * what is this computer Not Available??? Ok, I could understand maybe I
    > > change a computer name at some point, it's coming back online now, but it's
    > > unlikely, I only have 4 machines on FS so I know pretty well what's going on
    > > * what is this user Not Available ???
    > > * I did not touch those files for years
    > > * the deletion are happening on different libraries and therefore folders...
    > >
    > > I'm pretty scared because I had to shut down FS, and can't even investigate
    > > the pb (this is a production environment, and currently FS keeps on deleting
    > > files!!!). Furthermore the little description I have only says "Not
    > > available" did it on a "Not available" machine. Not helpful, if even
    > > meaningful!!!
    > >
    > > PLEASE, help!!! Has anyone experienced anything like that?
    > >
    > > Credibility note: I'm pretty experienced in IT and windows, and have been a
    > > user of FS since the beginning virtually. So I know most of its
    > > quirkinesses... That is beyond what I have ever seen!!!

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

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