Topic: Disappearing files

[Keighlar]

Okay... this is going to be tricky to explain.  I am working on a WIN10 laptop as part of the work domain.  I have mapped access to the network share drive where almost all of my files are stored.  I have offline file synchronization turned on for my most used files - four network files that are quite large.  All customer-specific data is stored here.

This has happened often enough that I am now scared of losing data on a regular basis.  This is what happens and what I've figured out so far.  Some of this information my not be relevant to the situation, but I'm flying blind.

• Create a file, or complete a File --> Save As to modify a file.
• Save the file frequently (burned in the past) with CTRL+S to a network folder.
• When complete, SAVE once more and close using the X in the upper right of the document.
• No error messages are received.
• In the case of last night, I rebooted my laptop once all files and folders were closed, but I do not always do so.
• Return to the PC some time later to find that the document no longer exists where I saved it.
• Searching the entire network folder, I find several of the auto-saved files as Copy #x in a folder called "trashbox" on the shared network drive.  There was also one of these copies in my local Recycling bin.  Some of these files could be opened in Excel, but some were only 1KB and could not be opened.  I surmise that these are the auto-saved files.  Unfortunately, they stop at 3:30 PM before I made most of my changes.
• Searching my local drives and the network drive shows no copy of the updated document.  The folder where it was saved no longer contains the file at all.
• The only file I have been able to restore is a copy from before I made any changes.  It is NOT helpful.
• Because this has happened intermittently to me - about six times in the past few months, I am now even more meticulous than usual.  I DID NOT DELETE THIS FILE.  I carefully saved it, checked the folder to ensure it was there, closed all my open folders, and rebooted my laptop,
• Checking Event Logs - there are a bunch of DCOM errors.  A few Volume Shadow Copy errors.  There are several Audit Success logins from my account between 4:46 PM and 5:00 PM even though I was already logged in. 

Anything I find online says that it must be the user's fault.  You all know me here and if I promise you I did not delete that file, you know that I did not.  Any ideas about what may be going on?  Network guy doesn't want to look at it because it only appears to be happening to me. 

[hbiss]

Are these files always from the same app (Excel) or it doesn't matter? Do you need to reboot the PC you saved the file from for this to happen or it doesn't matter? I assume the folder you saved to is on another machine (server)? Are there other PCs on the network? Can you reliably save to a local drive?

Maybe not related, but my network folders and drives stopped being available in file explorer. Apparently Microsoft, through one of their updates, made that so.

-Hal

[Keighlar]

Are these files always from the same app (Excel) or it doesn't matter?
It doesn't seem to matter.

Do you need to reboot the PC you saved the file from for this to happen or it doesn't matter?
I'm not certain.  I haven't figured out how to repeat it.  It's happened about half a dozen times in six months.  I tend to believe it has something to do with a restart, but that's just an impression.

I assume the folder you saved to is on another machine (server)?
Yes.  The file server.

Are there other PCs on the network?
Yes.  About a dozen.

Can you reliably save to a local drive?
It appears so.  I have not lost a local file yet.

The network here is not rock solid.    The file server was randomly saving files with a year of 2014 for about a month before he could figure out how to login to it (it was at default credentials).

[telemarv]

This looks like a file server issue. The files are probably being backed up incorrectly. I have an auto backup system my PC that runs every night. It is supposed to update the file on the backup server if the file was changed.

Because you are syncing when the file is deleted on the file server it is also deleted locally.

Check with your IT dept.

[Keighlar]

Check with your IT dept.

Thanks, Marv.  I started there, but since I'm the only one noticing it, it's not on his to-do list unless I can offer evidence.   

[hbiss]

Typical IT.

-Hal

[Keighlar]

Typical IT.

-Hal

Yup.  He's assuming it's user error... but he's ignorant about this particular user's ability to attract "I've never seen that before" issues. 

[hbiss]

That's because he is used to dealing with people dumber than he is. 

-Hal

[TexasTechnician]

Stacey, there are quite a few things that can cause the problem (Naturally  ). On the network folder can you right click and see "previous versions" of the folder? Since you can save to the local drive it is a network file server issue I would have to say. If you are on a domain can you log onto another computer and see if the files are present when they are not appearing on the mapped drive on your computer?

Have you restarted the computer lately? NOT shut down! If fast start is enabled in Windows 10 shutting down is more like hibernating than it is shutting the computer down. Which can means any bugs or problems can present again and again.......

And Microsoft has released some updates recently that are causing major problems through the IT world.

[Keighlar]

Thanks, Bobby.

Stacey, there are quite a few things that can cause the problem (Naturally  ). On the network folder can you right click and see "previous versions" of the folder?

I can "restore" previous versions, but not "see" them.

Since you can save to the local drive it is a network file server issue I would have to say. If you are on a domain can you log onto another computer and see if the files are present when they are not appearing on the mapped drive on your computer?

The last time it happened I was on a conference call with the owner here and the IT guy.  I'd spent a good amount of time putting together a contract proposal the day before and it was gone.  Both of them looked for it, too, but couldn't find it.  We did find some autosaved versions of the document in the shared drive "trashbox" folder, but everything from the two hours I was working on it were mysteriously gone or showing as a 1KB file that cannot be opened.

Have you restarted the computer lately? NOT shut down! If fast start is enabled in Windows 10 shutting down is more like hibernating than it is shutting the computer down. Which can means any bugs or problems can present again and again.......

Fast Startup was enabled.  I just disabled it.  The power setting also set everything to SLEEP instead of SHUTDOWN.  I changed the power button to SHUTDOWN.

And Microsoft has released some updates recently that are causing major problems through the IT world.

Mine just took one last night.  :(

I'll see how everything performs.  I wish I had a clear way to test it, but I have not figured out how to do so.

[TexasTechnician]

I would try logging onto another computer if you are on a domain. The reason is because each user has a profile on every computer you log onto and the profile can become corrupt and cause all kinds of strange problems.

As a test you might create test document and share it with another user to see if it disappears. I don't think it's a file ownership issue but this may help point you in the right direction if the other user can see the file but you can not.

[tonyburkhart]

If you hit a roadblock, I can always get our (not evil IT) help desk team on it for you. I am the “old analog phone guy” and the Linux guy etc but my team has a depth of Windows knowledge and can dig in if your in house IT is not performing. Obviously I don’t want to step on toes, but if you need help just ping me.

[Keighlar]

Thanks, Tony.  I'll keep that in mind.  I'm usually pretty good at delving into the dark places of our overlord Google's repositories to find the answers I need, but this one is tricky.  Since I posted this, I have not shut down my PC and the issue has not recurred.  I'm sure it will at some point.  I'll try to be more aware of the circumstances leading up to it.

[Keighlar]

Okay... so I think I figured it out.  It appears to be an issue with OneDrive, which turned itself on recently.  I don't use it, so when I saw the alert pop up, I just ignored it until I had time to look at it - which never came.  This morning, a file I created last week was available to me, but not to our IT guy (and I haven't restarted since the last forced update). 

Once I started poking around, I found the Word doc in the list of files that showed up when I hovered over the OneDrive icon in the active task bar.  Once I unlinked my PC from OneDrive, re-synced offline files and placed the file back in the shared folder, he was able to see it. 

I'll keep an eye on it, but I'm going to hope OneDrive was the issue.

[MacGyver]

OneDrive is one of the first things we kill.