Missing Word files after crash

[jhlechner]

My PowerBook G4 has been unstable for a few days -- crashing
applications, etc. Today the computer crashed while I was working on a
Word document -- I got a gray screen ordering me to restart the
computer, and I was unable to do anything else. After restarting, I
immediately repaired the hard disk and permissions with Disk Utility,
and rebuilt the directory with Disk Warrior. Then I looked for my Word
file -- and it was gone. Not only was the file missing, but so was
another file I had previously written and saved in the same folder.
The folder in question showed up as empty.

Is there any way to recover these files? I'm prepared to admit defeat
on the file I was working on -- although I was saving regularly, as I
always do -- but how can a crash erase all traces of a file that was
saved and closed?

 

[Elliott Roper]

My PowerBook G4 has been unstable for a few days -- crashing
applications, etc. Today the computer crashed while I was working on a
Word document -- I got a gray screen ordering me to restart the
computer, and I was unable to do anything else. After restarting, I
immediately repaired the hard disk and permissions with Disk Utility,
and rebuilt the directory with Disk Warrior. Then I looked for my Word
file -- and it was gone. Not only was the file missing, but so was
another file I had previously written and saved in the same folder.
The folder in question showed up as empty.

Is there any way to recover these files? I'm prepared to admit defeat
on the file I was working on -- although I was saving regularly, as I
always do -- but how can a crash erase all traces of a file that was
saved and closed?

What you had was a "kernel panic". You have learned the hard way that
when the underlying unix of OS X says the file is saved and closed, it
may be lying to you. To get the best possible performance from every
corner of the machine, the OS will run along behind finishing off all
the writes and file closes, long after it said it had. When you shut
down normally, it finishes tidying up before switching off.

A kernel panic gives it no time to do so. In fact a panic occurs after
the OS has discovered in irreparable error in itself and goes
completely insane. Inconsistent half-written files are left on disk. In
your case, it looks like the half-written files included the folder
containing your docs. You might have been able to recover the older
file in that directory had you immediately stopped using that disk and
found some way to run something like Data Rescue II from another boot
volume. Repair utilities sometimes make things worse.

On next start fsck (that's unix's smart alec way of saying file system
check - nybdy cn spk unx, smply lv th vwls t) attempts to repair the
mess. It does not always succeed. It often takes a long time.

A facility called journalling helps prevent such mess over panics and
power fails. You can turn it on for each volume in disk utility. It is
an improvement to the file system. It keeps notes of its work on disk.
On restart these notes (the journal) can be replayed to efficiently
sort out the incomplete disk and file transactions, saving your bacon.

By far the most common cause of panics in unadorned OS X are caused by
failing hardware. If the machine appears randomly unstable, suspect the
memory and perhaps the power supply. If you know that you recently
added a strange new device and its drivers, see if it goes stable again
after un-installing it. Keep your backups up-to-date.

While I was writing this, the damn power failed *twice* !!!
This Powerbook was fine; my mini, which I use as a mail and web server
was fine. I have it and the net router on battery backed-up UPS power
supplies. My Mac Pro crashed in heap, reminding me what it needs for
Christmas. But I had journalling enabled, (damn! power went again) and
it was back up in good shape in a few seconds. All three times.