Re: Copying file vs. deleting file on Mac notebook

[Nick <spam@ix.netcom.com>]

In short, Mac notebooks do not behave differently than any other macintosh,
other than some power management type things.  The finder's operation is
identical.  The progress bar will indicate any action that takes longer than a
second or so, whether it is a copy or delete.  There will likely be no bar on
a move, since MacOS only permits "Moves" within a single disk partition, and
only a table entry needs to be modified. Windows, for example, will let you
move a file from one disk or partition to another, erasing the original, and
leaving a copy at the destination (you have to hold down shift to do this).
MacOS forces a copy any time it involves moving to another partition or disk.
In your case, a copy would have been done if you moved a file from the hard
drive to a floppy, leaving an intact copy on both disks.  Had you deleted the
file, you would have had to first place the item in the trash, and then select
"Empty Trash" from the special menu.  You may have seen the progress bar, if
that were the case, but you have to be pretty deliberate about deleting, so
you would have know it if you would have done it.

If a find-file yields no results in locating the file on his drive, he should
look into a file recovery utility BEFORE he makes ANY changes to his hard
drive at all.  It is possible that the directory entry has been modified to
show the file as delete.  Since MacOS does not automatically reclaim the space
used by files until it is needed, the data may still be there.  Norton
Utilities for the Macintosh should be able to recover any deleted file whose
data has not yet been overwritten.  It is extremely important that nothing,
including Norton, is loaded on to the hard drive until after the file recovery
attempts have been performed.  Norton can run off of CD or floppy.  If norton
is already installed, it can be used to attempt recovery.

Good Luck!  You're gonna need it!!!

stephen e buggie wrote:

>        COPYING A FILE VS. DELETING A FILE ON A MAC NOTEBOOK COMPUTER
>        =============================================================
>
>         The headline is about Mac, but I feel that many A2 loyalists can
> comment on this problem I face.
>
>         Today is the first day of the fall semester orientation.  A
> colleague, whom I have not seen since last May, came storming up to me.
> He accused me of deleting a huge file from his Macintosh notebook
> computer.  The file was of a book he is writing, for which he has no
> backup!
>
>         I recall the episode from last May.  He has a Macintosh notebook
> computer.  He's been writing this book for months, entirely on the hard
> disk with no backups.  He'd been hearing from others that he should keep a
> backup copy on disk, so he asked me.  The disk was inserted, formatted in
> HFS, then the file icon was dragged from the hard disk folder to the 3.5"
> HD disk icon.  I vaguely remember the "thermometer" filling as the copy
> was made.  I also vaguely remember clicking the 3.5 disk icon to see the
> file icon appear.
>
>         The colleague now accuses me of _deleting_ his valuable file and
> destroying his work, for which no backup exists.  I told him that my IIgs,
> as well as my Macs (Plus, SE. SE/30) all work the same way, in which the
> thermometer shows the copying of dragged files, and that this thermometer
> does not appear with deletion.   Is this correct?   In his rage, he
> suggested that if I am unfamiliar with the Mac notebooks, I should not
> have given him help.
>
>         Do the Mac notebooks work differently than the compact Mac
> desktops for copying files?
>
>         In retrospect, I feel I should have kept a copy of his disk
> myself.  _My hunch_ is that he deleted the file himself, later. He is not
> very skilled with his computer if he needed help just to backup a file.
>
>         What should I do or say????
>
>         Steve Buggie                    buggie@unm.edu