Severe Windows Defect - OS Erases Files in Offline Folders

  • Thread starter Thread starter Colin Higbie
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Colin Higbie

I have posted about this on several forums and not received a single answer. I
can only conclude that Windows has a major flaw/bug that no one knows how to
deal with. Windows, as far as I can tell, deleted all of my files that were
stored on an Offline drive, including those I wrote on the offline computer -
in other words those files do not exist anywhere else because they were never
replicated to another system.

THERE IS NO WORSE BUG THAN AN OS THAT DELETES USER FILES.

I left a domain. I lost access to the Offline files in that domain and on
another computer in another domain. Furthermore, all the files that were not
changed on my local (offline) system vanished. This was acceptable - at least
all the files that were changed or new on the offline system were still there.
I couldn't access them, but at least I could see they existed.

I asked where the Offline Files are stored in the hope of getting direct
access to them and taking ownership of them directly. No response.

I tried to use RunAs, but because the security principals were gone when I
left the domain, it didn't recognize the user I wanted to use for RunAs. I
posted on this. No response.

I finally joined the second domain, hoping to then be able to replicate my
files back onto that network. At this point, it DELETED ALL OF MY OFFLINE
FILES. The Offline Files folder is now totally empty. The files I had written
and saved to offline folders are lost.

IS THERE ANYWAY TO RECOVER THESE FILES? COULD THEY BE SOMEPLACE ELSE?

Thank you for any help. If this is not a know issue, please document this as a
bug for MS.

- Colin
 
You need to give more time for a response.... With the latest
newserver problems, it has been a bit more difficult to respond
quickly.

You might want to check in the c:\WINDOWS\CSC folder to see if you see
them, but from what others have posted in the past - when you join a
new domain and manipulate offline files, the cache is reinitialized...


Jeffrey Randow (Windows MVP - Networking & Smart Display)
(e-mail address removed)

Please post all responses to the newsgroups for the benefit
of all USENET users. Messages sent via email may or may not
be answered depending on time availability....

Remote Networking Technology Wiki -
http://www.remotenetworktechnology.com
Smart Display Support - http://www.smartdisplays.net
Windows XP Expert Zone - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
 
Then you would agree, this is a sever bug with the OS. What is more serious
than loss of data? I would rather have lost my computer than the data - my
brand new hi-end Dell Laptop is worth a lot less than the data that was on it.

As a work around, Windows should at least warn about this before it lets a
computer leave a domain. If I had known, I could have copied my files to
another folder before leaving the domain. Now I've lost hundreds of hours of
work, much of which is irreplaceable.

- Colin
 
Then you would agree, this is a severe bug with the OS. What is more serious
than loss of data? I would rather have lost my computer than the data - my
brand new hi-end Dell Laptop is worth a lot less than the data that was on it.

As a work around, Windows should at least warn about this before it lets a
computer leave a domain. If I had known, I could have copied my files to
another folder before leaving the domain. Now I've lost hundreds of hours of
work, much of which is irreplaceable.

- Colin
 
I finally called MS, was told this would cost $245 to troubleshoot. Small
price to pay for the lost files. It turned out the solution was to directly
access the files in the Windows\CSC folder. Their dates and names were
meaningless, but the files were still all there intact with the same sizes.
All I had to do was take ownership of them and then try to figure out what
each file was (800034c6 is a typical file name).

MS agreed that this was a bug with the Offline Files system and didn't charge
me.

- Colin
 
Not to be a smart a**, but if I were you, in the future I would burn
or copy these files to a removeable media, etc.: CD, ZIP, or even a
floppy. I have found that no matter what happens, if I have my files
on a removeable media, I can always get it back and not at the cost of
any $$$$$$$$$.


Dan (Still going in circles)
 
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