other files on my backup drive wont open

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other files on my backup drive wont open

HI,

i had a question concerning files i stored on the external drive that i also use as a backup drive for time machine. I have 2 folders on that external drive, 1 is the backup folder time machine created and the other is a folder i made myself where i put important files. But the problem is that i can't open none of those files in the folder i made myself... what is the matter, could somebody please help

powermac g4, powerbook, Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on Mar 23, 2008 4:11 PM

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Answer 1

Mar 23, 2008 4:54 PM in response to T'illkee

Can you be a bit more specific about what happens when you try to open a file in the folder you made yourself? e.g. if it's a permission issue then you may need to Verify/Repair Disk Permissions in Disk Utility.

Joe

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Answer 2

T'illkee Author

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Mar 24, 2008 4:15 AM in response to Joe Cowley

Hi Joe,

thx for you post. To be more specific i verified and repaired the external disk, nothing seems to be wrong. When i try to open a .mov file it says it's not a movie file. When i try to open a jpeg it says preview cant open it because its not a supported type of file...and when i try to open a word doc. word opens and ask me what structure it is, and when a choose a structure i only see all those weird symbols and signs. thing is every file shows normal icons. jpgs are jpgs, movies are movies, docs are docs, its just when i try to open them that he doesn't recognise the files. i try to open a jpg it's says the files can be damaged or is not suported by preview, doesn't open in photoshop either.
quick little recap; first i put those files in a folder on my external hard drive and then i started to use the EX. HD as a back drive for time machine. dragging the icons on my desktop doesn't help either... what could be wrong?

thx in advance

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Answer 3

Mar 24, 2008 5:48 AM in response to T'illkee

How is your external drive formatted - you can check this in Disk Utility. Also, can you open similar, e.g. Word docs, from the TM backups in Finder?

Joe

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Answer 4

T'illkee Author

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Mar 24, 2008 6:32 AM in response to Joe Cowley

external drive is formated as Mac OS Extended (Journaled)...and yes i can open the files perfectly from the back up folder. It's only the ones i put in the folder i created myself that i can't open.

tillkee

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Answer 5

Mar 24, 2008 7:05 AM in response to T'illkee

It could be the files got corrupted in the copying process to the external drive. Hopefully you still have the original files on your mac? If so, you might want to consider trashing the folder and files and start again - drag one file to a new folder on the hard drive as a test to make sure you can open it ok.

Before you do this, just make sure the permissions are read and write for the problem or new folder - this can be checked from the Get Info page of the folder. Also pick one of the files and in it's Get Info page make sure the correct application is stated under Open with:

Joe

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Answer 6

T'illkee Author

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Mar 24, 2008 8:55 AM in response to Joe Cowley

i dragged several files on the ext hd and they open perfectly... i think it's time machine that did someting to the files. thing is a don't have them on my mac, the only copies i have are on the ext hd and they won't open...

how am i gonna fix this.

thx joe for time i realy appreciate it...

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Answer 7

Mar 24, 2008 9:37 AM in response to T'illkee

TM would not have caused the problem files - similar files open ok in the Finder backup folder, and you have dragged files from the mac to the external drive which have opened ok. Also, you should be able to store folders and files without problems on the same volume as the TM backups.

No, it has something to do with the way you transfered them to the external drive - how did you do this? If you try to move files from your mac to another drive, Leopard by default copies the files to the new destination - so are you sure the originals aren't still on your mac or did you delete them and are they still in Trash?

Joe

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Answer 8

T'illkee Author

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Mar 24, 2008 1:53 PM in response to Joe Cowley

i just drag and dropped the folder... and i deleted the original files... but u gave me an idea i can try to scan my harddrive of my powerbook... maybe i can find the real important one back...

tillkee

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