Download Folder Files Disappeared.

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Level 1

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Download Folder Files Disappeared.

I had around 40 gigs of files in my downloads folder, then when I check back some 2 hours later everything is gone, no trace left.

Is there a log or something to understand what happened?

This is dangerous boys, what could be the cause?

Macbook 13'', Mac OS X (10.6.1)

Posted on Sep 28, 2009 2:11 PM

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Answer 1

V.K.

Level 9

56,174 points

Sep 28, 2009 2:18 PM in response to Maratonda

that's certainly not normal. is there data loss in any other folders in your home directory? in desktop or documents folders? have you logged out/in after you last saw these items? run "verify disk" (not permissions) in disk utility. any errors?
have a backup?

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Answer 2

Maratonda Author

Level 1

0 points

Sep 28, 2009 10:22 PM in response to V.K.

Yes, backup is not a problem, my problem is if I can trust my system.
I'm running verify disk now.

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Answer 3

Oct 3, 2009 7:25 AM in response to Maratonda

This just happened to me: suddenly, an empty Downloads folder. I found the original one it in the trash! The finder apparently creates a new Downloads folder in your home directory if the original one is removed, and this new empty one fooled me into thinking the contents of the original one had been lost. Check your trash.

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Answer 4

Oct 3, 2009 12:33 PM in response to Terence Elliott

Instead of downloading into the pre-set folder (which should not be tampered with) try changing your preferences to make downloads download to a folder of your own, on your desktop. Call it "My downloads" or anything you like.

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Answer 5

karljam

Level 1

8 points

Oct 6, 2009 10:25 PM in response to Maratonda

Same happened to me. New, empty Downloads folder. I didn't find the old Downloads in the trash, however; it was just gone. No spotlight search could find it.

I noticed this happened to someone using uTorrent as early back as June 2009. [ http://forum.utorrent.com/viewtopic.php?id=59258 ] I had uTorrent open when this happened, and of all the programs I had open, it was the only one accessing Downloads. Do you all have uTorrent as well?

I guess that's why it's a a beta. Thank goodness for Time Machine.

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Answer 6

Maratonda Author

Level 1

0 points

Oct 7, 2009 12:01 AM in response to karljam

This

I did not realize it could have been related to utorrent, but that is exactly what happened. Dangerous stuff, I will switch to some other client.

So to wrap up and for google crawler to enjoy, uTorrent on Snow Leopard might cause your Downloads folder to be wiped out clean.

karljam wrote:
Same happened to me. New, empty Downloads folder. I didn't find the old Downloads in the trash, however; it was just gone. No spotlight search could find it.

I noticed this happened to someone using uTorrent as early back as June 2009. [ http://forum.utorrent.com/viewtopic.php?id=59258 ] I had uTorrent open when this happened, and of all the programs I had open, it was the only one accessing Downloads. Do you all have uTorrent as well?

I guess that's why it's a a beta. Thank goodness for Time Machine.

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