Trashbox contains "active" files/folders

[gtoddjames]

   

System: LS-WTGL/R1-v3  f/w: 3.07  (2TB Linkstation; 1TB total usable); installed Q1/09

PCs: about a half-dozen Wintel systems, most running Vista with the exception running XP-SP3

 

During a recent data reorganization effort, one of our clients found numerous "active" files and folders in the Trashbox - some of these files/folders go back to the date of LS installation, others were literally the same day as problem identification. There are few commonalities except that many of them have the exact same time/date stamp (down to the minute) of creation, the reason for which is unclear.  Also, in some cases, only select files existed the Trashbox but the same file (down to time/date stamp) also existed in "valid" locations.

 

This situation will take many man-hours to clean up and, even then, will need significant user vigilance for some time to ensure that the "correct" file is being accessed, updated and ultimately saved.  Our client has mixed emotions of patience and willingness to fix the current situation but is equally concerned that no matter how diligent the effort, the problem could reoccur if the cause is left unidentified and unaddressed...

 

(Yes, while it is possible that 'human error' caused this, the extent of the problem, combined with the fact that some were literally within minutes of its detection, makes that unlikely.)

 

I would be interested in any theories, ideas, suggestions, etc.

[Colin137]

The issue isn't very clear to me... I imagine since it was your client's data, you may not know what was going on with it. As you probably know, the trashbox has the same purpose of the Recycle Bin: when a file is deleted off the share, it will be moved to the trashbox. So either something was deleted by mistake, a search performed, and the file was found and subsequently accessed from the trashbox, or there's something strange going on.

 

I understand your skepticism about human error causing the issue, but as we haven't seen an issue like this before, human error is the most likely scenario (at least in my eyes).

 

Perhaps I just don't understand the issue you're experiencing. Could you describe it in greater detail?

[gtoddjames]

   

I apologize for the delay – I wrote a detailed response yesterday but lost it all when I got "timed out".

 

1 – The Trashbox has a large number of files/folders (about half of their "active" files/folders) – not only is the quantity troubling but also the fact that quite a number of these were "recently active" – in one case, a handful of files (in various folders) were accessed/saved by another user just hours before the problems detection.

2 – The concern is not only for the quantity of files (in looking at the date/time stamps, this problem has been ongoing since its installation) but also at the seemingly-unexplained nature of "recent" deletions where no human intervention occurred.

3 – The possibility that something like this could happen again in the future (for no reason).  The impact of this could be significant – imagine printing out everything that you think you need for a legal case only to find that you are missing recent documents or, worse yet, that the ones you printed were out-of-date because the newer ones were mysteriously deleted.

 

Hopefully this helps.  I would like to say that this was as simple case of human (mis-)intervention but there are just too many things that seem elsewhere.