Using Windows Explorer, I moved several gigabytes of data from my hard
drive to a USB drive. Then later in the day, Windows Explorer crashed
- it said something like "Windows Explorer has encountered a problem
and needs to close" and it also mentioned the possibility of losing
data.

I know that sometimes when you copy stuff to a USB drive, not all the
data will get copied immediately, due to caching, and that's why you
need to click the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon before you unplug the
drive. I never clicked on that after I moved my files, because I just
left the USB drive plugged in. Is it possible that data on my USB
drive may have been corrupted by Windows Explorer crashing? I would
imagine that the caching mechanism is a lower level function that
wouldn't be impacted by an application crashing, but then maybe
Windows Explorer is deeply tied into the OS, so I don't know.

You could have corrupted data without Windows Explorer "crashing". If by
"later in the day" you mean a even few minutes later, it's most likely
the "cached data" was flushed/written. Any "corruption" would be
unrelated to the file transfer. You can always check it.

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:

> Using Windows Explorer, I moved several gigabytes of data from my hard
> drive to a USB drive. Then later in the day, Windows Explorer crashed
> - it said something like "Windows Explorer has encountered a problem
> and needs to close" and it also mentioned the possibility of losing
> data.
>
> I know that sometimes when you copy stuff to a USB drive, not all the
> data will get copied immediately, due to caching, and that's why you
> need to click the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon before you unplug the
> drive. I never clicked on that after I moved my files, because I just
> left the USB drive plugged in. Is it possible that data on my USB
> drive may have been corrupted by Windows Explorer crashing? I would
> imagine that the caching mechanism is a lower level function that
> wouldn't be impacted by an application crashing, but then maybe
> Windows Explorer is deeply tied into the OS, so I don't know.
>

By later in the day, I meant several hours later. I wasn't sure how
the cache gets flushed - if it is time based, or if it doesn't get
flushed until the next time you try writing to the device. As for
checking the data, it was about 40 hours worth of videos that I
transferred - it'd take quite a while to verify that!

On Aug 12, 8:24*am, Bob I <bire...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> You could have corrupted data without Windows Explorer "crashing". If by
> "later in the day" you mean a even few minutes later, it's most likely
> the "cached data" was flushed/written. Any "corruption" would be
> unrelated to the file transfer. You can always check it.
>
> void.no.spam....@gmail.com wrote:
> > Using Windows Explorer, I moved several gigabytes of data from my hard
> > drive to a USB drive. *Then later in the day, Windows Explorer crashed
> > - it said something like "Windows Explorer has encountered a problem
> > and needs to close" and it also mentioned the possibility of losing
> > data.
>
> > I know that sometimes when you copy stuff to a USB drive, not all the
> > data will get copied immediately, due to caching, and that's why you
> > need to click the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon before you unplug the
> > drive. *I never clicked on that after I moved my files, because I just
> > left the USB drive plugged in. *Is it possible that data on my USB
> > drive may have been corrupted by Windows Explorer crashing? *I would
> > imagine that the caching mechanism is a lower level function that
> > wouldn't be impacted by an application crashing, but then maybe
> > Windows Explorer is deeply tied into the OS, so I don't know.

CHKDSK should suffice to determine whether the data was written and a
simple compare of the "files and folders" count plus "total bytes"
should tell you if the files made the trip.

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> By later in the day, I meant several hours later. I wasn't sure how
> the cache gets flushed - if it is time based, or if it doesn't get
> flushed until the next time you try writing to the device. As for
> checking the data, it was about 40 hours worth of videos that I
> transferred - it'd take quite a while to verify that!
>
> On Aug 12, 8:24 am, Bob I <bire...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>You could have corrupted data without Windows Explorer "crashing". If by
>>"later in the day" you mean a even few minutes later, it's most likely
>>the "cached data" was flushed/written. Any "corruption" would be
>>unrelated to the file transfer. You can always check it.
>>
>>void.no.spam....@gmail.com wrote:
>>
>>>Using Windows Explorer, I moved several gigabytes of data from my hard
>>>drive to a USB drive. Then later in the day, Windows Explorer crashed
>>>- it said something like "Windows Explorer has encountered a problem
>>>and needs to close" and it also mentioned the possibility of losing
>>>data.
>>
>>>I know that sometimes when you copy stuff to a USB drive, not all the
>>>data will get copied immediately, due to caching, and that's why you
>>>need to click the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon before you unplug the
>>>drive. I never clicked on that after I moved my files, because I just
>>>left the USB drive plugged in. Is it possible that data on my USB
>>>drive may have been corrupted by Windows Explorer crashing? I would
>>>imagine that the caching mechanism is a lower level function that
>>>wouldn't be impacted by an application crashing, but then maybe
>>>Windows Explorer is deeply tied into the OS, so I don't know.
>
>

OK I will run chkdsk on both the hard drive and the USB hard drive.
Doing a compare is something I would have tried if I had done a copy
operation, but since I did a move operation, I cannot do that.

On Aug 12, 1:37*pm, Bob I <bire...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> CHKDSK should suffice to determine whether the data was written and a
> simple compare of the "files and folders" count plus "total bytes"
> should tell you if the files made the trip.
>
> void.no.spam....@gmail.com wrote:
> > By later in the day, I meant several hours later. *I wasn't sure how
> > the cache gets flushed - if it is time based, or if it doesn't get
> > flushed until the next time you try writing to the device. *As for
> > checking the data, it was about 40 hours worth of videos that I
> > transferred - it'd take quite a while to verify that!
>
> > On Aug 12, 8:24 am, Bob I <bire...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> >>You could have corrupted data without Windows Explorer "crashing". If by
> >>"later in the day" you mean a even few minutes later, it's most likely
> >>the "cached data" was flushed/written. Any "corruption" would be
> >>unrelated to the file transfer. You can always check it.
>
> >>void.no.spam....@gmail.com wrote:
>
> >>>Using Windows Explorer, I moved several gigabytes of data from my hard
> >>>drive to a USB drive. *Then later in the day, Windows Explorer crashed
> >>>- it said something like "Windows Explorer has encountered a problem
> >>>and needs to close" and it also mentioned the possibility of losing
> >>>data.
>
> >>>I know that sometimes when you copy stuff to a USB drive, not all the
> >>>data will get copied immediately, due to caching, and that's why you
> >>>need to click the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon before you unplug the
> >>>drive. *I never clicked on that after I moved my files, because I just
> >>>left the USB drive plugged in. *Is it possible that data on my USB
> >>>drive may have been corrupted by Windows Explorer crashing? *I would
> >>>imagine that the caching mechanism is a lower level function that
> >>>wouldn't be impacted by an application crashing, but then maybe
> >>>Windows Explorer is deeply tied into the OS, so I don't know.

I prefer Copy and Delete to preclude issues like this. With the amount
of files being moved if you hit a bad file on the source, things can get
ugly in a hurry.

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> OK I will run chkdsk on both the hard drive and the USB hard drive.
> Doing a compare is something I would have tried if I had done a copy
> operation, but since I did a move operation, I cannot do that.
>
> On Aug 12, 1:37 pm, Bob I <bire...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>CHKDSK should suffice to determine whether the data was written and a
>>simple compare of the "files and folders" count plus "total bytes"
>>should tell you if the files made the trip.
>>
>>void.no.spam....@gmail.com wrote:
>>
>>>By later in the day, I meant several hours later. I wasn't sure how
>>>the cache gets flushed - if it is time based, or if it doesn't get
>>>flushed until the next time you try writing to the device. As for
>>>checking the data, it was about 40 hours worth of videos that I
>>>transferred - it'd take quite a while to verify that!
>>
>>>On Aug 12, 8:24 am, Bob I <bire...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>>>You could have corrupted data without Windows Explorer "crashing". If by
>>>>"later in the day" you mean a even few minutes later, it's most likely
>>>>the "cached data" was flushed/written. Any "corruption" would be
>>>>unrelated to the file transfer. You can always check it.
>>
>>>>void.no.spam....@gmail.com wrote:
>>
>>>>>Using Windows Explorer, I moved several gigabytes of data from my hard
>>>>>drive to a USB drive. Then later in the day, Windows Explorer crashed
>>>>>- it said something like "Windows Explorer has encountered a problem
>>>>>and needs to close" and it also mentioned the possibility of losing
>>>>>data.
>>
>>>>>I know that sometimes when you copy stuff to a USB drive, not all the
>>>>>data will get copied immediately, due to caching, and that's why you
>>>>>need to click the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon before you unplug the
>>>>>drive. I never clicked on that after I moved my files, because I just
>>>>>left the USB drive plugged in. Is it possible that data on my USB
>>>>>drive may have been corrupted by Windows Explorer crashing? I would
>>>>>imagine that the caching mechanism is a lower level function that
>>>>>wouldn't be impacted by an application crashing, but then maybe
>>>>>Windows Explorer is deeply tied into the OS, so I don't know.
>
>

On 12/08/2010 11:14 AM, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> By later in the day, I meant several hours later. I wasn't sure how
> the cache gets flushed - if it is time based, or if it doesn't get
> flushed until the next time you try writing to the device. As for
> checking the data, it was about 40 hours worth of videos that I
> transferred - it'd take quite a while to verify that!

In a continuous operation like that, the cache gets flushed when memory
gets full. Depending on how many gigs of ram you have, that could be
anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes each.

Yousuf Khan

A bad file on the source would affect both a Move and a Copy and
Delete, right? I guess I should always do the Safely Remove Hardware
after copying stuff to a USB drive, just to make sure the cache is
flushed, and then plug it back in if I don't want to remove it.

I did a chkdsk on my hard drive, and it doesn't look like there were
any major problems:

Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is IBM_PRELOAD.

A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.
Cleaning up minor inconsistencies on the drive.
Cleaning up 2104 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 2104 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 2104 unused security descriptors.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
Usn Journal verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying file data (stage 4 of 5)...
File data verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying free space (stage 5 of 5)...
Free space verification is complete.

307215688 KB total disk space.
141981360 KB in 96621 files.
35532 KB in 14202 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
283748 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
164915048 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
76803922 total allocation units on disk.
41228762 allocation units available on disk.

I also did a chkdsk on the USB hard drive, and it too didn't seem to
have any major issues:

C:\>chkdsk e: /f /v /r
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is Elements.

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 5)...
File verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 5)...
Index verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 5)...
Cleaning up 10 unused index entries from index $SII of file 9.
Cleaning up 10 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 9.
Cleaning up 10 unused security descriptors.
Fixing mirror copy of the security descriptors data stream.
Security descriptor verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying file data (stage 4 of 5)...
File data verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying free space (stage 5 of 5)...
Free space verification is complete.

625131831 KB total disk space.
473040132 KB in 1160 files.
524 KB in 377 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
86855 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
152004320 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
156282957 total allocation units on disk.
38001080 allocation units available on disk.


On Aug 13, 11:05*am, Bob I <bire...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I prefer Copy and Delete to preclude issues like this. With the amount
> of files being moved if you hit a bad file on the source, things can get
> ugly in a hurry.
>
> void.no.spam....@gmail.com wrote:
> > OK I will run chkdsk on both the hard drive and the USB hard drive.
> > Doing a compare is something I would have tried if I had done a copy
> > operation, but since I did a move operation, I cannot do that.
>
> > On Aug 12, 1:37 pm, Bob I <bire...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> >>CHKDSK should suffice to determine whether the data was written and a
> >>simple compare of the "files and folders" count plus "total bytes"
> >>should tell you if the files made the trip.
>
> >>void.no.spam....@gmail.com wrote:
>
> >>>By later in the day, I meant several hours later. *I wasn't sure how
> >>>the cache gets flushed - if it is time based, or if it doesn't get
> >>>flushed until the next time you try writing to the device. *As for
> >>>checking the data, it was about 40 hours worth of videos that I
> >>>transferred - it'd take quite a while to verify that!
>
> >>>On Aug 12, 8:24 am, Bob I <bire...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> >>>>You could have corrupted data without Windows Explorer "crashing". Ifby
> >>>>"later in the day" you mean a even few minutes later, it's most likely
> >>>>the "cached data" was flushed/written. Any "corruption" would be
> >>>>unrelated to the file transfer. You can always check it.
>
> >>>>void.no.spam....@gmail.com wrote:
>
> >>>>>Using Windows Explorer, I moved several gigabytes of data from my hard
> >>>>>drive to a USB drive. *Then later in the day, Windows Explorer crashed
> >>>>>- it said something like "Windows Explorer has encountered a problem
> >>>>>and needs to close" and it also mentioned the possibility of losing
> >>>>>data.
>
> >>>>>I know that sometimes when you copy stuff to a USB drive, not all the
> >>>>>data will get copied immediately, due to caching, and that's why you
> >>>>>need to click the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon before you unplug the
> >>>>>drive. *I never clicked on that after I moved my files, because I just
> >>>>>left the USB drive plugged in. *Is it possible that data on my USB
> >>>>>drive may have been corrupted by Windows Explorer crashing? *I would
> >>>>>imagine that the caching mechanism is a lower level function that
> >>>>>wouldn't be impacted by an application crashing, but then maybe
> >>>>>Windows Explorer is deeply tied into the OS, so I don't know.