Message from OS X if file not copied properly to external Hard Drive?

[doxavita]

Hi,

I bought a brand new external Hard Drive (Seagate Expansion 1TB Portable Drive) in order to back up all my files (drag and dropping lots of folders.)

So I plugged in the external drive, gave it file format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled) , and started doing my backups.

After about 3 hours of backing up files/folders, I noticed that the USB cable wasn't fully plugged/pushed in. Not by much, perhaps only by 2-3 millimeters. So I took care of that, and continued backing up. In the end I was able to finish without any apparent issues.

-Do I run a slight risk of my files not being backed up properly?

The fact that the external hard drive is recognized in the desktop and finder (Snow Leopard), and that I was able to give it file format would mean that the drive is completely ready to be properly used right?

Had a single file not been properly copied to the external hard drive, I would have gotten some sort of read/write error message from OS X, am I correct?


- There are no half-standards here, a file is either 100% properly copied or it's not copied AT ALL, right?


I'm able to browse the external hard drive's folders quickly and easily. The files seem to be where they're supposed to belong. The overall structure looks and feels right.

-Guess I was lucky this time: Tried ejecting the drive,reconnecting it, and copied some new files: no problem. Tried running random .pdf's without any problem. Tried copying a random file back to the system, and it copied and ran again, without an issue.

Thoughts?
Thanks!

 

[joshlalonde]

You're fine. If the computer recognized the drive, then it was and is functioning. If it stopped recognizing your drive after you 'fixed it' then there would be a problem. But it sounds like you're good.

If you really are uncertain, just leave the drive plugged in and turn Time Machine on and OS X will either make another backup or not.

There's no such thing as half-copying a file. If the drive is on and plugged in, even not fully, and the computer recognizes it, then you have successfully copied a file. If it didn't show up or told you that the drive was removed but wasn't ejected properly, then there's a problem.

Cheers.