Missing File.

[Jesuslizardjr.]

I had a PSD file saved to a folder on my desktop.

I was working on this file within photoshop, although the file had previously been saved. Whilst i was working on the file my Mac crashed and i rebooted, when i went to reopen the file, it had vanished.
It's not in my trash, and a mac search doesn't yield any results.

So im assuming the file corrupted when my mac crashed, but that means the file is still there.

Anyone have any ways in which i can retrieve it or at least check if it still exists?

Thanks,
-Alex

 

[benwiggy]

1. When you say "My Mac crashed", do you mean a kernel panic: grey writing in several different languages that forces a shutdown, or was is just an application (Photoshop) quitting unexpectedly?
A Kernel Panic is something that you need to investigate the cause of. It could be some incompatible third-party software, or it might point to a hardware fault.
You should boot up to another startup disk (Recovery Partition, installer disk, etc) and run Disk Utility and Repair the Disk (NB: Disk, not Permissions), to ensure that the panic did not cause some corruption to your hard drive.
Indeed - a failing hard drive could cause both the panic and the missing file.

2. Do you not have a backup that you can restore the file, albeit an earlier version?

 

[Jesuslizardjr.]

What happened was the mac itself was running incredibly slow, slower than i have ever experienced, finder itself was literally loading for a couple of minutes every time i scrolled down a window.

Photoshop was equally slow (i use it with a wacom tablet, detaching this used to stop the slowing down, but this time did not), i managed to save the document in photoshop after a very long wait for it to regain itself, and then i hard resetting the macbook.

I had already previously saved this document prior to this crash and subsequent hard reset.

I don't think it was a kernel panic, because i got no error messages aside from ones within photoshop, i assume my hard reset corrupted the file that was still open in photoshop when i did the hard reset.

Thanks again.
-Alex

 

[blueroom]

Time Machine would have a copy. If you're not using a backup you will eventually lose data. I'd restore from your previously saved copy. Did you install new RAM recently?

 

[Jesuslizardjr.]

I don't have time machine in use as far as i'm aware, unless it's an automatic process for macs? (I've only just moved to mac from PC recently).

I haven't touched the insides of the laptop since i've had it. It was a really bizarre occurrence.

 

[benwiggy]

I don't have time machine in use as far as i'm aware, unless it's an automatic process for macs? (I've only just moved to mac from PC recently)..

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427

Plug in external drive. Point Time Machine at it.
It will then backup your computer every hour. First backup is all your files, next is only those that have changed in the last hour.

If you have no backup, you will lose files. (True for any computer system.) You need to investigate the cause of the mysterious slowing down, if it happens again.

 

[Jesuslizardjr.]

I know i know, it's incredibly foolish to not have a backup function or time machine in place, but does anyone know how i can possibly recover this single file?

Thanks,
-Alex

 

[blueroom]

Without a backup it's gone.

Hence why it's important to have a backup solution, doesn't matter if it's a PC or a Mac.

For starters you'll need an external drive formatted to HFS+ or NAS that supports TM.

 

[Jesuslizardjr.]

I can understand that, but i'm wondering if it has actually gone. Is it possible for a mac to remove a single file itself from a folder without it being in trash or anywhere else?

 

[blueroom]

It's gone. Most likely overwritten.

 

[Gregg2]

I can understand that, but i'm wondering if it has actually gone. Is it possible for a mac to remove a single file itself from a folder without it being in trash or anywhere else?

Itself meaning without user input? No.

Either the user has to do it manually or has to set up an app to remove things following defined criteria, although I'm not familiar with any such app. I've read that such a thing exists, though.