Drawing file disappearing while being edited

[dlowe]

One of my users has a strange problem. While editing a drawing (opened from the network), the drawing switches to read-only when she tries to save it, and the .dwg file on the network folder from which she opened the file disappears. The lock files are still there, but the .dwg is gone. She can do a Save As, so she hasn't lost any work (yet!), but the problem has me perplexed.

This problem started when we converted her to Civil 3D 2011. At the same time we also upgraded her to Windows 7 64-bit.

I have about 20 other users on this same platform, she's the only one who's had this problem. I've done a repair install but that didn't fix it. I haven't yet done a full uninstall & reinstall, maybe that's what I should do next.

I have a network recovery bin application running on the server, but it has no record of the file being deleted.

Any thoughts or suggestions on what might cause this? 

[lisa]

YOU ARE HAVING WINDOWS 7 FUN. WE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM. 7 WANTS TO MAKE EVERYTHING READ ONLY AND WANTS PERMISSIONS SET UP. I HAD TO SET UP MY BLOCKS AND SAVE FILES IN MY DOCUMENTS SO I WAS NOT LOCKED OUT OF MY OWN DWGS. A WINDOWS 7 TUTORIAL ON FILES AND SHARING SHOULD HELP.

[dlowe]

Wow. Is WIndows 7 doing that even to files that live on the server? The .dwg files that have disappeared have been on a mapped network drive.

[Sinc]

We have no such problems using Windows 7...

Not sure what's going on.

[Buzz12345]

I'm seeing this behaviour, but it seems to relate to offline folders and some sort of pre-fetch thing.  We're running Win 7 64-bit and 2011.  If you watch the dwg file at the server you can see the file disappear when it's opened on the workstation. The workstation still sees the file in explorer (but not in Map when you attach drawings!) 

Close the dwg and carry out an offline folder sync - it'll say the file was deleted on the server, do you want to copy it from the workstation. Copy it over (DONT get this bit wrong or you've lost the file!) and now you're done.

Not really ideal, but that's how we're managing it.

I've tried resetting the offline folder cache and changing offline folder settings, but it doesn't seem to beat this problem. And I didn't see the same behavior with an excel file.

Any ideas??

Michael

[lsimms1]

This may be more of a user rights thing.  The same thing happened to me about 10 years ago at one company I worked for, and just happened again lately.  More access with the user rights solved the problem.  Also, working off C drive instead of the network will also "fix" it.  Neither are ideal answers, but better than loosing a file. 

This problem will also occur with Excel.  Not sure why.

I sent this problem to Autodesk but they could not duplicate the problem.

[dlowe]

That's interesting. I will disable offline files & see if the problem recurs. The computers are desktop workstations, not laptops, so I don't need the offline files feature enabled.

[dlowe]

I just noticed that the NTFS permissions for the project folder grant Modify, Read/Execute,  List Folder Contents, Read, and Write permissions. However, "Full Control" is not granted. The only permission withheld by this combination is "Take Ownership," but maybe that's the issue. I'm going to grant Full Control & see what happens.

[tanney]

Has anyone found a solution to this issue?

We are in a school environment and some users are having this exact issue.  My tech had a file he had PREVIOUSLY worked on disappear while working on two new files he created to try to reproduce this issue.  All three files were on his personal network drive

It left a tmp file in it's place.  The file that disappeared wasn't even open.

We are using Windows 7 64 bit, windows server 2003 and AutoCAD 2011-64bit.

Any input would be appreciated.  Thanks

[dlowe]

Have not made any real progress. The problem is so intermittent that it is difficult to track...we don't know how to recreate it at will. I did add Full Control to the folders that our user was having trouble with back in November/December, and the problem subsided. But a few weeks ago it popped up with another user. At that point we did discover that a .tmp file was being created as said by a previous poster.

[clemk]

Very interesting.  We are having the same problem with what sounds like a similar setup.  Windows 7 x64, C3D 2011, Offlie File Sync setup on a mapped network drive.  The DWG files I am working with show up from the workstation end that was using the file, but the file no longer exists on the actual network drive.  In place of the original file are several .tmp files.  I too would be glad to hear of any solutions, permissions, etc that anyone comes up with.

Clem

[clemk]

One way I have found to get my DWG files back onto the server is by disabling my LAN adapter, then reenabling it.  Then when an offline file sync is run, Win 7 says there are conflicts.  Then I can push the files that are on my laptop back onto the server path.  Of course, as soon as I open and edit one of these DWG files that are enabled as offline, they dissapear from the server again.

It looks like something very similar to this was occuring with Vista.  Dont know if it is related??  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/935663/en-us

Argh.  Anyone else have any suggestions?

Thanks!

[clemk]

What anti-virus software are all of you running?

Trend Micro Enterprise for us.

[tanney]

Symantec Enterprise here.....

[clemk]

All.  The rest of this message is a reply I recieved from Autodesk Subscription support in regard to this issue.  Sounds like we are hung out to dry.  I would be glad to hear any other work-arounds anyone comes up with.

I understand your having trouble with Windows 7 Sync Center and AutoCAD files, while other files types work correctly.

AutoCAD accesses files a bit differently from other programs. When a drawing is opened, we send an instruction to the shared file system to make a copy of the original, lock the original and open the copy for editing at the same location.

When closing a file, we send instructions to unlock the original, write the copy back to it, then delete the working copy. If that sequence of instructions is not received or acted upon quickly enough, synchronization can be lost and we then attempt to trap any errors.

The Windows XP Sync Manager (mobsync.exe) has been replaced with the Sync Center in Windows 7 with some inherent differences according to some quick research that I ran.

So if you were able to connect to your drawings and sheet sets while offline when using Windows XP, the changes made to the Sync Center may be affecting your drawings, but this is not something that we can resolve for you.

You have probably already looked into any error messages in the Sync Center for any conflicts and to view sync results. Unfortunately, we don't have any information for resolving any errors encountered with the synchronization process. Typically it either works, or it doesn't.

We recommend not relying upon the Sync Center if it cannot connect your drawings and sheet sets while offline. Our apologies for any inconvenience.

[tanney]

Has anyone got an  update on the resolution of this issue?  We are still experiencing issues....

[gregory_johnson]

Hello this problem showed up for us as well when we switched over to Windows 7, 64 bit machines.  Aparently it is not platform specific as we are having the same problem with AutoCAD Architecture 2011 and 2012.  We are using McAfee anti-virus.  Sorry I do not have a solution either but need one as badly as you.  The worst thing is not being informed that you have lost the file.  We only find out later when we try to go back to it and can't do anything to retrieve the files.  I have no idea how much data we have lost.  Here is my post from the Architecture group:

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/AutoCAD-Architecture/Files-do-not-save-and-lose-existing-file-no-warni...

[tanney]

I can not believe that Autodesk has not resolved this issue....  We have had hundreds of lost files now.  Good thing Autodesk makes a Mac version, I am going to recommend that EVERYONE buys a Mac.   At least it works and no lost files!

[Cadguru42]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I can not believe that Autodesk has not resolved this issue....  We have had hundreds of lost files now.  Good thing Autodesk makes a Mac version, I am going to recommend that EVERYONE buys a Mac.   At least it works and no lost files!

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Good luck getting C3D to run on your overpriced Mac.

[lsimms1]

A few ideas.  Try at your own risk.

Turn off autosave.  Would only do this if users are in the habit of saving often (every 15 minutes type of timing).

Make sure all users know layers that would be related to data shortcuts need to be thawed at all times.

Check data shortcuts, and pathing.  Circular references = BAD.