Deleted the entire Vault..!!!

[joelhansell]

Hello,

Yesterday i was cleaning up the files on the server which contains the ADMS/Vault. Within a folder i'd aptly named "Vault" contained my companies design and model data which we've been using for about 5 months.

I had some microsoft issues with Vault but other than that it's no been to bad. During my "file management" purge i noticed a folder which i'd seen previously but paid little attention to. The folder is labeled "000" and has approx 10-15 sub folders named the same and then branches off sporadically into numbers which had little meaning to me.

Now i'm sure reading this your advice is going to be questions like "did you back up" or "did you not know what those folders were for" and i love the stating of the obvious as the next person but let's just say hind sights a hell of a thing for now 🙂

I checked each of the folders named "000" and below for any files and i couldn't find anything and when right clicked, the properties contained 0 bytes. Now i'm sure the skilled IT person is rolling there eyes right now but let's stay on topic.

I deleted the folders thinking they were meaningless.

After some intial confusion with a few new Vista machines that were being installed during my clean up we realised this wasn't a cancel or allow problem that was preventing the entire design team from accessing the Vault but it seems those "000" folder heirachy had something to do with all the models in the Vault.

After a discussion with the Autodesk reseller support dude, he's indicated that i've deleted my companies entire design/model data which were some how contained with in those 0 byte "000" folders.

Now my boss right now is asking me what has happend and i must say i'm pretty curious myself but i can't give him an answer becasue i don't know.

1. How a folder which contains nothing can have such disasterous ramifications when deleted without even a "are you sure you want to delete this folder becasue if you do you'll probably loose you job" message and

2. Why create a program called Vault which can be easily deleted in one foul swoop by a lamen fool ie. ME

i can't access a single model that was securily kept in the Vault and two, i deleted the folder in the server from my pc so it's in no recycle bin and as previously mentioned no back up exist - don't say it i already know 🙂

So please please please if anyone has any unobvious and pro-active advice on retreiveing or knows the wherabouts of our model data could you please give me some advice because i'm a little lost at the moment.

Also some information on what those folders mean would be advantages for future information and don't worry the IT department is being torn to shreds for information as to why the server was not backed up at this time.

Help me God

Joel Message was edited by: Discussion Admin

[Anonymous]

I see what you are saying now, but I don't think it applies to this case.
Based on his description, it's pretty clear that he deleted the top level
000 folder and wiped out his entire file store. For whatever reason,
Windows was lying when it said that the size was 0 bytes.

I'm not sure what will happen if you delete a truly empty sub-folder, as you
describe. However I doubt that it would result in preventing all Vault
files from downloading as described in the original post.


Doug Redmond
Software Engineer, Autodesk Inc.

[Anonymous]

Even if they did, along would come a better idiot.

>Autodesk shouldn't have to make idiot proof software.

[SveinE]

Hi joelh

You are not running Vista are you?
If you are, right click on the folder and choose "Previous version", here you can restore the folder an earlier version.


Regards Svein

[coviepresb1647]

Joelh,

I take it that you resolved this to a satisfactory extent and/or you were sacked for this major anomaly. If you resolved it, we are eager to hear how you resolved it.

[albender]

Havent heard from him since day of original post, I assume the latter of the 2 choices.

[coviepresb1647]

The Vault should at least have a "are you sure" message or the equivalent with a yes or no radio button (with the no as default highlighted button) as Windows does when we ask to delete or recycle-bin something.

[billco-mfg]

The folder was deleted in windows explorer.

[coviepresb1647]

thanks for the clarification.

[jandrews]

Well let's be realistic here. If your kids are playing redrover across the interstate, is it W's fault they got hit by a car? Sure some would claim so, but no.

If someone is deleting system files and folders without knowing what they are...there can't be protections against everything.

I'm sorry the guy has a problem, but you can't blame this on the software, sheesh.

[coviepresb1647]

Realistic? "If your kids are playing redrover across the interstate" Not realistic. Message was edited by: coviepresb1647

[jandrews]

uhh, yeah that's the point of the analogy there bro, it's physically an easy to do and pretty shortsighted and dangerous activity that is not reasonable to protect against. Sorry if you couldn't keep up.

[coviepresb1647]

Poor analogy, but I get the point. The only reasonable protection is prevention (before it happens) such as backup and children's leashes. In this case, the Vault is not at fault, but it is not entirely the User's fault. Message was edited by: coviepresb1647

[billco-mfg]

You guys know that this thread is a couple months old?

"...but it is not entirely the User's fault."
He deleted a folder in Windows, when he didn't understand its purpose. Whose fault is that? There comes a time when you have to buck up and accept some responsibility.

[coviepresb1647]

As I mentioned, it is not entirely user's fault. That is not to say that the user is categorically not at fault. Message was edited by: coviepresb1647

[billco-mfg]

If the user isn't entirely at fault, who else shares the blame?

[Anonymous]

The administrator who gave the user admin rights? 🙂

--
Dennis Jeffrey, Autodesk Inventor Certified Expert
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Instructor/Author/Sr. App Engr.
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wrote in message news:6016714@discussion.autodesk.com...
If the user isn't entirely at fault, who else shares the blame?

[coviepresb1647]

The fault is Joel's (95%) and Windows (5%).

[jandrews]

Hey, leave Joelh's mom alone, she's just trying to protect him...

[coviepresb1647]

lol. given genetics, there is a chance his relative may do the same thing if presented with the same case.

[dan_inv09]

The person who told him to make more room because the didn't want to spend a couple bucks on more storage.

Why does this thread keep coming up?
And more importantly, does anyone know if the OP is all right? At the very least, he could have gone to a public library to post that he lost that job and is living on the street.