Does Sync Have Anything To Do With Why I Can't Find A Missing File?

[alieg]

I've been using BTSync for a while on my FreeNAS, Macbook, and 2 Windows PC's, and the other day I tried to find an excel file that I'd created, but it was gone.  It was in a folder that is synced between all my devices, I created it a few months ago, so a few things could have happened or contributed. 

 

- I swapped my old Windows laptop for a new Macbook

- I swapped out the 2 HDD's on my NAS, but soon after, had to swap them back to the original disks. 

- My NAS had been performing system wide ZFS snapshots, but 90% of the space had been taken up, so I had to delete them - (I've since setup selective backups, but not before the file went missing)

- Updated BTSync to 1.4 from 1.3 on all my devices (1.4.103 on my Macbook)

- The BTSync service had stopped on my NAS for a while (I don't know how long for) so my work PC wasn't being synced for a bit (I hadn't made any changes to the folder in that time though)

 

I'm not sure what's happened, or how or when, & I can't remember if I deleted it; I don't think I would have, but there's always that possibility; & everything else seems to be intact.

What's strange is, I can't find any trace of it with any file recovery tools.  The only thing I have is a recent file entry in Excel on my old Windows laptop. I've seen traces of really old files, but not this one that I'm looking for.  It's not in the folder's sync archive either. 

 

It's not the most important file in the world, but I'm wondering why there is no evidence of it anywhere, and if BTSync has anything to do with why it can't be found.

I'd also like to know if there's some sort of incompatibility with data recovery, before anything more valuable potentially goes missing.

[GreatMarko]

the other day I tried to find an excel file that I'd created, but it was gone.  It was in a folder that is synced between all my devices

Have you checked to see if its in the folder's hidden .sync\Archive folder (and checked this on all the devices you're syncing this folder with)?

[alieg]

Have you checked to see if its in the folder's hidden .sync\Archive folder (and checked this on all the devices you're syncing this folder with)?

 

Yep I've checked the hidden .sync folders, I can only see a .txt file and a folder I know I deleted the other day.  I'll probably need to double check on my work PC

[GreatMarko]

Yes, you'll need to check the .sync\Archive folders on your other devices.

 

For example, if you're syncing between Device A and Device B, and you remove a file from Device A, it will be removed from Device A, but the corresponding file on Device B will not be removed - it'll instead be moved to Device B's .sync\Archive folder.

 

So you may find your "missing" file in the archive folders on the other devices you were syncing with

[alieg]

Yes, you'll need to check the .sync\Archive folders on your other devices.

 

For example, if you're syncing between Device A and Device B, and you remove a file from Device A, it will be removed from Device A, but the corresponding file on Device B will not be removed - it'll instead be moved to Device B's .sync\Archive folder.

 

So you may find your "missing" file in the archive folders on the other devices you were syncing with

 

Ok, that's interesting, I didn't know it worked in that way.

I've checked the .sync\Archive on my work PC and It's not there either, I did however find it in a deep recuva scan, but it's been overwritten by a file which was created on 17/9/14... this was shortly after my NAS HDD swap, maybe something happened then.

 

This is the first time it's been found by a recovery tool & It seems strange that I couldn't find anything on my old laptop.  I know I edited the file on it at some point because of the recent file entry in excel & that laptop has been rarely used since.