What Could Have Happened

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We (my wife, not me) are in process of transferring files and folders from our desktop (iMac 10.6.8) to a Macbook Pro 10.10.1

At first files from the desktop were moved into a folder and folder moved onto a flash drive then to the macbook
Then files were copied directly to the flash drive then to the macbook
Something called Migration Assistant was tried, too

All this was a few days ago. I've been using the desktop and its been working normally.

I decided to empty the trash today and as I always do, check first to see there is nothing in there I don't want to lose. Good thing - 800 of my .jpg and some .mov files were in the trash. Almost all came from the same folder which contains many other folders for my pictures. A couple of hours later after comparing what was trashed with what was still on the computer I was relieved to find that ALL the files that wound up in the trash were duplicates. Nothing was lost.

I noticed, too, that the access files you find on flash drives had been duplicated in a couple of the folders on the desktop.

Is it reasonable to assume that something in the transfer process caused all those .jpg's to be copied an tossed into the trash. What Could Have Happened ?????

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks
Bob
 

bobtomay

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No, it's not reasonable to "assume" that something in the transfer process put anything into the trash.

Only my best guess, because no one here is going to know "exactly" how what was done was done.

I would suggest that the pics were not "moved" to a new folder and then "moved" to the flash drive but were "copied" to a folder and then that folder was "copied" to the flash drive.

Meaning you would then have those pics "duplicated". They would be in the original location and in the folder where they were "copied". I would have to "assume" that either you or your wife would have then "trashed" these "duplicates".

If those pics had been "moved" to a new folder and then "moved" to the flash drive, you would have effectively "deleted" all of them from your desktop.
If the pics were "moved" to a new folder, you would not have found the pics in their original location - proving that had been "copied" vs "moved".

edit:
Just a friendly FYI: you should use iMac and MBP rather than the term "desktop" when talking about an issue involving 2 computers (or Comp1 and Comp2) - because both computers have a "desktop".
 
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Thanks for the tip on proper use of iMac and MBP...

I agree it is unclear exactly what was done. The mystery (and concern) is why the .jpg files were copied and the copies wound up in the trash. These were not files that were to be transferred from the iMac to the MBP. There was no reason to intentionally touch any of them.

Just one of those computer things to keep an eye on ........

Thanks
Bob
 

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