Data Loss Bug In OS X 10.7 Lion Gains Traction

Posted on August 9, 2011 by AppleBitch


We have been tipped about an apparent bug in OS X 10.7 Lion which relates to moving files using Finder.  The bug, which seems to occur sporadically, has quite a few users getting more than a little concerned about data migration. The issue, which doesn’t affect everyone, appears to show up when a user tries to copy files from external drives, either portable hard drives or USB sticks. File transfers from the source drive can be started and then the files themselves can then disappear from the destination drive once the copying has apparently been completed.

The issue has already been illustrated in several sources including forums at ArsTechnica and MacRumors as well as several discussion themes (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 ) in Apple’s support forums.  The problem can apparently be rectified by using a terminal command to kill and restart the Finder (killall Finder && open /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app), but it’s worth taking notice of, especially if users immediately delete files from the source drive without confirming they have properly copied over.  Additionally, the problem does not seem to affect files that are copied using AirDrop.

It’s likely this will be fixed pretty soon in a future update to Lion, especially given the coverage in Apple’s Support Forums, but keep an eye out when you are copying large files in Lion from one drive to another.

Thanks to Anonymous for the comprehensive tip.

No Copy…

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  • Gus

    While every one is all a twitter about the latest and the greatest, I am enjoying the very mature and reliable Snow Leopard.  I usually wait 4-6 months before upgrading and have never regretted it.  Snow Leopard has never crashed on me and Leopard only crashed once and it was a weird issue with an external optical drive that caused it, nothing inherent in the OS.

    The obsession with the latest big thing lost its appeal a long time ago.  Any person who relies on their Mac for their living would be wise to avoid jumping on new OS versions as soon as they come out and I don’t know a pro with half a brain that would put their workflow at risk like that.

    If your just playing games, surfing the web, fooling around with iLife and so forth, everything should be just fine.  But remember, edge cases get the spotlight but rarely reflect the actual situation and the internet is not what one could call a reliable source of facts and truth.

  • Konrad

    Why I’m not an early adopter

  • http://twitter.com/ItzLowry Itz Lowry

    Like one person said, perfection won’t be found early on. Of course there are minor issues.

  • Prof. Peabody

    I’ve found two or three finder bugs already in Lion.  

    Folders that can’t keep track of their view options are fairly normal for all Apple OS’s (they may get that right someday), but I have more than a few folders that simply won’t stop sorting by x, y, or z even though the options are turned off.  This is much more than a mere annoyance.  

    I have also been bitten several times now by the bug wherein all the content of your folders (desktop folder anyone?), simply re-organise themselves on shutdown and restart.  If I have to re-arrange all the stuff on my desktop one more time I think I will scream.  

    There are more.  All minor, mostly just annoying but some adding literally hours to my job routine.  No data loss yet for me though.  

    • Anonymous

      none of those things represents even a 5 min loss in time (from my view) although they are inconvenient. If you want perfection, never be an earlier adopter. 

      • Mithridain

        My desktop is never clean so I have about 50+ icons. If I had to re-arrange my icons after restart or shutdown, I would extremely annoyed as I’d have to re-arrange them at least twice a day.

        • Anonymous

          or your could organize? none of those are deal breakers (to me)

    • http://www.tozzophoto.com Roy Caratozzolo

      Get Desktility http://www.desktility.com/ for your desktop icons…  I have noticed that my screen flickers when I drag and drop something from a folder to the desktop.  As for early adopters, you can’t avoid Lion when you buy a new computer!  I came from Tiger (using it since 2004) so I was ready for the switch….

    • http://www.tozzophoto.com Roy Caratozzolo

      Get Desktility http://www.desktility.com/ for your desktop icons…  I have noticed that my screen flickers when I drag and drop something from a folder to the desktop.  As for early adopters, you can’t avoid Lion when you buy a new computer!  I came from Tiger (using it since 2004) so I was ready for the switch….

      • Mammasonica

        i have the same issue….do u know why ?

        • http://www.tozzophoto.com Roy Caratozzolo

          I am not sure why it happens.  It is not a critical error, but it does not seem correct…  As far as Lion goes that is the only issue I have found (other than the clunky-ness of launchpad)

      • jace

        i have the drag/drop screen flickering too. It’s associated with the icon(s) animation.