Conversion Program changed files to Alias and error -43

[Sundee]

I used Handbrake to convert some kids' tv series files from .mkv (which our tv does not support) to .mp4, which it did no problems. However, as soon as I moved those files onto my external hard drive, it did something to my other files, which are now at Zero KB, date modified -------, and Kind - Alias. I have lost all our movies, music and tv series. Each one had its own folder.

When you click on the file is says:
"Operation Can't be Completed
An unexpected error occurred (error code -43)"

Then another msg pops up that says:
"The application can't be found."

I don't know if it is a kind of virus that I picked up along the way, which targets certain files, or whether it has changed the files so they are not recognisable.

When I looked at the hard drive, they are still there somewhere because of the amount of data used, but I have absolutely NO idea what has happened and what I can do to fix it. I have spent hours googling and have not found anyone else who has this problem. I know it was that program because the season of the kids' tv program that I changed is like that and the others series aren't. I don't even know what program, if any I can use to fix it.

Because it is my external hard drive, it's not backed up. I use it just for big files to free up space on my Mac.

Does anyone know what happened and if it can be fixed or do I need to say goodbye to years of work?

I'm not terribly good at the technical side of computers so I have no idea. Any help would be amazing and very much appreciated please.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

It sounds like you made an alias of the files on the external drive, instead of making a copy.

-After you dragged them to the external, did you delete them from the internal drive I assume?
-Can you access any files on the external?
-What brand/model is the external?

It could also be that the external isn't partitioned/formatted properly. You can check how it is formatted by clicking on the external hard drive icon on the Desktop, then pressing Command and I keys to Get Info, or right-click/Control-click on the icon and choosing Get Info from the pop-up menu.

You could also use Spotlight in the upper right corner of the menu bar (looks like a magnifying glass) to search for the file(s) by name.

C

 

[Sundee]

Hello! Thank you for getting back to me.

I just realised I said 'files' instead of "folders". (I will try to edit original post as to not confuse people) The FOLDERS have always been there but all of a sudden I can't access them. Something has changed them. They have literally been there for years and I just kept adding to them. Never had a problem until yesterday when the converted files did something to them. Each folder has hundreds of files in it! I've been adding into them for years! The folder that I put the converted files into - Kids TV series, ironically is fine, except for the folder - Dora, that contains the new converted files. Hope this is making sense.
I can access some files on the drive, except for the 4 folders that have suddenly changed. I can't open them at all.
The external is a 4TB WD "My Book"
The format says that it is a WIndows NT Filesystem.
I have just tried to search for files within the missing folders and they are not coming up - Starting to panic slightly.

 

[Cory Cooper]

The format says that it is a WIndows NT Filesystem.

This is what sticks out to me. Mac OS X doesn't have native support for writing to NTFS (Windows NT Filesystem) hard drives.

-Did you previously convert the files on a Windows PC and save them to the drive?
-Have you been able to successfully write to that drive with your Mac?
-Did you purchase or install any software to enable the Mac to be able to write to the external - such as MacFuse and NTFS-3G?
-Did you apply a Terminal command to enable writing to NTFS?

C

 

[Sundee]

Thank you so much for persevering with me! It must be so frustrating with us non-computer-speak-people. I normally don't do conversions and such for this very reason! Argh!

OK... So yes, when I changed from a PC to a Mac I bought a program that converted my files so that they can be seen by both PC and Mac. I cannot figure out from my Apps which one it is sorry! Since then, I have moved those files onto a new hard drive without having to do anything at all and until 2 days ago all was well. I could view them, copy them, etc, etc. The folders that are missing are holding Movies (a variety of different files - avi, mp4, mkv, etc) , music (mostly mp3) and tv series (same as movies - all different types). I usually copy them onto a USB so that they can be watched on the tv or the mp3 player, etc. It's just strange that the entire folder is gone, not just the files in them. However, as mentioned, 2.8 TB has been used and there is no way that would be from the files left on the drive alone. Those movies, tv series, and music is there somewhere but now in a way that cannot be retrieved.

The worst part is that in a panic I uninstalled Handbrake straight away in case it was going to do something else to my Mac and had I kept it, it would have had the log that would have helped everyone to figure this out. The support people at Handbrake won't talk to you unless you have that log and well it's uninstalled and gone so I can't really get it back. Damn it!

So could it be that the conversion program has somehow changed the format of the hard drive?? It seems strange that I can still see all my Word Files and so forth.

No idea what a Terminal command is sorry I feel terribly stupid.

 

[Cory Cooper]

No worries...not frustrating at all.

Handbrake, or any other conversion app, can change the format of the hard drive. Only software that can completely erase the drive and is designed to partition and format hard drives can do that. On your Mac, that is the Disk Utility app in the Utilities folder. Since you are unfamiliar with a Terminal command, I am pretty sure you didn't do anything there. Terminal is simply a software app that allows you to execute commands directly to the operating system and hardware. It is definitely a far more advanced interaction with your computer, so don't worry about that.

The conversion app that you used may have had a setting that would delete the original file after converting. If you can remember the name of the app, we can investigate.

Without seeing the hard drive first-hand, it will be really difficult to determine what went wrong. Do you have any tech-savvy friends that could take a look at it? Or, are you near an Apple Store that you could take your Mac and the drive to and have them check things out and give suggestions?

Since the hard drive is formatted as Windows NT Filesystem, I strongly urge you not to use it with your Mac for anything other than reading files from it. As I stated previously, OS X cannot write to the drive without additional third-party software, so you could lose further information if you try to write/copy files to it. You could always try connecting it to your old PC, if you still have access to it, to see if the files appear when connected to it. You could also disconnect the external hard drive and perform a search of the Mac's internal hard drive to see if the files are possibly there.

C

 

[Sundee]

Thank you so much for all your help. I'm taking your advise and have decided to hand it over for someone to look at as this seems waaaay over my head. A costly exercise I will post here what the outcome is just in case anyone needs to know in the future.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Yes, definitely keep us in the loop and good luck!

C