Is there a way to restore or find a file that was replaced by the download manager because they had identical names?
A large file I was downloading failed part way through. I tried to refresh it but was unable to get it to resume. I began a fresh download with a plan to swap the files and then resume the initial one. I paused the download after a couple of seconds and went to switch the files around....but the original file is no longer in the download folder because it downloaded with the exact same file name. There was no option to rename, skip or over-write so I assume it is a function of the firefox download manager.
Was it over-written?, deleted? I have searched for the file and cannot locate it on my file system anywhere. I am running Linux Mint Mate OS, I have no old firefox data or backups. I will leave my computer on just in case and hope someone helps quickly. How do I get it back? Help appreciated.
Thanks
All Replies (6)
If a download does not complete (paused/failed) and then is later cancelled, then the file is deleted, iirc. If there is a conflict with the filenames, then Firefox adds a version number to the newer download to avoid overwrites.
Also, Firefox doesn't start writing data immediately to the file. It first creates a file by the name with a size of 0 bytes, then creates another file with the same name and extension plus a '.part' extension to which it writes the data. After the download is complete, Firefox moves the data to the original file. Please check for any .part files in your downloads directory.
@abhro
The problem is that firefox did not add a new version number. The new part file is present, but either deleted or overwrote the original. I have deeply searched my entire system, except that which is encrypted, and there is no trace. The failed download in the manager is all that is left. I think it must be an overwrite....is there a way to restore to previous version of the part file?
Try using a download manager that supports resuming.
Go to the Mozilla Add-ons Web Page {web Link} (There’s a lot of good stuff here) and search for what you want. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ This download manager works separately from the browser. The browser tells it what to download, and off it goes.
http://www.freedownloadmanager.org It is a powerful modern download accelerator and organizer for Windows and Mac.
I don't know about Linux.
@FredMcd Firefox download manager already supports resuming. Thanks for the suggestion though, I will look in to it to see if there are any benefits in adding a separate manager. That still won't help with my situation though.
Is there a way I can recover a previous version of a download part file that firefox download manager did an auto overwrite on?
Unless you can find it in the recycle bin, you will need very special recovery/undelete software.
You should always look for the .part file in case a download gets interrupted and you want to resume the download. Once that .part file is gone then your only option is to restart the download from the beginning.
The usual procedure where you want to resume an interrupted download is as follows: Make sure to backup the .part file and the final file with size 0 without the .part before starting Firefox.
Try these steps to resume an unfinished download when you still have the .part file.
- Move the old .part partial download and the final file without the .part that has size 0 to another location.
- Start a new download and pause it, don't close Firefox.
- Copy the two files (.part and 0 byte final) that you moved above back to the download location to replace the new files that were created.
- Resume the download in Firefox.