atw: Re: Making Iterative Back-Ups of Work-In-Progress Files (Was: More on Word 2010)
- From: "Christine Kent" <cmkentau@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2011 13:10:05 +1000
Maybe we are using the work backup differently Neil. Let's not be pedantic
about that. I am in no way saying that people should not follow all normal
and sensible precautions for backing up their files and their systems. I am
saying that, given they have backed up their systems in normal and
responsible ways, then the Word backup facilities (I am using the word
generically) are, in my experience, pretty sound as a second line of
defence.
- The reason I use zip files for iterative backups is to give me TWO back-up
copies on the same hard drive, instead of having two documents with the same
file names (except that Windows 7 insists on adding a "(2)" to one of the
files, thereby making the filename prefix different).
My preferred process now for effecting this kind of security is to use
offsite backups. I use Mozy Home to do a twice daily backup of everything on
my nominated drives. That is what I consider to be a responsible backup
system. In addition, when I am working on a document intensively, I drag and
drop it into DropBox (also off-site), giving me multiple recent copies in a
second off-site location. This gives me security that if my home computer
goes down, I can pick up the document on a different computer, either from
Mozy or from DropBox and keep working. My concern is for a crash of my
entire computer, not a crash of Word, although the former covers the latter.
- In relation to using Autosave in MS Word (refer to Christine's blog page
as per the link below), everyone needs to be aware that Autosave DOES NOT
save a full copy of the document you are working on, CANNOT be fully trusted
to do what it is supposed to do (as advised by Microsoft, and from
experience)
Is this the case for dedicated 2007 and 2010 documents? Can you point to
the documentation that explains exactly how and where Wra####.asd,
Unsaved-####.asd and [name].bak files are saved. I was not aware that they
were not dedicated complete files and I will certainly add that to my blog
if that is the case. As documents can be fully recovered from these files, I
had assumed they were complete files. My mistake for not being "technical".
, and my recommendation is to turn it OFF because when it is turned on, it
sometimes (very rarely, but it does happen) causes the document being
working on to crash. But, please note, I only recommend turning it off for
those who are already in the habit of frequently doing a full save (i.e. a
normal File - Save) while working.
Even as an old hand, do you never forget? It would right royally piss me
off to have to re-do even as little as 30 minutes work when I am intensively
"finishing" a document, and that is the most likely time for me to get so
focussed that I forget to save. For 2010 I see no reason at all for turning
this off, and have never needed to. I can't give the technical reasons for
that, but as a user, it has never posed me with a problem. I will confess
that I am working with a good system, and maybe these warnings might be
necessary for systems that reach their overload levels easily.
If you are not in the habit of doing that, then Autosave does offer a better
level of protection against losing work. As Microsoft says (at
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/107686), the following words in capitals are
mine for emphasis, and this applies to Word 97, 2000, 2003, 2007 or 2010,
"AutoRecover or AutoSave DOES NOT REPLACE THE SAVE COMMAND. YOU SHOULD USE
THE SAVE COMMAND TO SAVE YOUR DOCUMENT AT REGULAR INTERVALS and when you
finish working on it."
Well, that's self-evident and in no way proves that AutoRecover or AutoSave
cannot be trusted as a second line of defence. Please provide links to the
documentary evidence of this.
- I wasn't able to find anything on Christine's blog page (as per the link
below) about a built-in back-up function in Word. Separate to what's on
Christine's page, I'm aware that Word allows different versions to all be
saved in the same document, but this is not really a back-up because you
still end up with only a single file.
How does it do this? Can you provide a link explaining it. I am not
familiar with this so will add it to my blog.
If Christine meant that Autosave and Autorecover are "back-up" tools (I'll
allow Christine to answer that), then, sorry, they're not. If anyone out
there knows of a back-up function in Word (even if it is only in 2007 or
2010 and that's why I don't know about it, having "only" 2004), i.e. that
produces separate backup files to a nominated location which is not
necessarily the working directory and may be on separate physical media,
please let me know.
Backups, saved to location of original file. Location cannot be changed
Autosave and Autorecover and Unsaved Files are all different. Read about
what each does here and how to set your options so that you have all three
functioning in case you do have a Word rather than a system crash.
http://christinekent.blogspot.com/2011/05/recovering-lost-documents.html
To change the paths for autosaved and the autosaved backup files
http://christinekent.blogspot.com/2011/02/where-are-word-2010-file-paths.htm
l
There is NO user invoked version control in standalone Word, which may be
what Neil is referring to. I think it would be a good addition to the
product in the future. However, Word does save you a regular autosave file.
"You can choose to keep the last AutoSaved version of a file in case you
accidentally close that file without saving, so that you can restore it the
next time that you open the file. Also, while you are working in your file,
you can access a list of the AutoSaved files for your current session from
the File tab, Backstage view."
I'll expand in my material on my blog when I get the additional information
from Neil. I pride myself in giving information that can be trusted, and if
the information on my blog is not correct, I will certainly fix it.
Christine
On 18/07/2011 10:31 AM, Christine Kent wrote:
On zip files
As an aside, there is no point zipping .docx or .docm files. They already
ARE zip files. If you rename a .docx to .zip, you can open it as a zip and
see the component files. You cannot achieve much zipping a zip file.
On backups
Word itself has a very reliable way of ensuring you DO have backup files and
I suggest you check out my blog at
http://christinekent.blogspot.com/2011/05/recovering-lost-documents.html and
make sure you get all your settings correct so you DO have the necessary
range of backup files - automatically. You need a fairly substantial IQ to
grasp and remember it all, so a better course of action may be to keep my
blog address handy to remind you next time you need it - once you have set
your settings.
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