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Automatically make back ups
of your document to help you recover your work
Using WordPerfect's
built-in backup features and other backup methods |
WordPerfect has two options under
Tools, Settings, Files to save backups of your
current work:
Note two things about these backup
options:
- They have different purposes
and work in different ways. See below.
- Even with these backup settings
enabled (i.e., with checkboxes ticked) . . . you
still have to save files when you close them.
For the best insurance against
data loss in WordPerfect (as well as other program data), see
the end of this page under "The best method."
Option
1: "Timed document backup every X minutes"
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Purpose
The first (checkbox) feature
is designed to allow you to recover your work after a power failure,
program lock-up, or system crash -- that is, after an abnormal
method of exiting WordPerfect -- such as shutting off the computer
while an unsaved document is still open. It is not a replacement for saving your
files periodically. In
fact, it merely creates a temporary backup of each currently open and changed file on your drive. These
temporary backups are normally and automatically deleted when
either the edited documents or the WordPerfect program is closed
in a normal fashion.
Most users will want to have
this feature enabled. It is generally considered to be a Good
Thing.
[Incidentally, the 'conventional
wisdom' is to set the timed backup time to not less than 5 minutes
nor more than 10 minutes. As Joell Haugan, a Corel C_Tech, states:
"Having them come too fast leaves open the possibiltiy of
one backup not finishing before the next one starts. Hopefully,
under normal situations, this wouldn't happen ... but couple
a large file with a busy computer and there could be a fatal
corruption."]
How it works
With this feature enabled, under
normal conditions -- that is, when no crash has occurred -- the
time backup feature works like this:
When you make a change to an
open file, WordPerfect periodically creates a temporary
file with a name like WP{WP}.BK1 in the backup folder
named in Tools, Settings, Files. As long as the file remains
open for editing (even if you do no further editing), this temporary
file will be periodically updated according to the number of
minutes specified in the Tools, Settings, Files dialog.
In essence, it takes a "snapshot" of the edited document
every "x" minutes and stores it in a temporary disk
file.
The usual case
If the on screen file is then
saved, or if WordPerfect is closed and exited normally, the
temporary timed backup file(s) will be automatically and immediately
deleted. Its job is done, so there is no purpose in keeping
the temporary file.
The not-so-usual case
If the WordPerfect program had
an abnormal termination (e.g., a crash or power failure), the
temporary timed backup files created during the previous session
will continue to exist on the drive until you next load WordPerfect;
they can then be used to restore the previously opened and changed
files.
WordPerfect will automatically
detect these temporary files and pop up messages when you load
the program to ask you how you want to deal with them. Normally
you would open them to examine them and make a disposition (save?
delete?), but you can also delete or rename them directly from
the message dialogs.
Note the following
about abnormal terminations and these temporary timed document
backup files:
1. If you do not delete the temporary
timed document backup, or rename it or save it under a different
name, you might get a message in the next few minutes when WordPerfect
attempts to back up the timed back up file itself. If you try
to delete the file, you might get another message saying you
"do not have the rights" to do this. Close the open
timed back up file and things should return to normal.
2. After an abnormal termination,
if you see the message about a backup file existing and you open
it (as explained above) to save or delete it, and you still
get a message the next time you open WordPerfect (something like,
"..To save the backup file please open or rename it..."),
it is possible the backup folder was corrupted, too. Here's
a tip from Wolfgang Deiminger on the Corel WP12 newsgroup:
"Find the location of the
backup folder (in WP, do Tools, Settings, Files, Document
Tab). Then, with WP closed, use Windows Explorer to delete
the folder and create it again. This should sort things out."
3. If you receive a message that
the temporary timed backup file exists (e.g., "Document
0 backup file exists..."), and even after you renamed or
deleted it you still get a message that this temporary files
exists, here's a tip from Charles Rossiter (Corel C_Tech) that
might help:
"Use Windows Explorer to
browse to your specified [timed] backup folder [shown in Tools,
Settings, Files, Document tab, Backup folder] and delete
[the] file wp{wp}.bk!
What probably happened is that
you opened a backup file, and then saved it without changing
[the] filename. This can create the file wp{wp}.bk! ... and give
a [Windows version of a] message about wp{wp}.bk0."
Q: "What if I close the
document without saving it and I ignore, or answer 'No' to, the
message that asks if I want to save the changes I have made to
the document?"
This is not
considered an abnormal termination of the program as explained above, so the temporary
timed backup file(s) will be automatically and immediately deleted.
WordPerfect naturally assumes
you want to discard the changes -- and any temporary timed backup
file -- if you ignore or answer 'No' to the message.
If you have accidentally lost
work because you failed to save your work when WordPerfect asks
if you want to do so, you might consider using a macro (or third
party program) to help you save your work more frequently as
you edit your documents. See the last section
on this page.
Note: Some programs, notably
databases or those that are designed around a database (e.g.,
Quicken) will automatically save an entry when you press the
Enter key. But word preocessors do not do this. If they did,
and blindly wrote over the previously saved version of the
file while you are editing and experimenting with various
creative ideas ... well, most people would become very upset
over such a loss of the previous material, so WordPerfect will
not automatically save your work in a way that overwrites a previous
version. [Exception: See the Save original
document as a backup at each save section below. If this
option is enabled, WordPerfect creates one backup of each
saved document on disk, so it will overwrite the previous backup
file (it will have a .BK! filename extension) on each subsequent
manual save.]
Q: "Can
the timed document backup be used to recover accidentally
deleted material from the active document?"
The short answer is maybe.
Let's take an example where a
system crash is not involved, and see what happens as
you edit files on screen and then delete some important material.
You might have done this by using File, Close (and then answered
"No"), or by exiting WordPerfect without saving your
work. (TIP: If you selected some material and hit the <Delete>
key, the best thing to do is use Edit, Undo as soon as possible.)
If you has previously enabled
the timed document backup option, any material in the actively
edited file, or any other loaded file where a change has been
made, is temporarily saved to disk (after the selected
time delay) in a file named something like WP{WP}.BK1, in the
backup folder specified in Tools, Settings, Files.
As mentioned, this protects against
a power failure or crash. It does not save you from yourself.
If you close a file without saving it, or delete so much material
that you exceed your personal settings in Edit, Undo/Redo History,
Options, you might not be able to recover all material. This
temporary timed document backup file would exist only until
you close the edited file or exit the program, whereupon it is
automatically deleted.
HOWEVER ... if you have deleted
a lot of material in the currently open file, you might
be able to recover it if you are lucky enough to be able to open
the backup file before the next timed backup overwrites it. (The
edited file must still be open, or else WordPerfect will immediately
delete the WP{WP}.BK* file.)
Notes
1. Recovery of any material from
a deleted WP{WP}.BK* file might be possible with a separate
file recovery program if recovery procedures are instituted before
anything else is written to disk. The best approach is to avoid
getting into a situation where you need to take such drastic
measures.
2. If you keep getting an error
message, "The
specific backup folder no longer exists," try this (from Answer ID 754208 at Http://support.corel.com):
"... This error message
is usually caused if WordPerfect can no longer write to the backup
folder or the folder has become damaged in some way.
The easiest solution to this
problem is to reboot your computer and try WordPerfect® again.
If problems persist, rename the location of the backup directory.
To do this, follow the instructions listed below:
1. Go up to the Tools
menu and select Settings.
2. Click on the Files button and select the Document
tab.
3. Type 'C:\Backup' ( without the quotes ) in the Backup Folder
box.
4. Click on Ok. Click Yes to create the directory if your prompted.
NOTE: To prevent this problem
from occouring in the future, ensure that your virus scanner
is NOT checking the WordPerfect backup file directory."
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Option
2: "Save original document as a backup
at each save"
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Purpose
The second (checkbox)
feature works as you might expect. If you enable it, it automatically
creates a backup copy (with
a .BK! filename extension) of your active document each time you
save the active document to disk. The next time you save the
file, the previous backup is deleted and a new one is created.
Thus, if you
have saved the active document at least once you will always
have at least one backup copy of that document.
WordPerfect's Help says that
this feature "guards against accidentally replacing a file
that you did not intend to replace," and this might be valuable
to you. If so, check the box to enable this feature.
Notes
The backup file is placed in
the same folder as the original, with a .BK! filename
extension. That is, the current document (e.g., MyFile.wpd) will
have a similarly named backup but with a different filename extension
(e.g., MyFile.bk!).
Making the backup in the same
folder as the original prevents the possibility of a file being
backed up to a "backup folder" and accidentally overwriting
a backup from a different file (located in another folder) that
might have the same root filename. (If you want a backup to go
somewhere else, see the SaveCopy
macro.)
Be aware that with this option
enabled you will decrease available disk space because all
your WordPerfect files created after the option is enabled will
have a backup file from that point onward. But with today's large
hard drives this should not be much of an issue.
If you cannot
find the backup file(s) or
distingush the backup file(s) in the same folder from the original
file(s), you might be a "victim" of Windows default
settings, which hides certain filename extensions. See the Footnote below.
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The best method: Save
your work to disk frequently, and make multiple backups with
different file names as insurance against data loss
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In general, a WordPerfect document
must be saved to disk before any recovery is possible, or (if
you have enabled the timed document backup feature; see above)
the system must have crashed (thus leaving the temporary backups
on disk), since until it is saved the material exists only in
the computer's memory or in a temporary file on disk. Unless,
of course, you get lucky and can quickly recover the material
from the .BK* file with a text editor or viewer or even by opening
the .BK* file in WordPerfect. (Note that WordPerfect must remain
open to do this. If you close it, WordPerfect will delete
the timed backup file.)
The second option (under Tools,
Settings, Files), "Save original document as a backup at each save" (discussed above), is
one way to make reliable automatic backups of your WordPerfect
files. However, as noted, this makes only one backup
of the current document.
There are other methods to prevent
-- or at least minimize -- the possibilty of losing data due
to "operator error," and which can make multiple
backups of the current document, each with a slightly
different filename or with an automatically incrementing filename
extension. For example:
- See the MULTISAV
macros and the tips on the MultiSav
download page. The "save as you type" methods there
do not depend on the user remembering to save a file periodically:
they save after the user presses a key at the end of a paragraph
or sentence. The NewFN# macro in that suite can automate the
creation of sequentially numbered backups (MyBook001.wpd, MyBook002.wpd,
etc.).
- Also see SAVECOPY,
a macro that makes a copy on another drive or partition when
you save the file. The copy serves as a backup, and if it's on
another physical drive, it will be much more immune to disk problems.
- There are third-party programs that
make automatic backups of any saved file that meets your specifications.
These programs allow you to include/exclude files from the backup,
and can back up to a variety of locations/drives/media. For
example:
- PC Magazine's InstaBack
2 (for Windows 2000, XP & Vista; download: US$7.97).
"Instantly and Automatically Back Up Your Data" whenever
you save a file in specified programs. InstaBack can also create
multiple versions of backed up files by saving each new backup
with a number added to the original filename extension. It saves
backups to the drive/folder you specify. You can also do scheduled
backups.
- Centered Systems' SecondCopy
(US$29.95) backs up (or optionally synchronizes) saved files
-- one copy of each, optionally compressed into a password-protected,
standard ZIP file; it can also automatically move/store multiple
older copies ("versions") in a separate archive; backups
can be made on a user-defined time schedule or when files change.
- VCom's AutoSave
(US$49.99) makes an automatic, user-defined number of sequential
back ups ("versions") of each saved file (or can synchronize
them with another computer).
I have not found a technique
or separate program that saves the current on screen material
to disk without some kind of user intervention; all such
methods depend on the user making a deliberate File Save, whereupon
they immediately make one or more sequential backups of the original. |
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Barry MacDonnell's