Backing Up Your Work

B is for Backing Up Your Work

4/2/2016

My theme for the
April A to Z Challenge is Productivity for Creative People.

A to Z Challenge: B is for Backing Up Your Work

Backing up your work is mundane but critical. I know friends who have lost countless hours of productive time due to computer malfunctions. You can create your own backups by using a thumb drive or emailing yourself copies of your files. Dropbox offers free backups for up to 2 GB. Backup services like Carbonite are about $60 a year.

If you use Word, the default setting for Autosave is ten minutes (in the latest version). You can change the settings to save more frequently by selecting File, Options, Save, and decreasing the time for “Save Autorecover information every X minutes.” I have mine set to save every four minutes.

Do you have a preferred method for backing up your files? Do you have an "I lost my work" story to share?

Fran link

4/2/2016 07:45:42 am

I backed up my documents and pictures for the first time in ages. so sill of my to leave it so long - I'd cry if I lost all those hours of work!
Fran
<a href="https://twitter.com/FranClarkAuthor">@FranClarkAuthor</a>
<a href="http://franclark.blogspot.co.uk">Writing Women’s Fiction</a>

Yvonne V link

4/2/2016 06:39:10 pm

Hooray! Glad you did it.

Glenda Funk link

4/2/2016 10:39:11 am

Last spring I transferred all my files at work into Google docs and now create most of them there. I have had a computer crash to the point that I can't retrieve anything. It's a horrible experience, so backing up is imperative to peace of mind. I also store photos on iCloud.

Yvonne V link

4/2/2016 06:39:54 pm

It does sound like a horrible experience! Good that you've taken precautions.

Scarlett Braden, Author link

4/2/2016 12:27:35 pm

I work in Scrivener with my files in dropbox. It backs up ever 2 minutes. That's about as long as my memory could recreate what's lost. Great post and reminder! Thank you and best of luck with the A to Z challenge!
@ScarlettBraden from
<a href="http://scarlettbraden.blogspot.com">Frankly Scarlett</a>

Yvonne V link

4/2/2016 06:40:32 pm

Ha ha to two minutes of memory... Mine might be even less!

jean davis link

4/2/2016 01:30:48 pm

I recently lost over 4K words in a windows update takeover. The word auto save hadn't been working correctly and my dropbox save was a week old and I'd had a productive week. Now I manually save every ten minutes and to a flash drive after each major scene.

Yvonne V link

4/2/2016 06:41:27 pm

Sorry about your 4000 words! Ugh!

Liz Brownlee link

4/2/2016 03:16:45 pm

I did not know you could change how often Word backs up, that is really useful. I have a mac though and find if there is a power cut(the only reason I've ver lost anything) nowadays the computer seems to be able to save most of what I've written, which has been a big help, as my village often has power cuts! I'm certainly going to change that amount of time, thank you. ~Liz http://www.lizbrownleepoet.com

Yvonne V link

4/2/2016 06:42:04 pm

Glad the tip helped, Liz!

Patricia Lynne link

4/2/2016 07:11:18 pm

I use dropbox and I have a flash drive that I back stuff up on. Every so often I get paranoid and get obsessive about it. LOL

~Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
<a href="http://storydam.com/">Story Dam</a>
<a href="http://www.patricialynne.com/blog.html">Patricia Lynne, Indie Author</a>

Yvonne V link

4/2/2016 07:26:12 pm

In the scheme of things, not a bad thing to obsess over!

Joanna Maciejewska link

4/2/2016 07:15:50 pm

Sadly, I don't back up my work nearly as often as I should... Time to change it, I guess.

Yvonne V link

4/2/2016 07:26:55 pm

I think losing work can be such a disruptive, scarring event!

C. Lee McKenzie

4/2/2016 07:58:21 pm

I've used Carbonite for years and it saved my skin twice, so it has been worth the cost. Of course, now there are others like Dropbox and iCloud, so I could switch. Great reminder, YV!

Yvonne V link

4/2/2016 08:15:59 pm

I think you were the one who first told me about Carbonite, Lee!

Clarice link

4/2/2016 11:28:03 pm

I tend to have backups in both email or some sort of digital backup and in a couple of backup drives. Having lost a good 10,000 words one year while participating in NaNoWriMo, I do not want to do that again.

Yvonne V link

4/3/2016 07:03:16 pm

Oh no! You must have been so upset about the 10,000 words. I would cry.

Rebecca C

4/3/2016 01:15:04 pm

I learned the hard way a few years ago and back up everything now. Great advice!

Yvonne Ventresca link

4/3/2016 07:03:48 pm

Thanks, Rebecca!

Nicki link

4/3/2016 08:15:40 pm

Save early, save often. Backing up is critical!! There are tons of options, but yes, Dropbox is my favorite. There's less effort involved than emailing it to yourself, or always having a flash drive handy. Scrivener, for creative writer types, saves automatically as quickly as every 3 seconds! I use Dropbox and Scrivener together to make sure everything is safe. I haven't had a catastrophe yet! *knock on wood*

@niicki from OfftheBeatenPlan.com & IVEYbooks.com

Yvonne V link

4/3/2016 08:50:21 pm

I'm glad you have a reliable system that works! :)

Andrea Casarsa link

4/3/2016 08:38:28 pm

I have to admit that I do love pencil and paper as a backup, as if it somehow proves I literally wrote something. (totally in effective fro true backup I realize) ;)

Yvonne V link

4/3/2016 08:50:56 pm

There is something to be said for the feeling of accomplishment!

Karen link

4/3/2016 09:01:28 pm

I do backup but I need to be more diligent. I'm great at work but a little more lax on my home stuff. It's definitely a good reminder!

Yvonne V link

4/3/2016 09:09:04 pm

Thanks for stopping by, Karen!

Liz A. link

4/3/2016 09:39:32 pm

I was having issues with Word just stopping working for a while. That has since stopped. I don't leave my files on my computer--all goes to a thumb drive. Which I should back up as well...

Yvonne V link

4/4/2016 07:17:38 pm

Better safe than sorry, right?

Carol link

4/3/2016 10:38:55 pm

I back up to a USB stick and every once in awhile I back that up to a DVD. I'm also thinking about getting an external hard drive for storage as well, just to be on the safe side.

Yvonne V link

4/4/2016 07:22:50 pm

It's good to have something offsite, too, in case of a catastrophe (like a flood).

Vidya Sury link

4/4/2016 12:31:34 am

Fantastic theme Yvonne! If there's one thing we live in fear of happening, it is the dreaded data loss. Just recently my hard drive died abruptly and I had to invest in a new system. Luckily, just two months before I had attached an external hard drive and set up the back up - which meant most files were safe! This is a must do for everyone.

For Windows users - there is also the option of OneDrive that's easy to back up and access.

I look forward to your posts! I had contemplated this theme for one of my blogs but went with mindful living instead! Thanks for coming by LifeHacksforHappiness and your lovely comment!

Vidya Sury
- rocking it with cohost Damyanti's <a href="http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/2016/03/atozchallenge-introducing-damyanti-and.html">D's Company</a> and four blogs in the #AtoZChallenge
<a href="http://vidyasury.com">Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles</a>
<a href="http://yourmedguide.com">Be Healthy, Be Happy</a>
<a href="http://lifehacksfordiabetics.com">Life Hacks for Diabetics</a>
<a href="http://lifehacksforhappiness.com">Life Hacks for Happiness</a>

Vidya Sury link

4/4/2016 12:32:53 am

Ugh. Sorry about the messy looking comment - not sure why the code didn't convert to links :)

Yvonne V link

4/4/2016 07:20:34 pm

Vidya -- It's great that you were prepared when your computer died! And don't worry about the links -- it seems to be something with my website that doesn't convert them I cut and paste instead of clicking to visit back. :)

Michelle Wallace link

4/4/2016 01:11:43 am

This may sound crazy, but there was a time when I printed copies of all my stuff...and filed them. (could be the reason my printer is non-functional...)
I really need to investigate Dropbox which I've heard so much about.

Yvonne v link

4/4/2016 07:21:32 pm

I'm a big fan of printing, too -- very old school.

Marcia Strykowski link

4/6/2016 07:39:02 am

I use a flash drive and try to remember to copy my newest manuscript version to it every once in a while.

Yvonne V link

4/6/2016 09:21:32 pm

I'm hope you have lots of new ms ideas after Picture Book Boot Camp!

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