MS WORD file problem

francist44 · Feb 23, 2013

I hope this is the correct place to ask the following question:
I'm using M.S.Word 2010 and having a problem with, I think, the auto-save feature and me.

I've been on heavy drugs following back surgery and thus my typing has been quite off. Now and then when seeking the SHIFT key, I've hit, another I think here, the CTRL key instead. The result of which deletes everything! Undo recovers nothing. The file remains open and blank! Upon closing I selected 'don't save changes', wanting to at least get back what I had before opening it that day. Yup, it did not help. When reopened the file was blank! I went to Auto-save and it was set by default to C:User/Owner/documents. Thing is there was no documents folder there to look in? And the system won't let me add one. Anyone have an idea as to what key combo I hit or where the data went? Yeah, I looked in the trash and the deleted-files area to no avail.

All is not lost; I have backups, but will lose hours of editing. With this being the 2nd time I've done it and more pain pills to come, it likely won't be the last, thus the post.

Thanks, Francis

Sheila Muirenn · Feb 23, 2013

This should probably be under Tech Help, but I'd suggest trying another way to edit until you're off the pain pills. Maybe copy/paste a small section at a time into separate, temporary documents, save frequently, and put it all back together later when you know what you are doing?

Work in shorter time blocs to avoid mishaps?

Format with adequate spaces in between lines, print the document, and get out a red pen? Stay away from computer editing for awhile?

And sorry about the back surgery. Been there.

Old Hack · Feb 24, 2013

If this is a frequent problem for you, there should be a way for you to change what that combination of keystrokes does so that you don't keep losing work.

I'm not sure how you'd do that, but I bet soemone here will know.

clee984 · Feb 24, 2013

One thing you can try - if you're using windows, there's a thing called 'System Restore' - your computer will arbitrarily 'back itself up' at certain points, and you can choose to revert back to how your files were (an hour ago, a day ago, 2 weeks ago etc).

Sorry, that might not be a huge help, but it's something you can look at.

Also, I think 'Ctrl + A' highlights everything in the document, so is it possible that you are occasionally hitting Ctrl and A and accidentally deleting?

Maryn · Feb 24, 2013

What I'd recommend is contained here in detail. It's step-by-step instructions for adjusting the settings on MS Word 2010's autosave feature.

In the background, without your knowledge or consent, Word is saving copies of any open file at preset intervals. If Word crashes, the last save can be restored, so you lose no more than the set interval's work. Why not set it for every 15 or 30 minutes?

If you have many documents open, or a large document, you may notice a slight pause in your keystrokes appearing on the screen as Word does its automatic saving, but beyond that, you're unlikely to see any difference.

It's also never a bad idea to get yourself in the habit of hitting Ctrl-S when you pause to think during a writing session. It won't seem natural at first, but it can save your work's most recent version without you consciously having to do it, once you get in the habit.

In addition to Autosave, check out the Recent Documents at the bottom of the page I linked to. It's designed for people on heavy drugs after back surgery! Or for anyone else who's ever closed a document without saving changes or otherwise screwed up his own work.

Maryn, big fan of looking up help at the source

Deleted member 42 · Feb 24, 2013

Moving this to Tech Help.

francist44 · Feb 24, 2013

Medievalist said:
Moving this to Tech Help.

Thanks

francist44 · Feb 24, 2013

Maryn said:
What I'd recommend is contained here in detail. It's step-by-step instructions for adjusting the settings on MS Word 2010's autosave feature.

In the background, without your knowledge or consent, Word is saving copies of any open file at preset intervals. If Word crashes, the last save can be restored, so you lose no more than the set interval's work. Why not set it for every 15 or 30 minutes?

If you have many documents open, or a large document, you may notice a slight pause in your keystrokes appearing on the screen as Word does its automatic saving, but beyond that, you're unlikely to see any difference.

It's also never a bad idea to get yourself in the habit of hitting Ctrl-S when you pause to think during a writing session. It won't seem natural at first, but it can save your work's most recent version without you consciously having to do it, once you get in the habit.

In addition to Autosave, check out the Recent Documents at the bottom of the page I linked to. It's designed for people on heavy drugs after back surgery! Or for anyone else who's ever closed a document without saving changes or otherwise screwed up his own work.

Maryn, big fan of looking up help at the source

I set auto save to 3 minutes, but that's not the issue. The problem is that it is completely deleting the file. I'm not simply losing that sessions' work! For now, every so may pages, I just do save-as filename.bck_date and then a save-as filename.com to get back. it works and I deleting the extra backup files as needed. Thanks for response.,

Jamesaritchie · Feb 24, 2013

I've had this happen a couple of times, but I have no idea how, and can't intentionally replicate it with a new file. Last time it happened to me, though, CTRL+Z restored the file. If we had the same cause for deletion, it may help you.

I doubt, however, it will work with a file you've saved and closed.

Charles Farley · Feb 24, 2013

.

*Please* do not use system restore to look for a few lost sentences . . . . you could possibly be looking at a whole new set of problems by using the SR function for that reason . . .

francist44 · Feb 24, 2013

Charles Farley said:
.

*Please* do not use system restore to look for a few lost sentences . . . . you could possibly be looking at a whole new set of problems by using the SR function for that reason . . .

Thanks for the warning and I did not. BTW: I've redone what I lost.

Deleted member 42 · Feb 24, 2013

I would start a new document; I suspect you have a corrupted file, possibly the template file.

I would also suggest not using Word's automatic save and backup; for one thing, it automatically uses the "Fast save" mode, which is not a standard save, and tends to corrupt files, especially large files.

For another, you're better off having multiple redundant backups if there is a problem.

I'd also occasionally stach a copy in DropBox or a similar off site location, and occasionally mail myself a copy to a Web based mail account.

francist44 · Feb 24, 2013

Medievalist said:
I would start a new document; I suspect you have a corrupted file, possibly the template file.

I would also suggest not using Word's automatic save and backup; for one thing, it automatically uses the "Fast save" mode, which is not a standard save, and tends to corrupt files, especially large files.

For another, you're better off having multiple redundant backups if there is a problem.

I'd also occasionally stach a copy in DropBox or a similar off site location, and occasionally mail myself a copy to a Web based mail account.

Thanks. I didn't know about the large file problem, which is what I have!
To be no the safe side, every day or so I back up my documents folder to a USB drive.

Krystal Heart · Feb 24, 2013

Doesn't Word 2010 save older versions of the same file that you can access later? My aunt has MS Word 2010 on her computer, and that's how I would recover most of what was on her documents when she'd forget to save and her grandkids would close the document to play their games.

Deleted member 42 · Feb 24, 2013

francist44 said:
Thanks. I didn't know about the large file problem, which is what I have!
To be no the safe side, every day or so I back up my documents folder to a USB drive.

Consider also doing an occasional "Save As" into .rtf/Rich Text Format.

Jamesaritchie · Feb 25, 2013

Medievalist said:
I would start a new document; I suspect you have a corrupted file, possibly the template file.

I would also suggest not using Word's automatic save and backup; for one thing, it automatically uses the "Fast save" mode, which is not a standard save, and tends to corrupt files, especially large files.

For another, you're better off having multiple redundant backups if there is a problem.

I'd also occasionally stach a copy in DropBox or a similar off site location, and occasionally mail myself a copy to a Web based mail account.

I agree on auto backup, but not on auto save or auto recovery, as in Word. I think Outlook is the only program that uses the old auto save. Word and other programs now use auto recover, which is a bit different. This is for emergency use only, and should only be used to recover a file after a crash. Saving multiple backups doesn't work when you're typing and the power goes out, or if Word crashes. Or if a cat falls off your desk and lands on the power button to your surge suppressor, as happened to me recently.

Auto save and auto recover should be set to a different file location than your regular files. When you're finished for the day, you can save wherever and however you like, but auto save, and now auto recover, has kept me from losing a lot of work over the years.

I've never had a corrupt file since Word changed to auto recover, but since this is not your primary file, and is accessed only when something goes terribly wrong, the risk of a corrupt file is still a heck of a lot better than no chance of recovery at all.

After any type of improper shutdown, Word asks me if I want to recover the lost file I was working on, and being able to do so can save a lot of time and trouble.

MS WORD file problem

francist44

Tenacious to a fault

Sheila Muirenn

Rebuilding My Brain

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

clee984

Bearded and serious

Maryn

I Tried

Deleted member 42

francist44

Tenacious to a fault

francist44

Tenacious to a fault

Jamesaritchie

Charles Farley

Bango Skank

francist44

Tenacious to a fault

Deleted member 42

francist44

Tenacious to a fault

Krystal Heart

Deleted member 42

Jamesaritchie