Backing up your priceless scripts.

Why not save yourself the trouble and save it on disc?

Steph

Maybe you're just a dysfunctional luddite.

I've saved copies of my scripts on floppy discs, burned them on CDs, emailed them to myself, etc., and never had any problems.

Perhaps you should take a computer course.

Saving the work on disk

is the best way to protect your scripts.

I have had issues with disks made on my computer not working on another computer with a different brand of cd reader or operating system.
Not sure exactly what the problem was.
I do know that disks burned on my computer will not run in my hubby's.

So, I can understand your problem.

Disks are still a safe back up. If you are really paranoid you can burn several of them and store them in different places.
Hmm, a bank vault might work for you Gonna.
Ooooo, better yet
autograph them and send em out to all your friends and family.

Seriously though, just save them to disk and print out a copy.

Go out and buy a 128meg USB flash drive for $50.

You can store over two hundred scripts.

I have two and alternate where as one is as the other rests in the bank and visa versa.

No moving parts, nothing to scratch, virtually indestructible and works cross platform. It is memory that unless you drop it and step on it, it will be there forever and anyone (Mac or PC) with a USB (computers newer than 1995) can access it.

GonnaBeFamous said:

Joe that's a good idea but this email/webpage backup thing seems adequate for me.

Click to expand...

Obviously not since you have problems with hotmail and your home page.

Another thing to keep in mind. It is good to email it, as it has a date and time stamp and makes for a poor man's copyright, but free emails, like hotmail will delete files because of inactivity, full boxes or system maintenance and other things. They are not liable for losing your stuff, but you are still out of luck.

also, try and back us as RTF (an almost universal file format) and not FD, MW, SOPH, SW, MM or any other proprietary software file. You never know, Movie Magic could go bankrupt some day or stuff gets forgotten.

I had some stuff written with Microsoft Works 93 that took me months to convert to FD when I got my new Desktop and lost the software install disks. Good luck getting support form Microsoft on that one.

For all the simple problems (with equally simple, obvious solutions) you seem to be having, that "degree" in Computer Science must not be a very good one.

Be good Opti.

Get a CD burner or a USB flash drive or an SD card reader/writer. 1GB SD cards are selling for less than $80 -- you can fit ALL your scripts on one card.

If you have a gmail account, there's a freeware utility called GmailDrive (google it) that allows you to backup your files using your gmail account as a "removeable" drive. So instantly you have about 2GB storage.

I convert my scripts to PDF (a function provided by Final Draft 7, though you can get Adobe PDF Writer or any other number of portable document file writer programs) and save them to CDs. PDF will open on any computer, be it PC or MAC, which has Adobe Acrobat Reader on it.

Indeed.

Gonna

Since you had this all figured out for yourself, and obviously don't want help from anybody posting suggestions for you, why did you bother bringing this subject up to begin with?

I know it's not because you wanted to save others from your problem because you've been around here long enough to see most of the people participating on the site are smart enough to know how to back up their files.

What's your subtext?

Hotmail likes to reformat emails, maybe it likes to reformat word documents too. Who can say? Their software was probably written by monkeys, following the Microsoft tradition. But you've found Lycos, so problem solved.

As has been suggested, invest in a USB memory stick, if you haven't already. That way you have instant backup and restore available even if you can't get online for any reason.

-Derek
Derek's Web Page - stories, screenplays, novels, insanity.

Backups ... I have two and alternate where as one is as the other rests in the bank and visa versa.

Click to expand...

This might sound pathetic, but I don't keep a backup in the bank - my mother keeps it safe for me.

Seriously - it works well. After all, my laptop etc could get pinched or lost, but the odds of both my place AND my parents place burning down simultaneously would be so low that I could probably expect a visit from the arson squad ...

And my mother feeds me dinner when I go to update the backup instead of of sending me a bill ....

But if you want a *REAL* backup, the Long Now foundation (www.longnow.org ) suggest you inscribe the script into a marble slab, and put it in a cave in a geologically stable area.

Oh - and don't forget to use at least 5 digits when you write the year down to avoid the Y10K bug....

Mac
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
24-August-02005 CE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Backing up stuff

I claim the title of "Chief of the Paranoid Tribe" when it comes to backing up files and folders, and hiding sensitive files, and security. Just ask the computer geeks on AumHa.com. They helped me do it right and they'll do the same for you, BTW.

Now when I buy a new PC, which is about every two years, I take the HD out of the old PC and install it in the new PC as a back up, boot off it and away I go to Ghost to make a mirror image. Then, I have a 120GB HDD (about $135) and all my files are automatically backed up to that. When I finish something, I also make three CDs (a quarter each), one of which I keep on my desk, the second goes in my bank box and the third - well, where that one is kept is a secret. Also a secret is where I back up another copy to, plus hide sensitive files. It can be assumed that 1. it ain't in my house and 2. it probably belongs to one of my clients or former clients - and it sure isn't an e-mail account which is so risky I don't want to think about it. Finally, I have a LAN between my lappy and PC, so the files on the two are duplicates. Oh, and the HDD works perfectly on either computer.

And, Gonna, pull up AumHa and ask for help cause you need it and they'll give it! They're the expert's experts, their help is free and they'll take you by the hand and lead you out of the darkness.

And other computer issues? Like a CD that can't be read on another computer? That one is so simple to correct it's laughable, even to me, who doesn't know beans about computers. Again, contact AumHa.

And remember, it's not if your HD crashes and burns, it's when!

Enigma,

I'll have to check out the site you mentioned. Computers are definitly not my area of expertise. Type, save, and print is about all I know how to do, (besides turning the thing on.) LOL. Wether or not it will turn off for me is a different story.

I am still in the ancient times where computers and technology is concerned. I'm still popping VHS's into the VCR, I don't have a cellphone, and I'm still using a camera that takes 110 film.

I have a feeling I'll need the AumHa guys (or girls) eventually.


Thanks,
Steph

Nor mine

Stephanie76 said:

Enigma,

I'll have to check out the site you mentioned. Computers are definitly not my area of expertise...

... I have a feeling I'll need the AumHa guys (or girls) eventually.


Thanks,
Steph

Click to expand...

That's almost all I know how to do with 'em too but, boy, have they ever got my computers working like a charm. I've asked some really dumb questions, and they've always answered without making me feel like an idiot.

They've saved my little white rear-end, and my bank balance, more than a few times. I can't say enough good things about them. They're very unselfish people.

Oh, and they'll speak English for you, not geek-speak.

Tell 'em Winterchase sent you. That won't get you anything, but a good laugh out of them.

I think the website is AumHa.net, right?