Just lost my screenplay file....no backup

M. Scott

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So, my computer decided to do updates and I'd left Final Draft 8 up. The computer started to shut down and apply updates, but wouldn't move past the first one. I held down the power button and rebooted. Now my screenplay is 0kb. Any ideas on how to get it back?

By the by, it could be worse. I was making a manuscript into a screenplay, so I lost a few new scenes, but I can rewrite it. Still...I don't want the hassle.
 

thinkerbeat

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So, my computer decided to do updates and I'd left Final Draft 8 up. The computer started to shut down and apply updates, but wouldn't move past the first one. I held down the power button and rebooted. Now my screenplay is 0kb. Any ideas on how to get it back?

By the by, it could be worse. I was making a manuscript into a screenplay, so I lost a few new scenes, but I can rewrite it. Still...I don't want the hassle.

Oh, that's got to bite. I use a pretty elaborate system to keep my files safe. I write on one computer, copy the file to my USB and then put it on another computer. I've lost too much work before not to be so picky.

Another problem I ran into was having multiple copies. Word only stamps the date/time on each file, so sometimes it's easy to start editing the wrong one, only to find out later you weren't working on the right one!

What I do now is keep only one copy on that computer, where I do all my work. That way I never grab the wrong file. But I have to be sure to back it up before I put the project away for the day.

Sorry I can't help you. Maybe consider using Cloud storage in the future for a quick and easy backup system. For example, Dropbox works well for this. Just be sure, once you have a million copies flying around, you don't start working on the wrong one, like I've done before!
 

Doug B

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I looked on the Microsoft support site and there are several programs that will look at your hard drive and find deleted and corrupt files.

Doug

Several months ago, I started to use one of the automatic off site back up programs. It works very well. It keeps a copy of almost every file on my computer. I have used it a couple of times and it has saved me a LOT of work.
 

M. Scott

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Yeah. I'm rewriting. Got through 38 pages today. I think this draft is turning out better. Things are a bit clearer the second time around. Still, I hate losing stuff. I WILL e-mail myself a backup of this one.
 

dpaterso

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Also don't forget to adjust your auto-save (Tools > Options > General tab) time so FD saves every minute or so instead of the default which is 15 mins, I think. Which thought makes me ask, did you check your backup folder? Also visible under the General tab.

I WILL e-mail myself a backup of this one.
Heh, do it naaaooowww, this very second. :) Also check out Dropbox.com if you haven't already.

-Derek
 

M. Scott

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I just checked it. I didn't know it was there, but it oddly doesn't have any of the one I was working on. It must've hit it's 50 limit. Thanks for showing me that. I'm possibly working for a prodco in three months or so (as a production assistant. I need to call a producer back when I finish grad school and am able to relocate), and knowing more about the software is a good idea. It'll at least help in the future!
 

dpaterso

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Yeah, good to know these things, just in case!

I would've thought the 50-backup thing worked the other way, i.e. the oldest backup copy would vanish when a new copy got written. So it would be a matter of slight concern for me why the newest backup copy (which should exist) isn't there.

Also, a good habit to adopt is hitting Ctrl-S to save, every time you make even the smallest update.

-Derek
 

These Mean Streets

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Also, a side note:

I have my updates set to inform me when they're available but not to automatically download until I tell it to. This way, no unexpected shutdowns, slowdowns or interruptions.
 

jaksen

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Rewrite. While it is still fresh in mind.

I lost an entire short story - and my shorts are long, so it was about 13K - when my son tapped the delete button on the PC. I was upset. (I don't get angry at him; he is retarded/autistic and it was my own damn fault this happened.) Then I sat down and rewrote it, sold it later.

I learned the hard way to back-up, back-up, back-up.
 

robjvargas

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There are lots of storage options out on the Web. Carbonite is one decent backup service.

Another option I use because I use MS Office is Skydrive. Cloud-based storage, plus I can open the file directly from there if I'm in a location with WiFi or whatever. It even can let you edit right from the site. Although the Web-based editor doesn't have a lot of features I use in the full program.
 

HoneyBadger

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I have my WIP folder set to auto-upload to Google Docs with Syncdocs, on top of religiously hitting Ctrl-S. It's free and easy.

Also, I'm so sorry for your loss.
 

M. Scott

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Thanks for the link! Funny, you make it sound like a funeral. I'm 47 pages into this new draft, and I'm liking it better. I think I've really improved my transitions, though I still need to look at the pacing in a spot or two. At the most, it'll be 90 pages total (more likely 80). Good thing it's meant for kids :)
 

Day Agent

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I use Adobe Story (Free), an online editor which saves to an Adobe server. Unless the Adobe server has an issue, your work is safe and accessible from most browsers on most any machine.

Beyond that, there are a ton of other cloud-storing options, free and otherwise, that'll backup your stuff straight to a server. I used Sugar Sync for a while and Google Drive has a utility, but they require a bit of tech savvy.
 
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Robert_S

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Dropbox or Amazon's cloud drive. Google and Microsoft have theirs as well, but dropbox is pretty popular and I think it's secure. You can easily share it across computers.
 

robjvargas

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Kind of a zombie'd thread, it seems. The original set of posts were two years ago.

There's been lots of discussions about backing up data and cloud services.
 

The305itself

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I use Microsoft word so I always upload any work I want saved into my Google Documents account.