Automatically creating a backup before saving (overwriting)

**pork** · 02 December 2014, 01:49 AM

... would be a neat thing, because Xara just wrote 1kb to the file and then crashed. And the backup (ok could have set less than 10 min but anyway) was too old and my work was gone.

(by creating a backup I mean copying the original file to the backup folder before it is overwritten)

**PhilM** · 02 December 2014, 09:06 AM

It does create a backup file before saving. Check alongside the original xar file for a file with the same name but with the filetype ".bak".

Phil

**pork** · 02 December 2014, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by PhilM

It does create a backup file before saving. Check alongside the original xar file for a file with the same name but with the filetype ".bak".

Phil

Oh, ok, thanks.

**Ron Duke** · 02 December 2014, 03:06 PM

This has been a long standing problem that I've reported to Xara. I have the backup set AND regularly save my work every 5 minutes or so, but on occasion the program will crash and the file ends up with ZERO bytes. On opening "Recent" "backup" I always find that the most recent backup is 30 minutes or more from the crash.

**Acorn** · 02 December 2014, 06:16 PM

Ron, I have had the same zero-sized file. My workaround has been to save my files regularly to Dropbox as well.

Acorn

**Ron Duke** · 03 December 2014, 11:43 PM

Yea, What I usually do is keep renaming the file as I go: "file.name2, file.name2, etc."
A real hassle if you're working under a deadline or through inspiration!

**mwenz** · 04 December 2014, 01:31 AM

Originally Posted by Ron Duke

Yea, What I usually do is keep renaming the file as I go: "file.name2, file.name2, etc." ...

I turn off auto-backups in every piece of software I use. I always Save As incrementally. I have software that copies files to two external drives...and it does not auto-run as it is not really smart enough to know when I need the full CPU and disk access.

Originally Posted by Ron Duke

... A real hassle if you're working under a deadline or through inspiration!

It's only a real hassle if you never have a problem.

**Ron Duke** · 04 December 2014, 02:19 AM

Originally Posted by mwenz

I turn off auto-backups in every piece of software I use. I always Save As incrementally. I have software that copies files to two external drives...and it does not auto-run as it is not really smart enough to know when I need the full CPU and disk access.

It's only a real hassle if you never have a problem.

I don't agree. Its a hassle either way.

**mwenz** · 04 December 2014, 02:48 AM

Originally Posted by Ron Duke

I don't agree. Its a hassle either way.

I'll take your disagree and raise you another ;^)

Well, it's a "hassle" for me until I would need that incremental back-up. Then it was worth the 10 seconds it took.

And besides, if the drawing is worth saving and one cannot trust the auto-backup or auto-save to a back-up version to work, which is more hassle: Recreating an entire drawing, or loosing a few minutes of work. You know, while you are under a deadline?

Mike

**handrawn** · 04 December 2014, 12:15 PM

I do what mike does - turn it off, save incrementally

personally I think the xara auto-backup system itself may be implicated in some of the crashes I had on my system, conflict between automatic background processes, but I have no proof of that other than I stopped getting the crashes when I turned it off

I am not recommending anyone else does though because if it is a factor it will be system dependant, it will depend on what other background tasks run eg in the auto-save/av/backup category