Help! The #$%&@ power went off and ate my work!

[wannawrite]

Help.

The power went off when I was writing this am and ate the 3000 words I had written so far today. The FILE is still there, along with everything that had been previously saved. It is my open, unsaved work that I lost this am. Is there ANY way to retrieve it? Is there ANY way that it 'magically' got stuck somewhere, and all I need to do is find it?

Or, am I screwed?

I am so pissed, right now.

OF COURSE the 3000 words were vital, and flowing, and perfect. Not just a bunch of schleppy jargon to move the @$*%$ along.

AARGH! The sound you now hear is me ripping my hair out!

Seriously. Do I have any hope, at all? Any and all help would be appreciated.

[dpaterso]

Just asking, is there any sign of temporary files (with dollar symbols or similar oddball characters) in your default working directory?

-Derek

[wannawrite]

I have a default working directory? Seriously. I will check. Hold on a sec. I have to go to a different computer. Be right back

[wannawrite]

Okay. This is really impressive, for me. I actually FOUND my default system, but there seems to be nothing in it. It tells me to 'set up default files' but that is all.

How bad am I screwed?

[ComicBent]

You may have lost everything. So take that deep breath. We have all been there.

But maybe it is not lost.

Some guidelines:

First, always state what program you were using. If we know this, we might be able to help you.

Here is what Word 2003 says about recovering a file after a power outage:

To be able to recover the previous version of your document after a power failure or similar problem, you must have the Always create backup copy check box selected on the Save tab in the Options dialog box (Tools menu) before the problem occurs, and you must have saved the document more than once.

1. Click Open.
2. In the Files of type box, click All Files.
3. If you want to open a backup copy that was saved in a different folder, locate and open the folder.
4. Click the arrow next to Views, and then click Details.

In the Name column, the backup copy name appears as "Backup of document name"; in the Type column, the file type for the backup copy appears as "Microsoft Word Backup Document."

5. Locate and then double-click the backup copy to open it.


A word of advice. Go to Wal-Mart and buy a backup battery. No, this is not some huge, expensive, ugly device. It is about 10 inches long and 3 inches tall, and is completely enclosed in plastic. It has all sorts of plug-ins for various things. Basically all you do is plug it into your wall, and then you plug the computer into the backup. It lasts a long time (I don't know how long, exactly, but I have been using mine for about four years). I can't remember what the cost was, but I think it was something like $30. You don't need an expensive one that runs for a really long time. Just get one that will power the system for 20 minutes or whatever. When the power goes off, you don't have a thing to worry about. The battery will run your computer plenty long enough for you to save everything and turn the computer off. The battery will probably also be a surge protector (mine is).

I have had this happen many times, including within the last week.

Back to software ... If your writing program will let you do an autobackup every so many minutes, turn it on to back up the file every 5 minutes or whatever is right for you. I don't do this anymore, because I hit the SAVE icon every time I finish a couple of brilliant sentences. :)

Also, the backup battery has relieved me of having to worry about the power going out.

One further bit of advice. Get one of these plug-in thumb drives, which are really cheap now. Back up your important files before you turn off your computer (if not more often). Your computer will die one day, and while getting files from a dead computer is technically possible, it is not cheap or convenient. Avoid that problem.

[ChristineR]

Do a search by date or time--search for every file that was modified since the time you last saved your work. I recommend you NOT open or mess with your word processor at this time, because there's a chance it might destroy your supposedly unusable files at this time. Make sure you include hidden files and system files in your search.

You are looking for files in obvious places like Program Files/My Wordprocessor/Temporary Files or files with names like MyNovelName87374$$aqueoikl.

Do this now, and see if you have anything of interest come up.

[Kitty Pryde]

Ditto the advice to set your word processing software to autosave every five or ten minutes! Losing 10 minutes of work feels damn good when you consider that you could lose a whole afternoon's worth of work.

Backup on a thumb drive, memory card, or in gmail or google docs is also FTW.

[Perks]

Oh god ww, I'm so sorry. I hate that. I hope you find it.

[Clair Dickson]

After a power outage or computer crash, SOMETIMES, if you open Word (Without opening a file, just open Word) there will be the AutoRecover version. In Word2003, you will have a pane on the left side of the screen.

This only happens if the computer is able to pull the file from the AutoRecover. It doesn't always work. (And sometimes, it does work when you open the file again, but not always.)

I highly recommend setting the AutoRecover to about 5 minutes. Also, save. Save often. Ctrl+S whenever your hands pause. Eventually it'll become so natural, you'll do it whenever you are typing. (I have many times hit Ctrl+S while working on a forum or blog post. Heh. But I don't lose much data.)

Backup batteries are cool. I had one for a while, but when it started failing, the smallest fluctuation in power caused the power to blink and my computer to shut down. That wasn't cool. But up until then, it was awesome. I put my monitor and keyboard and a lamp. And since mine was an inudstrial one, I could work for an hour or more while the power was out. Totally cool.

Sorry about the lost words. It sucks.

Ctrl+S. Ctrl+S. Ctrl+S.

[wannawrite]

*sigh* It is lost, I fear. Or, at least beyond my feeble attempts to retrieve, even with the help of you good people. The only thing left to do is eat chocolate. Oh, and get one of those battery-thingies tonight, at Wal-mart. Thankfully, I do have most of my files saved on one of those stick-things. My daughter updates them once a week, sorts them out, cleans them up, etc...

Thanks to one and all. Wish I was a better teckie, and could have utalized your helpful information, better. But, I stumbled around and tried.

Now *sigh* onto the rewrite.

Thanks again, to one and all...

[Perks]

The only thing left to do is eat chocolate. Oh, and get one of those battery-thingies tonight, at Wal-mart. Yeah, there's nothing like battery-thingies to take your mind off your troubles. ;)







laughter helps. right? sorry.

[wannawrite]

Oh, yeah, and I need to get someone to set that auto-save thingie for me, too.

Thanks again, guys. And girls.

[Clair Dickson]

To set the AutoSave in Word2003--
Go to Tools--> Options. Go to the Saving Tab. In the middle, you'll see AutoRecover and little box with a number of minutes. Click the arrows beside the box to change the number of minutes between AutoSaves.

[Maryn]

This has been a good reminder for me. I reformatted my hard drive last month to kill a particularly nasty bit of malware (having saved everything, thank goodness), but I did not reset the default autosave time on Word when I reinstalled it. Now I have.

Wannawrite, when I've lost large chunks like you have (65 single-spaced pages--Waaaaaaah!), it's helped me a lot to spend some time jotting down what I remember, from structure to plot to nice turns of phrase to whatever else comes to me. Re-creating it will be easier if you make notes while the loss is fresh.

Maryn, thinking about a back-up battery as the perfect gift for her whole list

[wannawrite]

Thanks Marilyn. I'm going to run do that, now. Also, thanks Clair, gonna do that, too.

Boy, I feel dumb, today. Maybe it's not just a feeling? :)

[wannawrite]

Clair! I did what you said and went in to set an 'auto save' and, lo and behold, it was already set to 10 minutes.

Which means, my stuff is still probably out there, right?

Well, then.....HOW DO I GET TO IT?????

****This is me, running around in small, tight circles, waving my hands in the air****

Please, when you reply, talk slow and use small, small words. I am not good with computer crap. Baby talk, please.

But, there is hope, right?

Thanks!

[Perks]

If you run an advanced search from the start menu for a phrase or even a word you know you typed in all that 3000. Also set it to search only for documents modified today. If there's a backup, it should find it.

-Start button
-search
-select the option for Documents
-click the bottom choice - advanced search
-click the button for search during 'last week'
-second box lets you put in a word or phrase
-run the search

[wannawrite]

Will do. Gonna go give it a try. Wish me luck. *deep breath* I'm going in..

[Perks]

Good luck! I really hope it's there. I'll stay tuned.

I hate losing work.

Not, of course, that anyone likes it.

[wannawrite]

Wow. Computers can do some jacked-up things, can't they? Think I just wiped out...and restored...my aflack medical file about a half a dozen times. Plus, there are some really, really weird buttons on there that make everything flicker real funny.

Probably should stop, now.

Thanks again, every one, for your help. I'll proably find the darn thing ten years from now, after the book has been published and is out of print! I am going to go slink into my self-pity hole, now.

I really do appreciate your time!

[Perks]

Nuts. I'm sorry.

[Clair Dickson]

If there is a temp file, you have to be able to see it.

Open My Documents
Go to Tools--> Folder Options
Go to View. Find the option to view Hidden Files and Folders. Hit Okay.

Now, perform your search. On the top of the My Documents window, you'll see the search Icon. (Or go to Start--> Search.)
Search for All Files and Folders
Search for the day of the crash.
Use Advanced Search Options if you need to change where to search (if you save your files someplace besides My Documents.)
Click the double arrows to open up More Advanced Search Options
Select Search Hidden Files and Folders

In the results, you'll be looking for anything that is a .TMP (or TMP file) These are the temporary files that your computer stores while working on a file. It's own version, so to speak.

If you've done anything, the TMP file may be gone already. I don't know what criteria the computer uses for storing or tossing temp files, as I've had some that are months old, but somehow not the one I need from a recent crash.

Best of luck. And save, save, save, save often. It's the best defense against such things. Ctrl+S.

[Carmy]

Thanks for the battery thingy suggestions, Clair. Now I know what to ask for at Christmas.

Good luck, Wannawrite. Every time I lose a few pages and then rewrite them, I always think the lost version was better.