Urgent

I just overvrote my new projects autocad file with the old one, so I lost my days work, maybe there is a way to get it back, maybe I have in the folder the .bak file of the new project, If it means anything.

Thank you

Don't save your drawing, copy the bak file to a different folder, once it is there change the extension from .bak to .dwg I would change the name of this copy of the drawing as well to test.dwg so now you should be able to open it and compare the two drawings just to make sure the old one is the correct one.

Yeah, you saved my life man! Thousand thanks to you!

Andris )

Glad I could help, Now move the bad file somewhere safe (just in case) and move the good one back

and it is a good idea when progressing drawings to SAVEAS a new name so that you can fall back to a previous stage.

and it is a good idea when progressing drawings to SAVEAS a new name so that you can fall back to a previous stage.

This and use Ctrl+S often.

Sometimes Ctrl+Z (UNDO) will get you back to the original drawing if you didn't close the file.

Sometimes Ctrl+Z (UNDO) will get you back to the original drawing if you didn't close the file.

I personally find this to be a very reliable way to restore data after saving but not closing.

On a side note, if someone were to save their drawing, close it and not have a .bak file with the correct data stored would they be effectively stuffed if they don't follow a 'SAVEAS' appraoch?

On a side note, if someone were to save their drawing, close it and not have a .bak file with the correct data stored would they be effectively stuffed if they don't follow a 'SAVEAS' appraoch?

If you don't create a BAK OR you QSAVE QSAVE and close with the wrong data there is no way to retrieve the previous drawing. The BAK file is only of the drawing before the most recent save.

for the record, we don't create .BAK files but our file system is backed up every night.

 

If you don't create a BAK OR you QSAVE QSAVE and close with the wrong data there is no way to retrieve the previous drawing. The BAK file is only of the drawing before the most recent save.

That's what I meant, and confirmed my suspicions.

basically, don't rely on the .bak to save you. It is only useful if immediately after a save/close you realise that you should not have done that. If you open it up again , do a bit of work and save it, you have updated the .bak file too. I cannot remember a time when I wish I had a .bak file. The chances of the save before last having exactly the right information is quite small.

edit - it seems like the OP HAS been saved with a .bak file but hopefully he won't need that safety net ever again.

I've always had AutoCAD set up to create BAK files and have availed myself of them a handful of times. Given the capacity of today's hard drives it isn't a matter of taking up valuable hard drive space and a simple batch routine can find/delete all the files at week's end after the drawings themselves have been backed up.

We have had this discussion many times and I doubt if it is the last.

It's not the amount of disk space they take up (it was when we first stopped using them) it's the validity of their usefulness we questioned. The only scenario we have encountered that has required a restore from the master tape where a bak file could have saved us is when somebody forgot to do the SAVEAS and has over writtten the original file and continued to work thinking they were in the new file, but even this is negated if they have QSAVEd often as the bak file will contain all the recent information, not the one they were hoping to restore.

In my opinion it is far better to have a nightly backup of the system than to rely on the BAK file being in exactly the required state.

Our IT department does a nightly backup but the two times I needed them to retrieve a drawing file for me they said they couldn't for some unexplained reason. Needless to say since that happened I stopped relying on our IT department.

Personally I think newbies should have AutoCAD set to create a BAK file. After one becomes a seasoned veteran they can decide if it is worthwhile or not to continue the practice.

I agree with the nightly back-up.

And idea for AutoCAD is that they could introduce a code where each .bak file contains a timed save where it saves the latest information put into it. Bear with me!

So, after every 15 minutes for example it creates a .bak file for that time. This is stored in a separate file. But, rather than having 1 .bak file, each .bak file (Up to, say, 3 and this can be altered by the user) saves all data on that drawing and is NOT affected by any later saves, so it includes the 'SAVEAS' idea until the .bak file quota is reached in which case it overrides the oldest .bak file, and so on and so on. This creates a back catalogue of previous saves which are not influenced by any later changes and allows the user to retrieve an earlier copy of their work.

Personally I think newbies should have AutoCAD set to create a BAK file.