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Posted

Please help save my sanity!

 

Everytime my collegue works on my project he produces .bak files like a virus. I open folders in the Mechanical section and there are Electrical .bak files. He is the only one who does this. I am tired of erasing these files. I opened a folder earlier and there was one .dwg and eleven .bak files - some where relevant to the drawing in the folder, most were not.

 

Any ideas how I can stop this!!?

 

Thanks in advance.

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Posted

You really don't want to stop that in my opinion.

 

The BAK-file is the second to last save (the last being the dwg) that you made on your dwg, and with AutoCADs history of shutting down unexpectantly, the BAK-file have saved more hides than you would care to count.

 

If there are loads of BAK-files that have no corresponding DWG, now that is a problem, but not a problem with the BAK-files themselves. I would guess that its a nameing problem. That someone renames the files multiple times, but that is more a drawing management problem. Decide from the start what the files should be called, and stick to it.

Posted

.bak file reation is controled under Option\|Open & Save|Create backup copy with each save. Untick the box and no backups should be made. HOWEVER, these should be created in the same folder as its .dwg file. If they are being created in different folders then you may have a virus.

 

You can confirm that they are proper backup files by renaming the .bak to .dwg and it should be a usable AutoCAD file.

Posted

Tiger,

 

I fully understand the concept and use of .bak files and utilise them when crashes occur (IF my autosave had failed also). My issue is not the files themselves, directly, but the fact the other engineer produces so many that are not relevant to the file/folder he is working.

 

For Example:

 

Should he be working on GRD-Power.dwg within the Electrical folder and then open a file in the Mechanical folder, GRD-Vent for instance, he will leave numerous GRD-Power.bak files in the Mechanical folder.

 

Is that clear enough? It seems more complicated when written down :?

 

Cheers

Posted
You really don't want to stop that in my opinion.

 

The BAK-file is the second to last save (the last being the dwg) that you made on your dwg, and with AutoCADs history of shutting down unexpectantly, the BAK-file have saved more hides than you would care to count.

the backup file is not the best line of defence on a sudden shut down - the Recover file (if your version is new enough) or the .sv$ files are more recent than the .bak in most cases.

Posted

dbroada,

 

As I said to Tiger, I am fully aware of the .bak files issues/settings etc in AutoCad but it's the fact that no matter what file (.dwg) he is working on or what folder he is in (Elec or Mech for instance) numerous .bak files are created. They look like autosaves as it is the filename followed by numbers etc. i.e. 1ST- POWER_1_1_6637.bak or 1ST- POWER_1_1_7497.bak

 

The main annoyance is that he does not erase any of them, from any folder. Bad houskeeping I know and I'm getting fed up of doing it.

 

A virus could be the answer.

Posted

ah, then I see what the trouble is.

 

From Daves recommendation, run a virus scan first then, to be sure.

 

Otherwise I have no idea what would cause BAK-files to be created in another folder than the DWGs homefolder...

Posted

Tiger,

 

Thanks for the reply. I have worked with Autocad for the last 11 years and have never had an issue like this. It's just starting to drive me mad as I think I have OCD when it comes to folder "house-keeping".

 

I'll let the support team look into it.

 

Cheers.

Posted

In normal operation AutoCAD should only create (by renaming) one BAK per drawing. The fact that in this instance more than one BAK file is being created is a sign of something amiss. I would not lay the blame solely on the engineer.

 

Are Xrefs involved by any chance?

Posted

ReMark,

 

Yes. each drawing has a minimum of 2 Xrefs (Title Block & Building).

 

The "blame" on the engineer is based on the fact that he knows he's doing it, he's aware that they are created yet he does nothing about it - No deleting of additional files or Virus checking.

Posted

Well the deleting part is up to him but the creation of the extra BAK files may not be directly attributable to him.

 

Was a virus check run on his system lately?

Posted

ReMark,

 

If you knew the guy you'd understand my on-going frustration with him. If I suggest a Virus scan he'll reply "nah f*** it. It ain't my laptop to maintain". seriously, the guy's a liability but the bosses do nowt about it. I only started this thread to try and sort it out for my own peace of mind.

Posted
.bak file reation is controled under Option\|Open & Save|Create backup copy with each save. Untick the box and no backups should be made.

 

Just for completeness, if you wanted to change this setting programmatically, (i.e. through use of the ACADDOC.lsp, for example), you can change the setting of the ISAVEBAK System Variable, where available:

 

(setvar 'ISAVEBAK 0)

Posted

I too have only experienced one, single .BAK being created for each .DWG during my work.

 

Given that the .BAK files are also numerically sequenced (unless I've misunderstood the file naming convention?), is it possible that the autosave file extension was made to be .BAK, instead of the default OOTB extension? *IF* so, I'm not sure how these files would be placed in (getvar 'dwgprefix) in lieu of the profile's specified temp directory though.

 

... Just a thought.

Posted
I too have only experienced one, single .BAK being created for each .DWG during my work.

 

Given that the .BAK files are also numerically sequenced (unless I've misunderstood the file naming convention?), is it possible that the autosave file extension was made to be .BAK, instead of the default OOTB extension? *IF* so, I'm not sure how these files would be placed in (getvar 'dwgprefix) in lieu of the profile's specified temp directory though.

 

... Just a thought.

 

RenderMan - I think you are on to something there. OP, you will have to check on the offending operators computer to see if that has been changed.

Posted
RenderMan - I think you are on to something there. OP, you will have to check on the offending operators computer to see if that has been changed.

 

Options > Open and Save Tab

6-13-2011 10-33-08 AM.png

Posted

BUT the temporary files should be deleted on a clean exit. There should still only be .bak files UNLESS AutoCAD isn't exiting cleanly.

Posted
BUT the temporary files should be deleted on a clean exit. There should still only be .bak files UNLESS AutoCAD isn't exiting cleanly.

 

Or he has Write but not Erase privileges.

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