Hiding .BAK files

[rkent]

Re post 14

If you open a dwg file the .bak for that file is already one save behind, so you do some work, close and don't save, the dwg is still one save newer than the .bak file.

[RobDraw]

I click yes by accident and the one that is one save behind is the one that I need (.bak file).

[rkent]

I click yes by accident and the one that is one save behind is the one that I need (.bak file).

 

I see, I can read just can't comprehend.

Serious question about hitting yes instead of no on exiting, does this happen often?

[RobDraw]

Every once in a while

 

Why?

 

I've also done the opposite like what Dana said. Clicking no when I wanted to click yes and lost work.

[rkent]

Why?

 

Curiosity I guess.

 

I've also done the opposite like what Dana said. Clicking no when I wanted to click yes and lost work.

Like I wrote earlier, a .bak file will not help in this situation.

[RobDraw]

It helps in the situation I stated in post #14. I need to go back in time, one save, .bak file is it. Did I not explain it clearly? (I do that sometimes.)

[dbroada]

I see, I can read just can't comprehend.

me too. I misread it first time.

[Dana W]

Every once in a while I try to close a drawing without saving and inadvertently click yes instead of no when asked to save.

Alright, now that I am not after all, looking at yet another all nighter, I can relax and actually comprehend what you are saying.

 

Absolutely have done the same thing. The brainstem is a helluva help most of the time, but not when one wants the uncommon result.

[RobDraw]

My fault guys, sorry.

[Dana W]

No, it wasn't your fault. Besides, it was entertaining. The responses to your statement were driven by the same reflex that makes our fingers hit the Yes button on that rare occasion that we do not want the Yes button.

[ROBP]

All of my bak files are visible but i do run a search every month and delete them all, if they are not visible you end up after 5 years having a full hd wondering why well 60 months of bak files residing on the hd are huge and are back-up also so visible and delete is the way to go.

[RobDraw]

I just had another occasion to use one. I was making a new block that was based on an existing one. I forgot to save as a new name and saved over the existing one. Thank you .bak file.

[Dadgad]

I just had another occasion to use one. I was making a new block that was based on an existing one. I forgot to save as a new name and saved over the existing one. Thank you .bak file.

 

Sounds like a job for Lee Mac!

 

http://www.lee-mac.com/copyblock.html

 

Thanks Lee!

[RobDraw]

Actually, Rob should pay more attention before he saves.

[Crank]

If you have the ExressTools loaded, you should try the MOVEBAK command: Set and forget.

[Cad64]

I was just on my clients server, looking for some files that I need for a project I'm working on. When I found the folder, where the files were supposed to be, the dwg's were gone. Only the bak files remained. Apparently someone deleted them years ago because the date on the bak files is 2008. But, at least they were there. I renamed them to dwg and now I have what I need. Thank goodness for bak files.

 

And by the way, this isn't the first time I've found a folder full of bak files on their server. They seem to have a real problem with people deleting files.

[Organic]

Click sort by type more than once and the drawings come first in alphanumeric order. If you stop creating the .bak file, more than a week into a complicated new drawing, AutoCad will crash and corrupt it enough to make it unusable. With no .bak, nobody has your back. Minimum wage is not very much, so keep them.

 

Relevance?

 

Save your own backups (hourly or daily); don't rely on AutoCad doing it for you.

[SAFeSTeR]

Some methods that have got me out of a hole when I have accidentally deleted or lost files:

 

If your company backs up files as a matter of course then no need for .bak files. Might not be the fastest method of retrieving them, but it saves cluttering up your drives.

 

I seem to remember losing a .dwg file once and managed to find one somewhere in a temporary windows/user folder. It may require a change of file extension.

 

Some operating systems have some kind of backup system in place, but this may also depend on the settings if it is active or not. It worked in my last company who used W7, (can't test it now as I'm now working on XP ). I would recommend making your own backup first before attempting this. If you right click a file and go to properties you may see a section labelled 'Previous Versions'. There will be a list of previous versions which you can select from to revert the current file to. Bear in mind that earlier versions are created by date, not by the saves you make, so you may only get the last save of a particular day and you may have multiple versions to choose from.

[RobDraw]

If your company backs up files as a matter of course then no need for .bak files.

 

I think my uses of .bak files, posted in this thread, have proven this to not be adequate for all cases.

[iconeo]

Back to the original topic. I had a setup at my last firm where I created a *.bat script that would change all of the bak files to hidden. I then added it to my right click menu for easy access. As long as your view for explorer wouldn't show hidden files you were good.