Auto Recovery Files Location and Existence

[JLAMBIE]

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor: Intel Finder accidentally named a different file type outside of Excel as if it was the Excel file. Thus the Excel file was wiped out.

I'm trying to locate an AutoRecovery file of the lost information to bring it in and rebuild.

I've looked for .asd, the Windows format, can't find any. is there a different suffix type to look for? Or does the AutoRecovery file get lost when you did a proper Save as I had done inside Excel??

 

[John McGhie]

The Autorecovery file is deleted when Excel restarts if Excel quit normally.

I have been trying to tell Microsoft for 20 years that AutoRecover is
useless because it does not protect against the things that cause data loss
in the real world.

But they don't want to hear it... Whoever designed this mechanism (on the
PC side...) has not thought through all the scenarios, and until they
change, we can't...

Your case is an example: The AutoRecover saves only the CHANGES to the
original file. If the original file is damaged or missing (as in your case)
then the AutoRecover is discarded because there is no "original" file to
"recover to".

Sorry: It was designed to fail 20 years ago, and it does... Time Machine
is your friend: that saves a "real" backup

Cheers

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor: Intel
Finder accidentally named a different file type outside of Excel as if it was
the Excel file. Thus the Excel file was wiped out.

I'm trying to locate an AutoRecovery file of the lost information to bring it
in and rebuild.

I've looked for .asd, the Windows format, can't find any. is there a
different suffix type to look for? Or does the AutoRecovery file get lost
when you did a proper Save as I had done inside Excel??

This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless you intend to pay!

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi John;

With all due respect, I think you might be a bit hypercritical of the Save
AutoRecover Data feature.

It was never designed to provide a backup, nor is it intended to serve as an
'autosave' utility. Its sole purpose is to help protect against loss of
changes made since the most recent save was done in the event the user
incurs a critical system or software failure. It's saved my bacon a number
of times ‹ especially on Windows PCs in areas where electric service is less
than reliable.

My complaint is the manner in which MS persists in perpetuating the
misconception that it should be expected to do those things which you so
rightly say it doesn't. It's controls should *not* be included in the Save
Preferences & it definitely needs to be more explicitly explained in Help ‹
especially the Help in Mac Office. The way it's handled makes it crystal as
to why so many users have the impression that it is automatically saving
their work for them.

IMHO, it's a useful asset and its black eyes & tarnished reputation are
directly attributable to its creator.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Bob:

Yeah, I don't disagree with you! I know what it was *designed* to do.

However, I also agree with you that Microsoft has gone out of its way to
pretend that it does more than it actually can.

Users are, in my not-at-all-humble-opinion quite justified in believing that
they pay Microsoft a lot of money "to know about computers so we don't have
to."

If the users had written Excel themselves, then they could be expected to
know the difference between "saving my file" and "saving a list of changes
to my file". But the users hired Microsoft to know all this for them, and
to make "the software we need" not "something else".

If I take my car to a mechanic for a service, and he doesn't look at the oil
"because it's not due yet", I am not going to be that happy if the thing
seizes a week later because it was out of oil. Same difference. Don't sit
there waiting for users to "ask" for something they don't know exists, just
get on with it...

Cheers

Hi John;

With all due respect, I think you might be a bit hypercritical of the Save
AutoRecover Data feature.

It was never designed to provide a backup, nor is it intended to serve as an
'autosave' utility. Its sole purpose is to help protect against loss of
changes made since the most recent save was done in the event the user
incurs a critical system or software failure. It's saved my bacon a number
of times ‹ especially on Windows PCs in areas where electric service is less
than reliable.

My complaint is the manner in which MS persists in perpetuating the
misconception that it should be expected to do those things which you so
rightly say it doesn't. It's controls should *not* be included in the Save
Preferences & it definitely needs to be more explicitly explained in Help ‹
especially the Help in Mac Office. The way it's handled makes it crystal as
to why so many users have the impression that it is automatically saving
their work for them.

IMHO, it's a useful asset and its black eyes & tarnished reputation are
directly attributable to its creator.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless you intend to pay!

 

[JLAMBIE]

The Autorecovery file is deleted when Excel restarts if Excel quit normally.

>
> I have been trying to tell Microsoft for 20 years that AutoRecover is
> useless because it does not protect against the things that cause data loss
> in the real world.
>
> But they don't want to hear it... Whoever designed this mechanism (on the
> PC side...) has not thought through all the scenarios, and until they
> change, we can't...
>
> Your case is an example: The AutoRecover saves only the CHANGES to the
> original file. If the original file is damaged or missing (as in your case)
> then the AutoRecover is discarded because there is no "original" file to
> "recover to".
>
> Sorry: It was designed to fail 20 years ago, and it does... Time Machine
> is your friend: that saves a "real" backup
>
> Cheers
>
>
> On 5/03/10 6:22 AM, in article (e-mail address removed)2ac0,
> "[email protected]" wrote:
>
>
> This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
> matters unless you intend to pay!
>
> --
>
> John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word); Consultant Technical Writer,
> McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd, Sydney, Australia.
> Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410; mailto:[email protected]
>
> Thanks very much. This is why I went short on their stock today. They have no clue how to build useful software. I'm migrating to iWork and this experience will just accelerate that. Down goes the TItanic. Open Office is the other alternative.

John