Automatic saves and backup(s)

[Jim]

I've been using Word since DOS days but still am not clear on this subject.
I'm currently using Word 2003. There is an auto-backup option that can be
set to recover documents if power fails, etc.; I have this set to 15 minutes.
Then there are "fast saves" and "background saves." What bugs me is the
little icon of a floppy disk that pops up at the bottom of the Word screen.
While it shows, whatever you're doing just pauses until the little disk
disappears. This little disk is coming up a lot more frequently that the 15
minutes I have auto recovery set to, and if the document is big the pauses
are long and frustrating. Can someone give a quick tutorial on these various
save options and maybe tell how to avoid the interruptions? Many thanks.

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

There are 4 relevant features, none of which probably do what you'd like for
them to do:

1. Fast Saves. Turn this OFF. It is a failed idea (gone in Word 2007) that
results in document corruption.

2. Always create backup copy. Saves the previous version as a file named
Backup of [old file name].wbk each time you save a document in Word. So...
if you goof monumentally and quickly remember before saving again, this can
help. But, the wbk file is always just one step back--if you save 20 times
during a session, the wbk file will contain the document as of your 19th
save during that session.

3. Allow background saves. Saves documents in the background. This is not
automatic. It simply means that after you press Ctrl+S, you can keep on
working without waiting for Word to finish saving.

4. Save AutoRecover info every: xxx minutes. This is automatic, but it saves
the file as an .asd file in a particular folder. Word checks that folder for
..asd files each time Word is started. If if finds one, it opens it and
offers it to you. You should always make sure that what's offered is really
the best version.

What I suspect you want is for Word to effectively automatically press
Ctrl+S for you every X minutes. There is no such feature. There might bre an
add-in that will do it (I'm not aware of any, but I've never looked). My own
solution was to assign File Save to the F11 key--pressing one key is a lot
easier than pressing Ctrl+S, IMO, and I just reach up an push it any time I
stop typing, if the phone rings, if someone comes in, if I get up for
coffee, etc.

 

[Jim]

Many thanks, Herb; that's the answer in a nutshell.

There are 4 relevant features, none of which probably do what you'd like for
them to do:

1. Fast Saves. Turn this OFF. It is a failed idea (gone in Word 2007) that
results in document corruption.

2. Always create backup copy. Saves the previous version as a file named
Backup of [old file name].wbk each time you save a document in Word. So...
if you goof monumentally and quickly remember before saving again, this can
help. But, the wbk file is always just one step back--if you save 20 times
during a session, the wbk file will contain the document as of your 19th
save during that session.

3. Allow background saves. Saves documents in the background. This is not
automatic. It simply means that after you press Ctrl+S, you can keep on
working without waiting for Word to finish saving.

4. Save AutoRecover info every: xxx minutes. This is automatic, but it saves
the file as an .asd file in a particular folder. Word checks that folder for
..asd files each time Word is started. If if finds one, it opens it and
offers it to you. You should always make sure that what's offered is really
the best version.

What I suspect you want is for Word to effectively automatically press
Ctrl+S for you every X minutes. There is no such feature. There might bre an
add-in that will do it (I'm not aware of any, but I've never looked). My own
solution was to assign File Save to the F11 key--pressing one key is a lot
easier than pressing Ctrl+S, IMO, and I just reach up an push it any time I
stop typing, if the phone rings, if someone comes in, if I get up for
coffee, etc.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

I've been using Word since DOS days but still am not clear on this
subject.
I'm currently using Word 2003. There is an auto-backup option that can be
set to recover documents if power fails, etc.; I have this set to 15
minutes.
Then there are "fast saves" and "background saves." What bugs me is the
little icon of a floppy disk that pops up at the bottom of the Word
screen.
While it shows, whatever you're doing just pauses until the little disk
disappears. This little disk is coming up a lot more frequently that the
15
minutes I have auto recovery set to, and if the document is big the pauses
are long and frustrating. Can someone give a quick tutorial on these
various
save options and maybe tell how to avoid the interruptions? Many thanks.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Bob has given you the rundown (more at
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/general/AutomaticSave.htm and
http://www.gmayor.com/automatically_backup.htm), but if you're just
wondering about the pulsing floppy icon, this may reflect Word's activity in
swapping data in and out of memory. If it's a really large document and you
have limited memory, Word may have to keep some of it on the hard disk; if
you then scroll through the document to a portion it has stored "out there,"
it has to go and get it.

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

Who's Bob?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Oops, sorry, was it you? My bad. <g>

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

 

[Scheryl]

I have a question related to this:

When I open Word 2002, it begins to save (or what I think it is doing is
saving) I get an hour glass every few seconds and I have checked and ALL the
features listed below are unchecked. The hour glass / save is a real pain in
the booty and I want it to stop. I have also noticed it is doing this in my
outlook when I go to send a email it will open up word as my outlook is
associated with word and it does that same thing there. I have totally wiped
my system out and reinstalled a fresh new copy of windows but to no avail. Is
there anything that I can do to make this stop doing what it is doing in the
background? again I am not sure if this is doing an auto save or what. Please
help if you can.

Thank you,
Scheryl.




-----------------------------

There are 4 relevant features, none of which probably do what you'd like for
them to do:

1. Fast Saves. Turn this OFF. It is a failed idea (gone in Word 2007) that
results in document corruption.

2. Always create backup copy. Saves the previous version as a file named
Backup of [old file name].wbk each time you save a document in Word. So...
if you goof monumentally and quickly remember before saving again, this can
help. But, the wbk file is always just one step back--if you save 20 times
during a session, the wbk file will contain the document as of your 19th
save during that session.

3. Allow background saves. Saves documents in the background. This is not
automatic. It simply means that after you press Ctrl+S, you can keep on
working without waiting for Word to finish saving.

4. Save AutoRecover info every: xxx minutes. This is automatic, but it saves
the file as an .asd file in a particular folder. Word checks that folder for
..asd files each time Word is started. If if finds one, it opens it and
offers it to you. You should always make sure that what's offered is really
the best version.

What I suspect you want is for Word to effectively automatically press
Ctrl+S for you every X minutes. There is no such feature. There might bre an
add-in that will do it (I'm not aware of any, but I've never looked). My own
solution was to assign File Save to the F11 key--pressing one key is a lot
easier than pressing Ctrl+S, IMO, and I just reach up an push it any time I
stop typing, if the phone rings, if someone comes in, if I get up for
coffee, etc.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

I've been using Word since DOS days but still am not clear on this
subject.
I'm currently using Word 2003. There is an auto-backup option that can be
set to recover documents if power fails, etc.; I have this set to 15
minutes.
Then there are "fast saves" and "background saves." What bugs me is the
little icon of a floppy disk that pops up at the bottom of the Word
screen.
While it shows, whatever you're doing just pauses until the little disk
disappears. This little disk is coming up a lot more frequently that the
15
minutes I have auto recovery set to, and if the document is big the pauses
are long and frustrating. Can someone give a quick tutorial on these
various
save options and maybe tell how to avoid the interruptions? Many thanks.