I work from a file on my laptop and copy it to a USB in case it crashes. I keep feeling I have written twice, three, four times.
I keep the file open on the laptop unless my computer automatically restarts. I checked one of my archived files and found work that was not on my laptop file, even though I had dragged that file across. Is there any way I can compare the differences between the two files so I can see what I have lost. I love working in this software but it has cost me weeks of extra work with this loss of saved work. WTF is going on with it??? Someone please help!
Hi jkb. My first rule of thumb for working in Scrivener is: Do not leave projects open if you’re not actively writing in them.
I say that because Scrivener’s automatic backups are created when the project is closed. That creates a full, static copy of your work. It’s also your first recovery option if you find work is missing or if you decide that recent changes aren’t working well.
Add to that a true backup service like a third-party program that saves a full copy of your computer’s most important data to an external hard drive.
Or, get a subscription to a cloud-backup service like Backblaze or Carbonite. That way, if your hard drive ever fails or your computer is stolen, you’ll have options for restoring your most important data.
Scrivener also has two manual backups.
The first is File > Back Up > Back Up Now and prompts Scrivener to create an immediate backup of your project in your default backup location.
If you’re in the habit of leaving your project open on your computer, I recommend using that command either just before you make a lot of changes to your project or right after doing so. Or, if you increase the number of backups you’re saving, you could do both.
The File > Back Up > Back Up To… command will allow you to direct where that backup is saved. This can be a handy way to make a second backup copy on a USB drive, a cloud-storage account, and so on. It also allows a user to either ZIP that backup or leave it uncompressed as needed.
Use those to make additional, specific backups before you make major changes to your work or to save additional backups to another location.
USB thumb drives tend to break easily, so I’d only use them to transfer work to another machine if it’s a quick transfer.
Is there a reason you don’t sync backups to a cloud service like Dropbox?
Download and install Dropbox.
Setup your syncing in Scrivener using File > Options > Backup.
Don’t fiddle with a backup unless you lose work.
Aside from automatic backups, your project is set by default to save the latest changes (which save to a temporary file anyway after every 5 seconds of inactivity).
And turn off your machine at least once a day, waiting on Dropbox to sync–normally take less than 10 seconds.
New machines take less than a half a minute to startup, and in the long run would probably be less likely to pack up sooner rather than later if turned off regularly when not in use.
Finally, consistently launch Scrivener from the icon. That’s what it’s there for. Doing it from all over, using File Explorer can lead to undesirable redundant versions floating all over your hard drive.
As a second level of manual backup, periodically (e.g. once a week) drag your latest Scrivener backup to another cloud service like OneNote.
Both Dropbox and OneNote have reasonable free space offerings of 2GB and 5GB respectively.