In today’s world, most documents are created on a computer. People slave the day away just to make one word file or an important slideshow presentation with all the bells and whistles. You can imagine the huge cry of frustration when the power suddenly goes out or when the program suddenly crashes before the work is saved.
Fortunately, people using newer software versions like the most recent Microsoft Office can take advantage of safety nets to avoid loss of unsaved data. It is horrifying to watch the file you have been working on disappear in an instant. The hours you spent working on it and the effort you invested in getting it all together, all go down the drain, just like that.
So, to spare you the heartache of wasted time and effort, here are some tidbits of advice so you can avoid dealing with unsaved data:
Set the software to save your work every automatically, like every five minutes or so.
There’s an auto-save feature available on most office software. This is very helpful if you aren’t in the habit of pressing the Ctrl+S keys every so often.
Get in the habit of saving often and you won’t have this problem.
Don’t count on checking your Recycle Bin for a lost file because chances are, it is not there. There is no easy way to retrieve unsaved data. You can use third party applications online, but don’t pin all your hopes on them since they don’t have a 100% success rate.
Stretch your computer tinkering muscle.
It is really a pain in the neck to lose all your work when your data isn’t saved. Thankfully, most computers nowadays have been programmed to make a backup of files that are being encoded into the system. You can use the Find tool to look for files. You can input “*.doc” into the find file option, making sure you are looking at those that have been recently modified. You can check the files close to when your PC or the program crashed. If you do find the file, save it under a different file name right away.
Try some third party applications.
These programs are available online for download. Both of these applications have free demo accounts that you can use. You can search for them online to see if they are worth your time. Online product feedback claims a huge success rate in retrieving unsaved data. It doesn’t hurt to try, especially when you desperately need help to recover the unsaved files.
If DIY solutions don’t help, hire an expert.
You can hire the services of individuals or firms that claim to specialize in data retrieval. Most of them offer data retrieval services for unsaved or accidentally deleted files and corrupted or damaged hard drive files. They could charge a fortune, but at least your hard work won’t be in vain.
Of course, as an old adage goes, “An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.” So, the next time you are working on something important, save your work at regular intervals. Being safe rather than sorry is especially true for saving work on a computer.
