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OPR Workshop Information Exchange => General Techniques => Topic started by: cmpentecost on August 07, 2006, 07:37:44 PM

Title: SAVE YOUR WORK OFTEN!
Post by: cmpentecost on August 07, 2006, 07:37:44 PM
This is a reminder to everyone working on their photos, to save their work often.  I of course, have always known this, but I did not take my own advice, and just lost about 2-3 hours of work due to a 2 second power outage.  Needless to say, I am not happy, but I'll take it as a hard lesson learned.   :(    :-[

Christine
Title: Re: SAVE YOUR WORK OFTEN!
Post by: Kenny on August 07, 2006, 07:47:17 PM
Oh no! :( That has to be one of the worst feelings when it comes to computers.  I've been guilty of that very thing, too. I was working on a graphic the other night and we had a power outage.

Good advice that needs to become second nature to us All


Ctrl + S is your friend!
Title: Re: SAVE YOUR WORK OFTEN!
Post by: paula on August 08, 2006, 07:28:19 AM
There aren't enough swear words! :mad:  I  hate  that.
Title: Re: SAVE YOUR WORK OFTEN!
Post by: Peter_AUS on August 08, 2006, 07:44:51 AM
One of the reasons I have a UPS that has my equipment attached with internet at well, allows for saving and powering off.  Catches everything that happens on the power side.  Even have the telephone running through it as well.

But it is good advice.

Have you searched to see if there is a temp file that might have the work in it at all.
Title: Re: SAVE YOUR WORK OFTEN!
Post by: cmpentecost on August 08, 2006, 11:58:29 AM
I have not searched for temp files.  Wouldn't even really know where to look.  However, I'm going into town today and WILL be shopping for a UPS (Universal Power Supply). 

Christine
Title: Re: SAVE YOUR WORK OFTEN!
Post by: Peter_AUS on August 08, 2006, 10:40:14 PM
I have an APC Back-UPS RS800 which gives me plenty of watts for about 20 mins of backup time, certainly that would be enough for most people to save and shut down if necessary.

We have circuit breakers that trip if too much load is placed on the power points, if I have two heaters on, TV, 3 computers and then turn the iron on to do some ironing, the circuit breaker trips, takes a couple of minutes to shut off the heaters and iron and then trip the circuit breaker back on.  My girls computers go down, but mine stays up no problems at all.

Just make sure you get one that is more than your needs for the future.
Title: Re: SAVE YOUR WORK OFTEN!
Post by: nirc2 on August 09, 2006, 12:42:30 PM
Dont forget that a UPS system can cause you cancer... :D

Anyway, I hit the ctrl+s almost every 5 minutes, if I dont do so, I actually FEEL strange ... it's like a bad (good) habbit of mine...
Title: Re: SAVE YOUR WORK OFTEN!
Post by: Ptollemy on August 19, 2006, 08:57:55 AM
I also tend to hit "save" alot.. especially when I've just finished doing something, or when I'm trying to work out what to do next. But you can never be reminded too often  :up:
Title: Re: SAVE YOUR WORK OFTEN!
Post by: Bud on September 28, 2006, 11:48:11 PM
Getting a UPS is a great idea...

Some other thoughts - (Learned the hard way, unfortunately :)

Back up your files to some other storage device :

external hard drive
or burn a CD or DVD

I also save a new file when I start work for the day - appending a digit or alpha character in sequence works well - this gives me the option to return to a previous state should I have a bad day - and protects me with multiple copies of a work, should the file I'm working on become corrupt for some reason. 

This probably sounds like overkill, but better safe than sorry!

Title: Re: SAVE YOUR WORK OFTEN!
Post by: glennab on September 29, 2006, 09:52:01 AM
Hi!

A word or twelve of warning.

It's unlikely that any of you will deal with this particular incident, but I learned something the hard way a few evenings ago.  While I was out with friends one of my cats stepped on the UPS power button and turned the whole system off.  I didn't lose anything except a few moments of equanimity as I tried to figure out why both computers were down.

Anyway, I got the UPS back on, booted up the computers and proceeded with my usual business. The following evening as I worked on my restoration, we had one of our MANY power glitches, my computer faded, and I lost everything I'd been working on.  Evidently one must keep the computers off and allow the UPS to charge up completely before rebooting. !!@*&!!@#!!

GG
Title: Re: SAVE YOUR WORK OFTEN!
Post by: Kenny on September 29, 2006, 10:02:46 AM
A quick not about Bud saying he makes multiple copies of his work.


I do, too. If I decide to try something and I'm not sure it will work or not, I save it as a different file. I usually just put "a" or "b" after the file name. That way, if it doesnt' work, I can just go back to my old file. I usually end up with 3 or 4 files that way.
Title: Re: SAVE YOUR WORK OFTEN!
Post by: glennab on September 29, 2006, 02:57:59 PM
Hi!

I save multiple copies of my work, too.  Usually I have several working files, and every evening when I'm ready to quit, I burn a session to a CD of that day's work.  My first copy is of the original jpeg and the beginning of the restoration work.  I've gone back to earlier copies several times, so it's a great idea to have a back-up somewhere.  Once I'm finished with a restoration, I archive everything for that image.  It's probably not as imperative now that I'm not working on an 8-year-old computer, but I still feel better having archives.

My problem is getting so involved with what I'm doing that I don't save often enough.  Recipe for disaster!  That's why I lost so much in the UPS vs. cat fiasco.

GG
Title: Re: SAVE YOUR WORK OFTEN!
Post by: cmpentecost on September 29, 2006, 04:11:48 PM
After seeing several of the posts about the save often and Ctl>S, I am now saving very frequently.  I also bought the UPS as additional insurance.  But...since making these changes, we've not have one power outage!!  However, with winter coming and some good heavy snow storms, I'm sure I'll see how well this UPS works!

Cheers.

Christine
Title: Re: SAVE YOUR WORK OFTEN!
Post by: Ausimax on September 29, 2006, 10:20:54 PM
Hi glennab,

Yes you have to make sure your UPS is charged for safety, though it is really unfortunate to have another glitch before it is, though the UPS should charge even if the computer is being used as it only needs a trickle charge not full power to charge.

Christine, the UPS should work well to protect you from loss of work due to power failure, however, don't rely on it to protect your system from damage in storms.

Several years ago we lost two computers and ancillary equipment in a storm, and we were using a UPS. The power had gone down and we had shut down the computers, we were on dial-up Internet at the time and in the dark forgot to unplug the modem from the phone line.

We suffered a lightning strike on our underground phone line 128 meters from the house, The phone line was "protected" by the UPS supposedly, the charge destroyed the modem, my computer and travelled through the network cable and destroyed my wifes computer, the printers, scanner and radio keyboard & mouse.

The two phones connected suffered no damage, figures, guess which costs less to replace a phone or a computer?

I now have a UPS connected through a surge protected power-board (heavy duty) and at the first rumble of thunder everything is switched off and unplugged.

Max
Title: Re: SAVE YOUR WORK OFTEN!
Post by: Kenny on September 29, 2006, 10:40:19 PM
Max, it's a good idea to unplug everything..ESPECIALLY the phone line. Most surges come through the phone. I cant count how many modems I've seen fried due to a surge. If it's bad enough it can also kill the motherboard :(

Surge protectors are nice for small fluctuations, but they shouldn't be relied on during a storm. Some of the better surge protectors and UPS' come with a warranty to replace anything destroyed during a surge. This isn't because the surge protector is any better than the others, basically you're purchasing a small insurance policy.

Still, it's best to just unplug during an electrical storm. Even if you're not out any money to replace your equipment, the downtime during replacement and the possibility of losing all your data isn't worth it.
Title: Re: SAVE YOUR WORK OFTEN!
Post by: Leah M on October 27, 2006, 07:02:06 AM
Hello to you all.

I'm new to the group and came into contact with OPR via Retouchpro where I am known as leanan`si.

*waves to klassylady*

I had read this thread a couple of weeks ago and had very good reason to recall it again last night.  I like to work into the small hours here in NZ and I'm currently working on an 8x10 colour photo which is quite complex.  Aren't they all!

I had merged down maybe 25 layers, saved,  and started on the next step and before I knew it maybe 4 hours had passed of intensive pixel shifting.  I felt that at last I had achieved the effect I had wanted on a Nun's face, rebuilding with minimal interference.  Perhaps I'm a little insane, but during those hours I had chatted with her and with others in the photo.  I hit ctrl+S and Photoshop froze.  Totally.  The hour glass hung there taunting me that I should have saved more often and I had words with the Nun .. kind words, sort of. Words like 'divine intervention' and 'pride cometh before the fall'.

I shut down every other programme, trying to free the computer up .. no go.

I made a coffee, I drank it and still that hour glass shimmered.

I gradually reconciled myself to losing the work I had done and took a screen shot, but I knew I wouldn't get that flow back for a while.  I was too bolshi to use ctrl/alt/del to end the task.  I opted to shut down the computer totally.  So I did.

Start - Shut Down .. and Photoshop freed up, just like that.  My ctrl+s at that point was pure desperation.  It saved!

I think the term is 'gob smacked'.  I swear that little Sister was grinning at me.  The funny thing was .. despite the shut down command, the computer never did shut down.  It just kept ticking over.

With kind regards,
Leah M
Title: Re: SAVE YOUR WORK OFTEN!
Post by: glennab on October 27, 2006, 09:13:24 AM
Good morning Leah,

It sounds to me as if you have a guardian angel.  And well you should have, tackling the restoration you're working on!

Welcome to the crew.  If you're involved with Retouchpro, you must really be a PRO -- and that's evident by your work on the Sister and her family (I checked that thread first -- couldn't even offer any suggestions.)

Great to have you aboard!

Best wishes,

GG
Title: Re: SAVE YOUR WORK OFTEN!
Post by: Kenny on October 27, 2006, 09:20:04 AM
Photoshop, while a wonderful program, is a quirky little devil at times. I know how sick that makes you feel to lose all your hard work. I personally shut down everything else while I'm using it. I have a GB of memory and it still hangs once in a while.


Welcome to OPR!


Kenny  :)
Title: Re: SAVE YOUR WORK OFTEN!
Post by: Ausimax on October 27, 2006, 10:04:17 AM

It certainly pays to save early and often, just one little tip, I often have little glitches where everything freezes up and won't respond and I find if I hit Control/Alt/Delete and when the Task Manager Dialogue box comes up, I don't end any tasks I just kill the dialogue box and everything responds once again.

I don't know what causes the glitches, it happens in different programs, I have a radio mouse that does some strange things at times and I think it may be part of the reason, I tried to get rid of it but it is the only mouse I can use successfully for editing, don't know what I will do when it does die.

Glad you could save your work Leah, nothing worse than loosing a lot of work, especially when you can't remember what you had done to get where you were.


Max