Backup Automatically

[Rcnewcomb]

Over the years I've seen posts on various forums from people who have lost computer files for any number of reasons. This is my regular reminder to take the time to set up automated backups.

Get to the Backup, Do It NOW!
Windows 10 and 11 make it easy to setup automatic backups in the background. Here are 3 different articles that explain the process:
Microsoft: Backup your Windows PC
3 Ways to Create Automatic File Backup in Windows 10/11 Easily
How to Back Up Your Computer Automatically With Windows 10's Built-in Tools

I recommend backing up to both a local hard drive and a cloud backup such as GoogleDrive, OneDrive, DropBox, etc.

You can purchase an external hard drive today from any number of sources that are inexpensive and reliable. I prefer traditional rotating drives rather than solid state. It is for backup so I don't need the speed of a solid state drive, and solid state drives have a finite number of writes during their lifetime.

You can use USB thumb drives, but these have a habit of going bad at the most inopportune times. However, even these are better than no backup.

I use the File History feature to backup my files and folders that change frequently. I have mine set to daily backups but you can have them happen as often as every 10 minutes. It will keep backups for a specified period of time or "Until Space is Needed".

....But if you don't Save Early and Save Often then the backup can't help you out....

Save Early Save Often
As you are working on your project it is a good idea to save your work as you go. Vectric gives you several choices:
<Ctrl S> or File/Save - This saves your work over the last saved version of the file. Teach yourself to type <Ctrl S> whenever you have made a major change and are satisfied with the results. I've trained myself to hit <Ctrl S> whenever I stop to think for a bit.If you are not sure of your changes then use the File ⇒ Save As... command instead option and give the file a new name.

<Ctrl Alt S> or File/Increment and Save - This is cooler and easier than File/Save As. The Increment and save operation allows you to automatically number iterations of files you are working on. If you select this operation when editing a file which ends with an underscore, or a hyphen followed by a number, then the number will be increased by 1 and the file will be saved using this number.

For example, MyFile_1.crv3d becomes MyFile_2.crv3d MyFile-1.crv3d becomes MyFile-2.crv3d

The increment and save option will keep incrementing until it finds a file that does not currently exist. It will not overwrite an existing file.

Later, if you wish, you can go back and delete the older versions.

[Phil]

Thanks, Randall.

Phil

[Leo]

Very good advice

I have all my data on a NAS and that is backed up to an external drive on a regular schedule automatically

[Rcnewcomb]

I also recommend practicing restoring from backup: both individual files, as well as a full system restore.
Example:
Create a file, any file, nothing important.
After the backup has happened delete the file.
Now try to restore from backup.