AutoSave inconsistant saving of .bak files

[Anonymous]

AutoCAD used to crash very regularly for me. I also used to run very outdated AutoCAD software. I have updated computer and software since then. Currently running AutoCAD LT 2020. When I ran the 2002, 2006, and 2010 versions I had setup a 5 minute Autosave increment. I also had the "create backup file with each save" option clicked. When I went into the autosave file location, I had .bak files in 5 minute increments for a whole day's worth of work. I got into the habit of using this as a log for filling out my time card at the end of the day. It also saved me hours of time over the years when I had a brain spasm and closed a drawing without saving. I understand neither of these things is what autosave is for and the best idea is to be perfect and click save every 3 minutes. The feature was there and I used it and formed a habit over the course of 10 years, as such the habit is hard to break. I have AutoCAD 2020 now and the autosave works as intended (I think), but it no longer consistently creates .bak files every time it auto saves. Is there a system variable that controls this? Can anyone tell me the rhyme or reason to the new autosave .bak file creation?

[Alfred.NESWADBA]

Hi,

>> When I went into the autosave file location, I had .bak files

>> in 5 minute increments

Something is strange here, autosave does not create BAK files, it creates SV$ files.

Did you change the extension in your options?

>> I had .bak files in 5 minute increments for a whole day's

>> worth of work

Also that should not happen by default, if one SV$ file is created the previous one should be removed.

What I would expect this to happen if you remove some permissions in that folder (like permission to rename or delete files), then AutoCAD would not be able to delete a previous file ... assuming it might be less stable then.

- alfred -

[pendean]

If you've been using AutoCAD since v2002, have you not gotten in the habit of manually saving every 5-minutes or so yourself yet? That's like the first thing we all learn to do the first time we all lost that one important file back in the day.

Read this, nothing has really changed in 20+years with autosave https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/learn-explore/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Understa...

[Anonymous]

@Alfred.NESWADBA 

>>Did you change the extension in your options?

I did not. It created .SV$ files and when the .SV$ updated or a new one was saved it created a .bak file of the one before.

[Alfred.NESWADBA]

Hi,

>> when the .SV$ updated or a new one was saved it

>> created a .bak file

And these BAK files had the same filename as the SV$ or the same name as the dwg-file?

- alfred -

[Anonymous]

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@pendean wrote:
If you've been using AutoCAD since v2002, have you not gotten in the habit of manually saving every 5-minutes or so yourself yet? That's like the first thing we all learn to do the first time we all lost that one important file back in the day.

I have been using AutoCAD since R13, I used to do this (I also used to fill out my timecard as I went), but once I found my "hack" I got out of the habit. Thanks for this unhelpful part of your reply. Being condescending in forums where people ask for help is totally useful.

@pendean wrote:
Read this, nothing has really changed in 20+years with autosave https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/learn-explore/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Understa...

I read this before I posted my question. It does not really address .bak files in the autosave folder nor why it sometimes does and does not happen in the autosave folder. It explains 100% accurately the way the .bak file works in the normal manner.

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[Anonymous]

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@Alfred.NESWADBA wrote:

Hi,

>> when the .SV$ updated or a new one was saved it

>> created a .bak file

And these BAK files had the same filename as the SV$ or the same name as the dwg-file?

- alfred -

---

Correct. The most recent .bak file would have the identical file name down to the random numbers, just ending in .bak instead of .SV$.

[Alfred.NESWADBA]

Hi,

>> The most recent .bak file would have the identical file name

I assume now "the identical file name to the SV$" ... and that looks strange as I never had seen this in that way.

What I could think off that there were tools installed, which override the autosave, or special permissions to not allow AutoCAD to delete files in that folder (using operating system and assigning special permissions to that folder).

But I would not know a way to get BAK files created each time when a new SV$ was created.

For now, except the above thoughts, I'm out of ideas ...

- alfred -

[Anonymous]

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@Alfred.NESWADBA wrote:

Hi,

>> The most recent .bak file would have the identical file name

I assume now "the identical file name to the SV$" ... and that looks strange as I never had seen this in that way.

What I could think off that there were tools installed, which override the autosave, or special permissions to not allow AutoCAD to delete files in that folder (using operating system and assigning special permissions to that folder).

I'd agree with you, except for the fact that I was the one who implemented the upgrades from 2002 to 2006LT to 2010 and to 2020LT. I have switched computers a couple times as well and never installed any add-ons.

But I would not know a way to get BAK files created each time when a new SV$ was created.

For now, except the above thoughts, I'm out of ideas ...

- alfred -

Thanks for the effort anyway.

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[pendean]

Get back into the habit of manually saving often: R13 taught you well, it is where we all learned that habit the hard way.

Good luck.

[TheCADnoob]

Is it possible that your bak files are in a different location? Have you tried searching your computer to see if they are ending up somewhere else unintentionally?

I recall some other recent issues that seem similar... unfortunately i dont believe there is a solution for those yet. 

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-forum/problems-with-saving/m-p/8720433#M975611

[Anonymous]

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@TheCADnoob wrote:

Is it possible that your bak files are in a different location? Have you tried searching your computer to see if they are ending up somewhere else unintentionally?

I recall some other recent issues that seem similar... unfortunately i dont believe there is a solution for those yet. 

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-forum/problems-with-saving/m-p/8720433#M975611

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No, the normal .bak files are saving in the drawing location which is the AutoCAD default. The autosave .bak files are saving in the autosave folder, just no with every autosave like they used to. If I were to work on the same drawing all day, generally, there would be 2 autosave .bak files saved many hours apart. Before, I would have an autosave .bak file for every 5 minutes.

[pendean]

Did you use the Migration tool when starting LT2020 to pull content from an older LT version?

[Anonymous]

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@pendean wrote:
Did you use the Migration tool when starting LT2020 to pull content from an older LT version?

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No, I assumed it would not work going from full version of 2010 to LT2020

[rkmcswain]

@Alfred.NESWADBA wrote:

Something is strange here, autosave does not create BAK files, it creates SV$ files.

@Alfred.NESWADBA  - yes it does. It creates both. It creates a .sv$ with the first autosave, then, like regular saves, the .sv$ is renamed to .BAK when the next .sv$ is created.

When you run QSAVE on the drawing, of course the filename of the file in the editor does not change. But, the next time autosave fires, there will be a new suffix to the autosave file name. The file I'm working with is named "JONES-PROJECT-A1" and the first autosave had a suffix of "_1_1_4409".

After I ran a QSAVE, the file name is the same, but the new suffix is "_1_1_8936"...... so the next BAK file that you'll see there is "JONES-PROJECT-A1_1_1_8936.bak" and then I ran another QSAVE and let autosave fire again, and I have another suffix, and so on and so on. Now my %temp% folder looks like this:

THIS is how multiple, differently named, BAK files end up in the %temp% folder, even after a successful shutdown. .sv$ files are deleted, but the .bak files are not.

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@Anonymous - run the command MOVEBAK and make sure it's set to "." (a period, the default). If MOVEBAK is set to anything else, the .bak files are not saved in the %temp% folder with the .sv$ files.

NOTE: Tested on AutoCAD 2014.   2020 does not seem to do this anymore.

[Anonymous]

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@rkmcswain wrote:

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@Anonymous - run the command MOVEBAK and make sure it's set to "." (a period, the default). If MOVEBAK is set to anything else, the .bak files are not saved in the %temp% folder with the .sv$ files.

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MOVEBAK is not a command?

[Alfred.NESWADBA]

Hi,

>> MOVEBAK is not a command?

MOVEBAK is an ExpressTools command, not available with LT

- alfred -

[Alfred.NESWADBA]

Hi,

>> yes it does. It creates both

How can that be, I have not a single BAK in my temp-folder ...

But to be honest, I guess I press more often <CTRL><S> than my autosave timeout is, and so I might never recognized that ;( 😉

Thx for clarification!

- alfred -

[rkmcswain]

@Anonymous - clarification, I tested this using 2014 and 2015. It appears as if 2020 does not operate this way.

I'll test 2016-2019 when I have time.

[rkmcswain]

Looks like 2018 and later do not create autosave .BAK files.