 To AutoSave or not to AutoSave? |
| Many users rely on Excel's AutoSave feature as a way to help prevent accidental loss of their data. AutoSave is implemented as an add-in. When you choose Tools-AutoSave, you will see the dialogue box shown FIGURE 2. (If you don't have an AutoSave item on your Tools menu, you need to select Tools-Add-Ins to make this feature available.) The AutoSave dialogue box allows you to tell the program how often to save, which workbooks to save, and whether to prompt you before each save.
On the surface, AutoSave sounds appealing because it helps you avoid losing all your work (say, due to a power outage). But there is a downside, too. Consider this scenario: you've just highlighted a column of data and accidentally pressed the <Delete> key. Before you realise your mistake, the AutoSave add-in kicks in and saves your workbook. Normally, you can select Edit-Undo to recover from the accidental deletion; but AutoSave wipes out the Undo stack, so you can't recover from your error. Even worse, AutoSave does not use a temporary file -- your original workbook file is simply overwritten. The moral of this story? If you yearn for the protection of AutoSave, make sure that you select the Prompt Before Saving option. Or get in the habit of pressing <Ctrl>-S every few minutes. |
Category:Spreadsheets Issue: May 2000 |
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