Word document replaced with wrong file Thread poster: inkweaver
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inkweaver 
Germany
Local time: 10:29
French to German
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I just did something really stupid since I was slightly distracted: I was working on a translation and wanted to look at the original file which I accessed via an email. Both files had the same name. Of course I wanted to just close the original and save my translation but by error I saved the original, clicking on "save as..." and of course saying yes to the "do you want to replace...". So I replaced my translation with the original file in Italian and it looks as if I have to start all over ag... See more I just did something really stupid since I was slightly distracted: I was working on a translation and wanted to look at the original file which I accessed via an email. Both files had the same name. Of course I wanted to just close the original and save my translation but by error I saved the original, clicking on "save as..." and of course saying yes to the "do you want to replace...". So I replaced my translation with the original file in Italian and it looks as if I have to start all over again. The "versions" function in Word does not produce any results. Or is there anything else I could try?
Thanks for your help! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:29
Russian to English
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In memoriam
If in Tools>Options>Save tab, you have ticked the "Always create backup copy" check box, you should have a copy called "Backup of (file title).wbk" of how the file was the last time it was backed up, which you can rename as (File title).doc. You will have lost some work at the end, but you should have most of it.
If you haven't checked this option, sorry, I have no other suggestions.
| | | | Peter Linton (X)
Local time: 09:29
Swedish to English
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| Advantage of CAT | Aug 1, 2008 |
This is one rarely-mentioned advantage of CAT tools. Because they store everything you are translating, they effectively provide an automatic backup. You just start translating the file again.
On rare occasions, this has rescued me from the situation you are in. CAT tools are not cheap, but every now and then well worth the money.
| | | | Anne Lee
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:29
Member (2003)
Dutch to English
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| Check auto-recover file | Aug 1, 2008 |
It is now several hours after you posted your message, but I just want to share the location where I usually find the file I've overwritten:
Go to Word, Tools, Options, the Save tab, and then check where you AutoRecover files are stored. They are likely be stored under Application Data\Microsoft\Word That's where I found files in the past, although they were stored underneath an unrecognisable name consisting of numbers and letters. You will probably already have carried out a... See more It is now several hours after you posted your message, but I just want to share the location where I usually find the file I've overwritten:
Go to Word, Tools, Options, the Save tab, and then check where you AutoRecover files are stored. They are likely be stored under Application Data\Microsoft\Word That's where I found files in the past, although they were stored underneath an unrecognisable name consisting of numbers and letters. You will probably already have carried out a search on your computer for documents stored today, containing a few words you remembered from your translation, stored today or in the last week. Make sure even 'hidden files' are searched. You may well find the file in the Application Data folder I mentioned, but since it only stores the last document (or 2), the file will be overwritten next time you save a document.
Anne ▲ Collapse
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inkweaver
Germany
Local time: 10:29
French to German
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TOPIC STARTER
for trying to help. Unfortunately the file seems to be lost.
As far as CAT tools go - I used the free version of Wordfast on my old computer. Unfortunately it seemed to make Word rather unstable. Nevertheless I tried to use it on my new one but it won't run on this one...
[Edited at 2008-08-02 04:59]
| | | | | In future ... | Aug 2, 2008 |
I know it's too late now, but to avoid this sorry situation in future (it's happened to me in the past), I always save the file I'm working on to a floppy (old-fashioned but effective, like me) or perhaps to a CD every page or so. That way if for some ghastly reason I lose the file from my hard disk I can always copy it back from the floppy - and on the annoying occasions when my ISP is out of action, I can take the floppy to someone else's computer and send it to the client from there.
Be... See more I know it's too late now, but to avoid this sorry situation in future (it's happened to me in the past), I always save the file I'm working on to a floppy (old-fashioned but effective, like me) or perhaps to a CD every page or so. That way if for some ghastly reason I lose the file from my hard disk I can always copy it back from the floppy - and on the annoying occasions when my ISP is out of action, I can take the floppy to someone else's computer and send it to the client from there.
Best wishes,
Jenny
P.S. And when copying a source file in order to work on it rather than creating a new file, always re-name the copy (with the job number, for instance) so that the original can't overwrite the file you're working on as happened in your case. This probably sounds elementary to the techno-wizards among our community, but I've learnt it from bitter experience!
[Edited at 2008-08-02 06:56] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 10:29
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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| My own solution | Aug 2, 2008 |
Jenny Forbes wrote:
P.S. And when copying a source file in order to work on it rather than creating a new file, always re-name the copy (with the job number, for instance) so that the original can't overwrite the file you're working on as happened in your case.
If you're going to use a CAT tool such as WF, then doing this is actually very necessary, because it ensures that you have a clean, untouched version of the original, in case something goes horribly wrong during the translation. In fact, I don't even *open* a file in my word processor before I've made a copy of it. Sure, the copy is named "Copy of so-and-so.doc", but at least there's a copy, in case my word processor decides to be clever on me.
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