Recovering lost documents
Sometimes the active document you've been working on for hours is lost. This could be due to several causes including software malfunction, hang or crash. How can you restore your document?
Sometimes it is impossible and this is the worst news for all of us, users. However CorelDRAW can help you protect your documents from damages by backing up the previous versions of it. Even if your current document is lost you can use the previous version, at least this is not so bad and much better than nothing.
There are two methods for creating backup files in CorelDRAW - making backup on save, and auto backup. These options can be invoked individually or concurrently. You can enable either of the two or both in Options dialog (Tools/Option..., or Ctrl-J). In CorelDRAW 8, go to Workspace/Save, in version 7, go to Advanced tab.
If you enable Make Back up on Save option, CorelDRAW creates a backup file each time a document is saved. All backup files are given a file name beginning with BACKUP_OF_ and the file name. For example, the backup of Document.cdr will be named BACKUP_OF_Document.cdr. This backup file remains on the hard drive until manually deleted. The original file can be restored by opening the backup file. After opening a backup file, it is recommended that the file be saved under a new file name to prevent it from being overwritten in the future CorelDRAW sessions.
Enable Auto back up to back up the file at scheduled intervals which can be specified by the user. Once you change the document the automatic timer is activated and the document is saved automatically after the specified time interval elapses. An autosaved file is given a file name beginning with AUTOBACKUP_OF_ prefix. Auto backup files are removed from the hard drive when CorelDRAW is closed or when the document is saved.
The auto backup file remains on the hard drive if CorelDRAW application is closed down abnormally. If this occurs, try the following steps to restore the original document you were working on:
- Close all applications and restart the computer.
- Using Windows Explorer, locate the folder where the auto backup file is located. By default, this will be the same folder where the original file was saved.
- Rename the file to give it the name other than AUTOBACKUP_OF_...
- Launch CorelDRAW, and open the file.
Note: It is possible to disable both back up features, but it is not recommended. Avoid the irretrievable loss of valuable work by using at least one of these back up features during each CorelDRAW work session.
One special case must be handled when a problem occurred during saving the document when the old document is already deleted and the new hasn't been saved. To prevent irretrievable loss, CorelDRAW works to the following scheme when saving documents:
- The original file is renamed to @@@cdr.tmp
- The document is saved to disk with the original file's name.
- After the document is saved successfully the previous backup file (BACKUP_OF_...) is deleted.
- The file @@@cdr.tmp is renamed to BACKUP_OF_...
However if the process is stopped at the step 2 (e.g. due to power failure or program crash), the @@@cdr.tmp file remains on the hard disk and the file with document name usually is empty. To recover the previous version of the document, delete the empty file, and rename @@@cdr.tmp to its original name. Then open the file with CorelDRAW and continue working on it.