I’m asking this because in computer world I have experienced how you can really lost your work. So what is the best way to keep your work safe?
At this time I have this weird… weird …really weird way to keep my ongoing work on computer, USB drive and my email and on paper form. Call me paranoid. I’am after on broken computer and USB that didn’t work on my new computer from some weird reason that I didn’t understood.
If I were using Windows as my primary computer these days, I’d probably go with backblaze.com. I’d also make sure I liked the Scrivener settings under Tools->Options->Backup* (the folder in that setting is where I’d go first for any data recovery), and that it was backed up by the service.
Others may have more technicial solutions, but I’m a big proponent finding a better solution that’s easy to implement versus a perfect solution that you may never get to.
*[size=85] In version 3, Start at File->Options, or for project-specific backup settings, Project->Project Settings[/size]
Edit: More options for online backup here, if you want to do the research: pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2288745,00.asp
I have three backups:
Scrivener’s automatic backups. These are the first line of defense against Scrivener-specific issues, including both user and software errors.
An external hard drive with Time Machine. (Mac only, automatically backs up your data at regular intervals. I don’t know if there’s a Windows equivalent.) This primarily protects against hard drive and other computer failures, but it’s also a second line of defense against Scrivener-specific errors.
BackBlaze online backup. This is the one for when the computer is stolen or the house burns down.
I also use Dropbox to share projects between devices. While Dropbox has some data recovery features, DO NOT trust it as your only backup. It’s too easy to delete the data, and once you do the deletion will propagate to all your devices. One of the worst data loss episodes I’ve helped with involved someone who forgot to disconnect their work computer from Dropbox when they changed jobs. Their former employer wiped the computer, and blammo everything in their account got nuked.
Katherine
I’m writing only in iOS environment. I’m using Dropbox and I also save my projects regularly in iCloud (Apple’s File App) everytime when I’m making big changes or write something new. Everyday after day’s work I also send my project as a .zip file to my email. With these three easy methods I’m pretty sure my data is always secured. If Dropbox fails, I have iCloud. If iCloud fails, at least I have my email files.
In addition to what’s been said above:
Backup on project close
Backup on manual save
… and storing my zipped backups in a folder that is automatically backed up to a cloud storage (in my case Mega).