Syllabus Software Backup Instructions

(Susan Garrett, "English 105 Syllabus," July 2005)

Always, always, always back up your work as you're working and each time you stop working on a paper! Programs like Word allow you to create backup copies of work - this is a very good idea. To make sure Word is backing up your files, go to Tools, then Options, then click on the “Save” tab. I recommend setting the computer to save autorecover information very often (every 2 or 3 minutes means you’ll never lose much work in the event of a computer crash or power failure). Also, make sure you save your work frequently. There are numerous ways to save your work; you can save it to your Darwin network folder (talk to Helpdesk if you need help doing this), you can save files to a floppy disk or USB portable drive or CD-ROM, you can email yourself the file, or you can save a copy in your digital dropbox in Blackboard (go to Tools, then Digital Dropbox, then choose Add File (not Send File – that will save the paper in my dropbox). Finally, always print out a copy of your paper before turning off your computer/leaving the lab. You are responsible for making sure that you never have to tell me that your computer crashed and you have no copy of your paper-in-progress.