Every time I have my students begin a new project, I always have at least one in each class that erases their project. Here is how they do it. Attempting to retrieve their file they first open Office or Powerpoint, or whatever. Instead of going to open, they hit save, when the save box opens they click on their file saving a blank document over top of their information.
I tell them over and over to watch out for it. But is there a way to retrieve it when they do this?
Posted by Dr Strangelove (Member # 8331) on :
If so, I really wish I would have known about it two years ago when I lost a semesters worth of research and writing four hours before the paper was due.
(I actually rewrote the paper on time, the professor loved it, and now his recommendation is the reason I'm getting to teach at least a year ahead of schedule. But it was friggin annoying at the time)
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
I don't believe there's any way to retrieve the file. If they'd just deleted it, that'd be one thing. But they overwrote it with a blank file. It's not really any different from opening the file, deleting all the content, and then hitting save.
Posted by The White Whale (Member # 6594) on :
Tell them to back up files. It takes up practically no space, and the one time it comes in handy makes up for a thousand extra seconds dedicated to the task.