Help! I have a 700 page novel all done, but as I fix typos and single letters that are scattered over the whole book, many are not saved even after auto save and manual save. I have to go back over my mistakes and fix them several times! This has happened on the very first page of text! I made a single letter change and it was not written to disk. The next day it was stiil the old letter! Some words had to be fixed three times. Mistakes have gotten into my final draft and i don’t know what to do! This is on libre 4.2 on Mageia linux 4.0 on a Dell laptop.
Suppose you’re using a Windows version (which one? What LibO version btw?). Did there occur a system breakdown some time ago? While working with LibO?
In this case I would consider going the reset-user-profile-path in addition, maybe, to measures recommended by ROSt52… .
700 page document!!!
I would do:
Create immediately 2-3 copies of the file in odt-format. At least one copy I would put on a separate drive (HDD or USB stick).
Next I would start a master document and break down the 700 page file into smaller files. The master document allows you to have all styles and formatting available for the entire document but allows you to work with smaller files. I personally would create a master document if I expect my total document would exceed something like 50 pages.
For more information please use the Help file or have a look at the free guides which you can download from http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/documentation/
General comment: Very often I see questions on how to recover lost files. Better than attempting to recover lost data is prepare against the loss of data. To avoid a loss of a file these are 3 recommendations:
1 Check the following LibO options: Tools > options > Load/Save > General
---- Save Autorecovery every x mins (the shorter the value the small a possible loss; I use 3 min)
---- Automatically save document too ( I don’t use this, because I regard the autorecovery function as excellent.)
---- Always create a backup copy (download and read the free of charge LibO guide to understand how this works)
2 When I work more than a day on a file, I create additional daily back ups. I use the format “filename_yymmdd.ext” and I keep at least 1 previous version.
In case the file is extremely important and I work long hours non-stop, I add the actual time behind the date.
3 Backup the HDD of your computer to an external HDD. External HDD in the range of 2-4 TB cost mostly less than 100 EUR. (I do this almost daily and even backup external HDD onto another one.
When it comes to this topic this expression comes to my min: “Faile to prepare is prepare to fail!”
EDIT 1 / 2
No, I am not saying that LibO’s save function it NOT reliable. I am neither in the position to say YES or NO nor can I verify with large numbers page pages to even run tests. However, I can imagine that ANY text tool can have a limitation in what can be saved flawlessly.
All I am saying is that I would not take the risk of the loss of such a large document written in ANY text tool. In technology there is never a 100% security that the systems works as thought (Apollo capsules accidents, space shuttle accidents, Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, etc.). The same applies for SW. So there is never a 100% security that work is safe in 1 file on 1 storage medium.
Quite some years ago - it was still the time of the really floppy floppy disks, I had to write an about 100 page document. I saved every day my work on 3 FDs (used even 5 FDs for that) and kept them at different places. Now, I am backing up my external HDD to another external HDD. 2 years ago an accident proofed that the second exteranl back up is important.
Again back to what I wrote in the first part. It is all about reducing the loss of a large file, a hug effort of work.
EDIT 2 / 2
If you save after each word it is a good idea but at the end you save always into the same file.
The reset of the user profile (suggested by @Lupp) could be a solution. I recently made a reset and LibO starts up much faster.
If resetting the profile is not the solution I only can recommend to file a bug report here: https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/bug/ Doing so someone with knowledge of the source code might look into the matter.
I routinely work with text documents in the 400 to 800 page length and do not encounter this problem, but when I do make a change, any change, one word or sentences I perform a manual save. If I have 12 words to change over several pages I make 12 saves. Seems to be problem free. I do have a different problem in that some documents do not save the outline level after I save the document so when I open later it it has returned to body text instead of a particular heading level I chose.
So what you are saying is that Libreoffice’s save function IS unreliable for large documents!!!
I have let autosave and manually saved my text everyday only to see mistakes and typos pop back up the next time I opened the file!!! It’s as if the changes are done in the copy in RAM and the disk save function cannot “find” them all as it writes to disk. It haphazardly finds some and misses many. Maybe the developers should know of this. J.P.
See the EDIT in my previous answer. Too long to fit here.