I just destroyed 5 months of Trainz activity. How did I manage that? Simple. I copied my data folder backup copy over the active one. Yep. The backup was done in January, So now my current data folder mirrors the backup, instead of the other way around. And since I only have 1 backup folder, everything since January is GONE. A route that I was starting to fill in different areas with more detailed scenery. Let this serve as a warning to everyone. Double-check the PATH of your data folder. Not only what Trainz says, but check the date of the last change to the data. A simple check like that can save you from total disaster.
Absolute and Total Disaster
- Thread starter jeff1959
- Start date
Unfortunately, human nature in the form of "its all ok" (or as we often say down here, "she'll be right") often overrules sensible precautions.
Stories like this bring back memories of the criticism that arose when MS introduced what some referred to as the "Nanny Nag Screen" to the OS. It is still with us today with messages such as "Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?". Many of us dismiss this as an unwanted PITA but it is moments like this ...
Stories like this bring back memories of the criticism that arose when MS introduced what some referred to as the "Nanny Nag Screen" to the OS. It is still with us today with messages such as "Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?". Many of us dismiss this as an unwanted PITA but it is moments like this ...
Maybe I don't understand. You copied your old Data file from January and pasted it over your current one ?
From my reading, he made a backup copy of his User Data Folder in January and just recently copied it over his current User Data Folder, thus destroying his current copy. Unfortunate but not unheard of - it can be all too easy to get confused when moving files between folders.
Sorry to hear of your mistake but I'm beginning to think that 'Trainz Users' should come with the health warning not Trainz itself. Practically every week somebody reports loosing a pile of work for a variety of reasons from the simple errors we are likely all guilty of to the computer that has finally passed away yet many will not learn from others misfortunes. Anything downloaded from anywhere other than the DLS needs backing up to removable storage at the time it was downloaded, and routes and sessions need backing up practically daily. Routes and sessions can be backed up as a simple combined .cdp file to a USB stick in minutes, preferably alternate between two sticks and don't overwrite the previous backup, even USB sticks fail. Its a pain but Trainz and everything from the DLS can be downloaded again, shareware, freeware etc. may not be there in the future hence save a copy just in case its not, even if you can remember where you found those little treasures which is perhaps seldom the case. Any bets on who might be next? Peter
I've done that myself. All it takes is a brain fart or a lapse with concentration while performing a task like this at that critical time when we need to pay attention. When this occurred, my father called me to pick something off the floor and wouldn't wait until I had finished what I was doing. He's 90 now if that says anything.
Are you sure you want to overwrite .... and I clicked Yes to all instead of Skip all. When I came upstairs again, since this was only a 1-minute operation, The restore process should've taken a few minutes and was instead taking many hours due to now copying gazillions of files. I saw this and my heart sank when I sat down at my desk however canceling the process was too late and my routes and other custom assets were overwritten.
Whilst this content was lost, I did have an alternative backup of my routes and custom assets. I lost a few days' work on the route I was working on and I was able to restore the other content because I make cdp backups in addition to full backups.
Are you sure you want to overwrite .... and I clicked Yes to all instead of Skip all. When I came upstairs again, since this was only a 1-minute operation, The restore process should've taken a few minutes and was instead taking many hours due to now copying gazillions of files. I saw this and my heart sank when I sat down at my desk however canceling the process was too late and my routes and other custom assets were overwritten.
Whilst this content was lost, I did have an alternative backup of my routes and custom assets. I lost a few days' work on the route I was working on and I was able to restore the other content because I make cdp backups in addition to full backups.
I sincerely sympathize with all the victims.
When I edit routes, I save only the route in .cdp format via CM on my computer on another HDD and on external media every day. Sometimes several times a day if there are a lot of changes.
The rest of the routes that I like are stored the same way, but with all the dependencies. I can restore anything from scratch at any time.
When I'm tired of everything, I delete everything except packages folder. I do this a lot.
When I edit routes, I save only the route in .cdp format via CM on my computer on another HDD and on external media every day. Sometimes several times a day if there are a lot of changes.
The rest of the routes that I like are stored the same way, but with all the dependencies. I can restore anything from scratch at any time.
When I'm tired of everything, I delete everything except packages folder. I do this a lot.
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PhilChorusch01
Well-known member
In the User Data, Backups folder all backups are sorted by date. Allowing you to revert to the last 7 days 'by default'.
Chances are you may not have lost anything??
Chances are you may not have lost anything??
Dear route creators, do not take your work so lightly. Saving a route takes less than a minute and little disk space. Dependencies are not a problem to restore again from scratch.
I will describe in detail how I do it, maybe it will help someone save their job in the future.
I save the route several times a day to the root of the disk for simplicity. I briefly mark in the title what has been done (this can be changed to a normal name when necessary). At the end of the day, I select one or two of the most important copies from several copies and copy them to a permanent storage location and to external media. As I move along, I also delete some of the permanent storage locations after a while. In fact, this is done faster than writing this text. And do not use the Documents, Desktop, or other system folders to store backups. All this is located on the system partition "C" and can be lost when the system crashes.
This is a couple of months' work on the route. I haven't deleted the extra ones yet. Two folders with a route and a dependency folder:
I will describe in detail how I do it, maybe it will help someone save their job in the future.
I save the route several times a day to the root of the disk for simplicity. I briefly mark in the title what has been done (this can be changed to a normal name when necessary). At the end of the day, I select one or two of the most important copies from several copies and copy them to a permanent storage location and to external media. As I move along, I also delete some of the permanent storage locations after a while. In fact, this is done faster than writing this text. And do not use the Documents, Desktop, or other system folders to store backups. All this is located on the system partition "C" and can be lost when the system crashes.
This is a couple of months' work on the route. I haven't deleted the extra ones yet. Two folders with a route and a dependency folder:
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Once I had a fellow trainzer, he was the ex coalman on the steam locos, pleasant person to talk with, I was trying to help him as much as possible to keep his game and database in order, he was great routes builder but his overall PC skills were below average. He often handled files the way, he didn't understand well quite much to. I told him several times to not do it, I tried to explain him to not do, what he is not fully understanding to, I warned him to prevent data loss or major fails, but he didn't listen, he was just headstrong. I've spent tens of hours by tiding his PC and Trainzes up. Once he broke almost everything and when I reminded him about my warnings, he only accused me to be rude to him. Since then I couldn't continue helping him. He started to accuse me that I spit upon him. So now I had to leave him with his own advices, I let him be with his files mess alone. I was sorry but no other way... :-/
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I've tried a lot of different software to automatically complete various tasks and sooner or later it didn't end up being what I expected. Therefore, I adhere to the rule = if you want to do well, do it yourself.
How much people in the 21st century are willing to shift all sorts of things to something else. Some applications, it doesn't matter, as long as someone or something does it instead.
I recommend reading a short book by the famous philosopher Erich Fromm, "Escape from Freedom." It was written back in 1941, but it is more relevant than ever in the 21st century.
Sorry for my senile grumbling and off-top.
How much people in the 21st century are willing to shift all sorts of things to something else. Some applications, it doesn't matter, as long as someone or something does it instead.
I recommend reading a short book by the famous philosopher Erich Fromm, "Escape from Freedom." It was written back in 1941, but it is more relevant than ever in the 21st century.
Sorry for my senile grumbling and off-top.
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