How many versions would you say is enough

[josvill2010]

Hi,

I was wondering if you would have any advice when it comes to save a new version of your workings.
Lately, i have found myself saving a version after another making my folder looks very untidy. What would you advice to keep your versions nice and tidy?

When do you decide a new version is needed? I have seen people using almost a version per day..
I am afraid to move old version to a new folder called 'old' and for all the vlookup links to stop workings.



Best Regards,
jsoe

 

[jmacleary]

Hi there. This is very much like asking 'how long is a piece of string' The answer will vary wildly depending on a number of factors. I list a few here:
-complexity of the workbooks (how easy to recreate)
-how frequently they are updated
-whether you are on a stand-alone machine or network (if a network there should be backup procedures in place for you)
-how stable is your working environment (machine crashes, excel crashes, etc) personally I have had issues with excel corrupting my workbooks if I have a lot of odbc connections in.
Excel has a 1 level backup feature built in (it always saves the backup to the same folder) - to use it you need to do a save as..., then click on the Tools option at the bottom, select General Options and check Always Create backup

You could set up a simple batch process that copies all your sensitive files to a backup location (providing you move them back into the original folder if you need them, before opening, the links won't get changed) and then set that up to be run automatically once a day (or however frequently you feel necessary).

Whilst not an answer, I hope these thoughts are of some assistance.

John