Please protect yourself from corrupted scores
It is saddening to see the reports of users who have lost hours of work through a corrupted score file. Please fellow MuseScorers, invest a little time in a file versioning strategy and your losses will be minimal.
It is not sufficient to simply save a file diligently when it represents many hours of your time. What if your diligently saved file develops an unrecoverable issue?
File issues happen. It's a (hopefully rare) fact of life in the world of computing. A file can become corrupt due to hardware or software failings; it can be accidentally, (or malciously), deleted; you can make changes that you wished you hadn't; computers can die unexpectedly, get lost or even stolen.
It is simply not worth risking hours, (days?, months?), of work by commiting any important file to a single version. This applies to any computer file, not just music scores.
Implement file versioning and backups. It doesn't need to cost you any money, just a small amount of your time.
MuseScore.com score versioning
You could at least use musescore.com uploads as a backup for scores, even ones that are not finished. It is not necessary to make your uploads public and you don't need a pro account. MuseScore.com does automatic file versioning for you.
Select a score, press the 3-dots option, use Revision History on the menu:
More Information on File Versioning
Here's a short and clear article on file versioning principles:
https://filestage.io/blog/file-versioning/
Comments
:(
Bad bot. I refuse to click on any of your links, unless it helps recover crypto coins I've lost. That's all I'm looking for on musescore.org !
In reply to :( Bad bot. I refuse to… by babysharkbull
Sorry but it's only advice for file protection.
No idea what crypto coins are or how to recover them; maybe check the pockets of your clothes waiting in the laundry basket.
The link is to a concise and well written blog on file versioning:
In reply to :( Bad bot. I refuse to… by babysharkbull
AHAHAHAHAH
Thanks. Some good ideas.
Personally, I never save to the cloud. Only to my computer. And I never use just SAVE. But rather SAVE AS with a new version number.
After the first session of "Random Tune", I SAVE AS "Random Tune 1". After the second session, "Random Tune 2". As they stack up, earlier versions could be deleted. Or not.
In reply to Thanks. Some good ideas… by bobjp
What happens if your computer gets stolen? No cloud backups?
I save to local computer, synced to OneDrive and use file versioning, (for both scores and plugin developments).
In reply to What happens if your… by yonah_ag
I know. But what happens when the internet is not working? I also save to an external drive.
In reply to I know. But what happens… by bobjp
A good move provided your external drive is not kept close to your computer.
I use the cloud as a backup so, in the unlikely event of needing this backup I would be doubly unlucky if the internet was not available.
All my main folders, (not just MS files), are stored locally and cloud synced. Some of them use file versioning.
In reply to Thanks. Some good ideas… by bobjp
Don't just save to your computer. What if your hard disk has a defect? Then all your "Random Tunes X" will no longer be available!
A backup is always recommended, whether in the cloud (can also be a different one than musescore.com) or on an external drive.
And the chance of my computer being stolen is much smaller than the chance of my hard disk becoming defective! (I have a desktop version ...)
In reply to Don't just save to your… by HildeK
There are ways to read an HHD that goes bad. And of course a backup is a good idea.
I use version control for everything. In addition I've additional backup to local disks, on One Drive and on a secure file server. Sounds maybe a little paranoid but it's not primarily setup for private use but for my work where I need access to thousands of files at any time from anywhere with or without my personal computer. Backup and synchronisation is automated so manual interaction hardly needed. So far, I've not lost anything the last 20 years or so. Of course, it need to be adopted now and then depending on technology development. I'm not using musescore.com for MS backup.
In reply to I use version control for… by TomStrand
A robust strategy indeed.