In MS Project 2003, updates were not captured

[Joe K]

Recently working with multiple projects open on my desktop, using one
document to copy tasks and other info into a new project, I lost quite a bit
of work by the end of the day when I found that none of the changes were
actually saved.

I noticed at times during the day, there were occurences of copying or
typing an update, alt-tabbing to another document, and returning to find the
update was not there. Not sure if this is related, but seems similar in
nature to the final end result.

Any help would be much appreciated in helping me find the lost data and/or
preventing future problems.

Thanks.

 

[John]

Recently working with multiple projects open on my desktop, using one
document to copy tasks and other info into a new project, I lost quite a bit
of work by the end of the day when I found that none of the changes were
actually saved.

I noticed at times during the day, there were occurences of copying or
typing an update, alt-tabbing to another document, and returning to find the
update was not there. Not sure if this is related, but seems similar in
nature to the final end result.

Any help would be much appreciated in helping me find the lost data and/or
preventing future problems.

Thanks.

Joe,
Using copy and paste is a very inefficient way of creating a new project
file from other project files - unless you are only copying a task or
two. Better methods include using a template file or building the new
file through a consolidated master.

In the template approach, you simply save the base file as a template
and then open it any number of times to create new files. The template
has all the formatting and custom views, table, etc. in place which can
save a lot of time.

In the consolidated master approach, first open a new blank file. Then
go to Insert/Project and select whichever projects you wish to include
in the new file. Before you hit "Insert", uncheck the "Link to project"
option in the lower right corner of the Insert Project window.

What you will have is a statically consolidated master which means that
the entire contents of each subproject has been "copied" into a new
file. It is much easier to delete unwanted tasks from a static master
than to build a new file from copied pieces of other files. Just be
careful when you delete so you don't inadvertently delete a summary that
has some of the tasks you want to keep in the new file. However, unlike
a template file, you will not retain any custom formatting or views but
some of that information can be transferred with the Organizer.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP