Why?
Once every now and then files are corrupted during saving and we are prompted with an error message saying "Load failed" or something equally offensive. The most likely cause for this is due to a writing error when the file is saved.
It may also (for some versions) be a case of trying to open a file saved in a later service release than the program. Therefore, make sure that the program version is the same or newer than the one the file was last saved in. This can be done via Help>About, in the program. For the file this can be checked in File>Open, see the information field in the right column of the dialog box in figure two below.
What to do?
In FEM-Design there are two built-in functions that automatically backs up your file. To use the first recovery method go to File > Recovery files.
In the following dialog your automatically saved file should appear in the list and can be opened by clicking Open drawing.
Recovery files are saved in the directory set in Settings > Environment > Directories. Furthermore, in
Settings > Environment > General > System it’s possible to set the Timesave interval for which these files should be saved.
The second function, which backs up your model in case the program crashes, creates a copy of your model with the file extension *.str.bak. Look for files with this extension in your project folder where the model is saved and rename the extension to *.str and it will open as a normal model file. To do this, you may need to show hidden files and file name extensions.
The IT department at your company may have additional information for what to do in case something happens to one of your files.
What can I do to prevent corrupt files?
There are some possible measures to take in order to prevent losing valuable hours of work. As mentioned initially, the most common reason files get corrupt is when saving to a slow drive. When working directly with a file on a project’s network drive, for instance. It is recommended working with the file on a local disk with high writing speed capability.
Still, accidents happen, which is why backing up your files is always a good idea. Saving different versions as you go along as well as making copies to more than one physical drive and machine.
This can be automated with cloud services and services like BIMcontact, Dropbox or Google Drive so that your local file is continuously backed up to a remote project folder. The IT department at your company may have additional information for what to do to prevent any problems with your files.