Microsoft Office Project 2003 Inside Out

After your hard work creating, updating, and tracking your project file, you want to make the file as secure as possible. The further you get into the life cycle of the project, the more information you have in the project plan. The more information stored there, the more devastating a file loss can be.

Saving Project Files Automatically

Although it's not hard to remember to click the Save button every few minutes while working, you can also have Microsoft Project remember for you. You can set Microsoft Project to automatically and regularly save your file every few minutes. This can decrease your risk of losing recent work.

To have Microsoft Project automatically save active and open projects, follow these steps:

1. Click Tools, Options.

2. In the Options dialog box, click the Save tab.

3. Under Auto Save, select the Save Every check box, and then enter how often (in minutes) you want Microsoft Project to automatically save your active or open projects.

4. If you want Microsoft Project to save only the active project, select the Save Active Project Only option.

5. If you want Microsoft Project to save the active project along with any other open projects, select the Save All Open Project Files option.

Inside Out: Turn off the autosave prompt

It can be handy to be notified when your application will perform an action that you might not otherwise be aware of. However, you might find the Prompt Before Saving feature annoying. You've already instructed Microsoft Project to save your file at a frequency that you specified. If you don't want to be asked whether or not you want to save at every specified interval, clear the Prompt Before Saving check box. However, if you frequently experiment with what-if scenarios in your project file, you might want to be prompted before it saves one of your experiments.

Backing Up Your Project Files

It's always a good policy to have at least two copies of any important computer file. This way, if the file is inadvertently deleted or somehow is corrupted (or if you get a little crazy with your what-if scenarios), you have another file to go back to.

To automatically create backups of active project files, do the following:

1. Click File, Save As.

2. In the Save As dialog box, click Tools and then click General Options.

   The Save Options dialog box appears (see Figure 29-8).

   Figure 29-8: Use the Save Options dialog box to set up file backups and passwords.

3. Select the Always Create Backup check box.

The backup copy adopts the same filename as the original project file, but has a different extension. BAK is appended to the filename of all backup copies. For example, the backup file of "deployment.mpp" is "deployment.bak."

To restore a backup file as a regular project file, follow these steps:

1. On the Standard toolbar, click the Open button.

2. In the Open dialog box, browse, if necessary, to the drive and folder where the backup file is stored.

3. Be sure that All Files (*.*) is selected in the Files Of Type box.

   Otherwise, files ending in .bak will not appear in the list.

4. Find the backup file and double-click it.

   Microsoft Project opens the backup file.

5. Click File, Save As.

6. The Save As dialog box appears.

   If necessary, browse to the location where you want to save the restored backup project file.

7. Enter a new filename for the restored backup file.

8. Make sure that Projects (*.mpp) is selected in the Save As Type box.

9. Click Save.

   Tip

   Keep a backup on a separate drive       Your project BAK file is a great contingency in case your project file is accidentally deleted or corrupted. However, if both the project and the backup are saved on the same drive and that drive crashes, your backup will be lost as well. Remember to periodically save a backup to an alternate drive.

Protecting Your Project Files with a Password

If you are not using Project Server as a central location for your company's project files, saving your project files to a public network folder is one way to have centralized project files. This enables your company to back up critical files more regularly and reliably. It also provides a convenient location for your co-workers to collaborate on projects. However, it can also allow unauthorized individuals access to files with sensitive or confidential information. Perhaps your project is in its initial phase and you aren't ready to share it with the rest of the company. Or maybe a project has information that should be seen only by a small group of people in your organization. If this is the case, consider assigning a password to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive project files.

There are two types of passwords: Protection and Write Reservation. To assign a password to a project, do the following:

1. Click File, Save As.

2. In the Save As dialog box, click Tools and then click General Options.

3. In the Save Options dialog box, enter the password in either the Protection Password or Write Reservation Password text box.

   With a protection password, users can open the project file only if they know the password.

   With a write-reservation password, users can view the project file, but they cannot change it.

4. Click OK.

5. In the Confirm Password dialog box, type the password again. Click OK.

   Tip

   The Read-Only Recommended option       If you want to remind users to open the project as Read-Only without locking out users who might have forgotten the password, consider the Read-Only Recommended check box. If you select this check box, the next time a user goes to open this file, a message suggests that the user open the file as read-only unless they need to save changes to the file. It then provides the option of opening the file as Read-Only or not.

Responding to a Microsoft Project Problem

If you encounter a problem with Microsoft Project, such as the program freezing or experiencing a "fatal error," you can send the details of the problem to the Microsoft Project development team. When the error happens, a dialog box is displayed, providing the option to restart Microsoft Project and view the details of the error report. If you want to provide information on the problem to Microsoft, click Send The Report To Microsoft. If you don't want to provide the information, click Don't Send.

Depending on the severity of the error, you might be able to continue working in Safe mode, at least to get to the point where you can save your file.

Inside Out: Don't send your proprietary project

Depending on the nature of the error you encounter, your entire project file could be sent to the Microsoft Project development team. If your project contains confidential information, be sure to click Don't Send.