There are a few definitions of “Save” on www.dictionary.com:
- To keep from being lost: to save the game.
- Computers. To copy (a file) from RAM onto a disk or other storage medium.
- To keep safe, intact, or unhurt; safeguard; preserve.
I think that in the computing sense, when working on that all-important report or code file, all of the above apply. You should get into the habit of constantly saving your work. If you don’t know many keyboard shortcuts and find menus/toolbars keep you from saving regularly, then learn at least this one:
I do this all the time. Constantly. I’ll type a few words, hit CTRL+S, finish a sentence, hit CTRL+S, realise I made a mistake, correct it, hit CTRL+S.
I repeat: You should always be saving your work.
Too many times have I had phonecalls and questions like this:
“If my computer/Word/the internet/universe crashes while I was working, can I get back what I didn’t save?”
Or worse still:
“I closed my document and accidentally clicked ‘no’ when it asked me if I wanted to save…”
And I hate having to say that most of the time, the answer is “Not really”. Sure, Word has the autorecovery feature, but it won’t help if you’re the one that closed Word without saving, and it’s not 100%. Plus, if you rely on it, it’ll bite you in the ass when you’re working in another application.
So please, (CTRL+S) for your own sake, (CTRL+S) make sure you save your work regularly. (CTRL+S)