This thread is a warning to always backup your files.

I had a PC crash yesterday while I was editing my demon mod. The IWD file was open and the system crashed for a hardware failure (it's okay, I am currently overclocking my CPU and hunting for a stable voltage). When I restarted and tried to open the IWD file, WinRar gave the error that the rar file was corrupt. I used several methods to retrieve the damage files (the built-in retrieval system and 3 third-party programs), but I lost about a years work. I could have sworn I had backups, but I was shocked to find I had not backed up my current mod files since August last year. I lost literally hundreds of hours work, the most important being the conversion of the menu language system from the Quake 3 one to the one used in COD4 (using defs and templates), and my rather impressive account system.

One thing I learnt about the way WinRar works (other than to backup your files regularly) is that if you lose any files, it will always be the versions that have changed since your last back up. WinRar keeps a record of your backups without you knowing about it (see the WinRar temp folder), comparing all rar files named the same. So, effectively, the retrieval system will simply pull (WinRar temp) files from your last backup and use them as a comparison sheet. So, the version the retrieval systems gave was basically my backed up files. Meaning these programs are pretty pointless if you have at least some files backed up.

Oh well! I have some serious work to be doing in the next couple of months.