Always save your file to Work in Progress first and then work from there to avoid the possibility of files becoming corrupted. The Labs are not responsible for missing or damaged files, tapes or other media used in the Labs.

Back-up your files and media. Labs are not responsible for files stored locally at workstations. Such files may be accessed by other users and are subject to deletion by other users. When you are done, copy your files to your removable media to take with you. Delete your files from the local computer drive, both for security and to make disk space for the next user.

Always save to Work In Progress. Then copy your file from there to the Drop Box or your removable storage disk. If you save directly to your disk, it may result in disk error or could corrupt your files. If you are trying to save to the Hard Drive and not Work In Progress, you may get this error. The Hard Drive is locked so you cannot copy to or from it. If you get the error when trying to copy to your disk, it may be that your disk is damaged, in which case you can go to a Disk Utilities Station to check it. For more information see Repairs, Disk Utilities Stations.

There are two principal causes:

Cause 1: Writing files directly to your disk. Files can become corrupt. When you work in the Labs, make sure that you work with files located in Work In Progress and when you are done copy the files onto your disk.

Cause 2: Pulling a portable drive from the computer without properly unmounting it. To properly unmount, on a Mac drag the disk icon to trash and on a Windows PC right-click the icon in the system tray and select disconnect or eject. Go to a Disk Utilities Station, located near the reception area, to scan and repair your disk.

It is likely that your disk has problems. Go to a Disk Utilities Station located near the reception desk at 55 West 13th Street 8th fl. Scan and repair your disk to fix file problems. Then, duplicate all existing files from this external disk into Work In Progress. Reformat your external disk and transfer your files from Work In Progress to the newly formatted disk. If that does not work, consult lab staff.

In Microsoft Office Programs (Word, Excel, etc.), there is an automatic data recovery system that may save your work. After you have restarted your computer, open the program and your document should open automatically if the program is able to recover it.

Some other programs offer an auto-save option, which you would need to configure. In Adobe and other graphic programs (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.), there is no data recovery system. You need to remember to save your files periodically so that you do not lose any of your work if your computer crashes. The labs are not responsible for missing or damaged files.

Free up memory by closing programs you are not currently using. If that does not work, restart your computer. Remember to open the application which requires the most memory first, if you are going to use two or more applications at the same time. You may need to delete all extra files from Work In Progress to make room, save your file, and restart the computer. If using Illustrator or Photoshop, change or set Scratch Disk to Work In Progress.

Try not to have more than one application running at the same time to keep memory allocated to the one you're using. Never work off your USB, the Drop Box, or an email attachment. Always copy the file to the Work In Progress, and open and work from there. You may need to delete all extra files from Work In Progress drive to make room. You may need to save your file and restart the computer. If using Illustrator, Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, or a similar program, change or set Scratch Disk to Work In Progress.

Right click on the file then select extract all. This will create a folder called Quicklook in which there is a PDF with the text of the document. You can then copy and paste the text portion into a MS Word document.

You can also save directly to MS Word from the iWorks Pages application from your computer.