Files are not being saved correctly

I have a macbook pro 17" running leopard. i am not as learned as i'm sure of all you are in the ways of the computer....

for work, i use Illustrator and Excel a lot. and i have been having problems with working on files and keeping them saved. i hit save every couple minutes, and despite that, at the end of the day i close the file and find the next morning when i reopen the file, all my work is reduced to the early stages of the document.

i know this sounds like something that shouldn't be happening. i make sure to save a lot because sometimes those programs crash randomly on me.

any help would be greatly appreciated. i have lost hours and hours of work on budgets and floorplans.

thanks!

Branden

I don't know about Illustrator, but MS Office has an option to autosave every so often. The automatic save feature can save the document without you having to do so. You can also create a backup upon opening the Office file.

As for your problem, it sounds as if you may be saving the file(s) in question but not to a location where they can be quickly found.

Have you tried to use Spotlight to locate the file(s) that you're saving every so often? And when you do save them, be sure to check the file path. Save them to your Documents folder where they can be quickly located.

Regards.

thanks man. i feel like a moron.

my computer had saved 2 copies of the files. one where i wanted, the other file was in a different folder. it saved all the updated info in the folder that should not of had that document in it.

Sometimes the recent files menu in Illustrator can help you track down files that you may have somehow lost