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Disable autosave

Hello, anybody figured out how one can disable autosave? I just *don't* want it, and I have my reasons.

Thanks,


l.

Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Jul 21, 2011 10:30 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 21, 2011 10:32 AM

I don't think so.

696 replies

Sep 9, 2011 9:25 AM in response to lucafrombrooklyn

This is a major problem and a deal breaker for me. I use the same sheets over and over throughout the day and everytime I goto another cell and start typing w/o looking, I look up to see my numbers are not there but a nice little spin wheel is...wth. I love Apple products but this appears to be a change to change and should have an on off switch at least. Furthmore, changing names from save/save as etc... is just confusing and only makes us re-learn something rather than moving forward. This actually takes more time now like the address book, flip flopping back and forth to see groups etc... total BS This reminds of some of the changes softy has done over the years. Lets do less clicks not more and build on what we know not re-invent the wheel.

Sep 14, 2011 9:29 PM in response to Bob_H

Bob_H wrote:


My biggest issue with Versions, if you open a file to look at its content the original creation date is changed. It is a useless unneeded feature for experienced computer users.


Constant wirtes and read to find the "latest" version the operaton is mind boggling. further if the creation date for a legal docment changed you now have a useless file in your posession that has no legal benefit..


This very idea failed miserably in the 80-90 not sure why the the mind set is to force the change yet again..


While Lion performce is peppier than SL, the "i"TOY menatllity destroys any inherent usefulness, I went back to SL my MBP runs cooler since the drive is not constantly bombarded with reads and uncessary writes.


Apple may yet get it right and make Versions an option for those who find that level of handholding a comfort. and for those of us that understnad the need to save our work or at least backup can disable Versions.


When they get it it right I may try Lion again.


My $.02.

Bob_H hit the nail on the head.


Why does Apple not listen?


As a customer, this is really making me want to switch back to Windows. Lion is not for lawyers!

Sep 15, 2011 5:48 AM in response to stefano67

stefano67 wrote:


Good choice Marc.

I did the same after 2 days of Lion. I would suggest to ask for your money back.I did and I got it.

Lion is "parc" (read it right to left) but customer service is excellent (and I believe they understand what Lion is...)

Good suggestion Stefano!

I just asked for my money back and got agreement in less than 3 hours. I've always found Apple's Customer Service to be excellent - it just didn't occur to me to ask for a refund until your post.

I also suspect that Apple inc. is even more likely to take notice of customers asking for their money back (even if it is only £20) than to plain product feedback?

Sep 15, 2011 5:57 AM in response to hairynugget

I'm happy you made it.

And I agree with you, asking 20 pounds back is worth thousands of forum comments...


Nevertheless, I hope to see soon a Lion with FrontRow, Expose+Spaces, customizable Finder sidebar, iCal sidebar, Address book with groups, contacts and details altogether and WITHOUT autosave/versions.

That day I will buy it again, even at 50 pounds

Sep 15, 2011 6:07 AM in response to stefano67

stefano67 wrote:


Nevertheless, I hope to see soon a Lion with FrontRow, Expose+Spaces, customizable Finder sidebar, iCal sidebar, Address book with groups, contacts and details altogether and WITHOUT autosave/versions.

That day I will buy it again, even at 50 pounds

I agree 100% with that!

This was a first for me - I've never before been disappointed with an Apple product to the point where I felt a refund was justified, but I'd happily pay a premium for a version of Lion that does what I need it to.

Sep 15, 2011 8:55 AM in response to lucafrombrooklyn

Nothing new in this article.

The fact that Version doesn't apply to networks or non HFS+ devices was described in the week after the Lion's delivery.

It seems that some users are asleep.


Yvan KOENIG (VALLAURIS, France) jeudi 15 septembre 2011 17:55:19

iMac 21”5, i7, 2.8 GHz, 4 Gbytes, 1 Tbytes, mac OS X 10.6.8 and 10.7.0

My iDisk is : <http://public.me.com/koenigyvan>

Please : Search for questions similar to your own before submitting them to the community

Sep 15, 2011 12:27 PM in response to lucafrombrooklyn

I understand Apple wants:

  • full control over the device and thus needs to force user behavior in a way
  • the same OS on multiple devices (OSX + iOS) / 2 = future os.
  • combinations of devices (iPad + MBPro) / 2 = future device.
  • the best for us.


Everybody makes mistakes Apple! Quality matters and sometimes that means Undo of a feature (or Revert .. if you like); disable autosave and enable the filesystem on iOS devices for those who like ...

Sep 15, 2011 5:35 PM in response to enamic5

The solution to the keynote problem is to downgrade keynote to version 5.05. This is the one without autosave enabled. Search for a post of mine in a long discussion about keynote and Lion for the directions on how to do it. Keynote version 5.05 works flawlessly with Lion sans autosave. You need a Yvan Koenig script to get it done and an earlier version of iwork to install.


By the way, for those who think that autosave is an unimportant workflow issue that is complained of only by whiners who can't deal with change - they are dead wrong in the case of keynote and autosave. Autosave makes keynote 5.1 completely useless and unusable. This is clearly not a mere workflow issue in the case of people who depend on keynote in their business and professional lives.

Sep 16, 2011 4:01 AM in response to fuzzydog

Likely its running out quicker and quicker.


Don't believe the Apple fairy-tale that Versions is an efficient way of storing your data. It's not.


If you want to reclaim all that space, go delete the .documentrevisions-V100 folder in the root directory of your hard disk.


Be aware that this will delete ALL Versions for ALL apps that support Versions.


To do that, you need to enable the root user, show hidden files and change the permissions on the folder. Here's how:


1. Show hidden files

In Terminal (Applications > utilities) type


defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES

(press Return)

killall Finder

(press Return)


2. Enable root user

Go to  > System Preferences...Users & Groups

Click 'Login Options'

Click 'Network Account Server: Join'

In the resulting dialogue box, ignore the text input and click the button below, 'Open Directory Utility'

Click the padlock at the bottom of the next box and enter your admin password.

At the top menu bar of Directory Utility, choose the 'Edit' menu > Enable Root User

If you are requested to set a password for it, set the same one as your Admin password (this ensures you won't forget it).


3. Change Permissions

Now go look in the root directory of your hard disk.

You should see a greyed out folder called 'DocumentRevisions-V100'. If it has a 'no entry' icon on it, click the folder and press 'Cmd-i' on the keyboard (or right click the folder and choose 'Get info').

Scroll down to the bottom of the box, click the padlock, and enter your admin/root password. Change all the permissions to 'read & write', and click on the 'gear wheel/cog' and choose 'Apply to enclosed items'.

Choose 'OK' in the warning dialogue box that appears.


4. Deleting Versions history

Now you are ready to go and look inside the Versions directory. I recommend you have a nosey about and check the file sizes both of the folder itself and of the individual contents. Now, here's warning: you can't just delete some of the contents in the folder. If you do, in about 24hrs Lion will see that the folder is corrupt and mark the whole thing as 'bad' and make a new Versions (.DocumentRevisions-V100) folder. What this means is that you will lose access to Versions in the UI, but you won't get your disk space back as it won't delete the 'bad' folder.


The only option is to either lock the thing back up and leave it alone, OR delete the entire .DocumentRevisions-V100 folder with all its contents. What happens then is that Lion will make a new, empty folder to replace it, and start filling it up with versions you make from then on. You'll have reclaimed your disk space (and removed all your previous versions), but you'll need to keep doing the same process at regular intervals.


NOTES

a. No, this does not affect your original saves or any duplicates. Only the versions.

b. Messing about as a root user can have serious consequences if you **** with other stuff. Do as the instructions above say and nothing else unless you know what you're doing. After you've deleted the Versions folder and emptied the trash, go back to Directory Utility > Edit and disable the root user.

c. To stop seeing the hidden files, type the same command as given in 1. above into Terminal, but change 'YES' to 'NO'. Don't forget to do the 'killall' command afterwards.

Disable autosave

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