Garbage backup files on desktop?

xennon · 6 Dec 2010, 13:27

Hi,

I cannot understand why SU (currently v8 but it did it in v7 as well) keeps creating a myriad of .skb files and dumping them on my desktop and leaving them there after closing down.

I've checked the preferences and anywhere else I can find where a folder is involved and made sure they point to where I want them to point and yet randomly I keep getting these spurious files created and scattered over my desktop.

Does anyone know why this is happening and more importantly how to stop it?

(I did see one mention of this feature that implied that it might happen if the project files are being accessed via a network or the target drive is not available - In my case, everything is local so it's not a drive access issue or a network one. Must be something else.)

Any ideas?

TIG · 6 Dec 2010, 13:44

You can stop the backup files [.SKB] from being made [although remember that they are a useful safety-net if you 'corrupt' a SKP you can go back to the last 'good' version].
To stop making SKBs use Sketchup's Menu > Preferences > General > Saving and un-tick the 'Create Backup' box, you can also stop the 'Auto-save' by un-ticking that box too - but then you need to save at critical points 'manually' and there will be no 'backups' if things do go wrong. If you have the SKB backup making box ticked then a SKB will be made in the same folder as the SKP. If you move or rename that SKP you'll get a matching SKB put in the new location or using the new name, and now
there'll still be one in the old location/name too... The SKB is a version of the SKP as it was at the previous save... i.e. one save behind the current SKP. To use a SKB simply rename it with a .SKP suffix and you can open it as normal...

Dave R · 6 Dec 2010, 13:51

Out of curiosity, are the SKP files you're working on saved to your desktop.

On my machines, even though I have specified a directory in which my files are to be saved, if I open a file that resides in a different directory such as Downloads, which is commonly used for files others send me, the SKB files are also created in that directory. Basically the SKB is created in the same location as the SKP file is saved.

Anssi · 6 Dec 2010, 14:35

Just a stab in the dark: Are some of your default file paths pointing to somewhere inside the Program Files folder?

Anssi

xennon · 6 Dec 2010, 16:00

All the SKP files I work on are in various folders - I try to group similar models in separate folders. Sometimes (ie usually) I will open one file from some place but only use it as a starter and save it to another folder as I make changes so as to keep the original unchanged. I never have any SU files (or any other type of file except shortcuts) on my desktop.

As for SU's folder setup - I have ALL of the options set to point to *D:\SKETCHUP* from the Preferences > Files dialog.

The fact that this is a seemingly random occurrence makes it a bit more mysterious and odd.

I might have to resort to turning off the auto-save option for 2 reasons - (1) The issue I am currently having and (2) All those SKB files being scattered all over my system and not being removed can amount to a lot of lost space if I forget to chase them down. I like the idea of auto-save, but dislike the waste they generate especially on my desktop.

Does anyone know (given my workflow) what else might be causing this?

xennon · 6 Dec 2010, 16:04

@anssi said:

Just a stab in the dark: Are some of your default file paths pointing to somewhere inside the Program Files folder?

Anssi

No, they stored on a completely separate drive in their own folder structure specific to SU. ie D:\SketchUp...

Dave R · 6 Dec 2010, 17:20

Is that drive always available?

I've used SketchUp for many years on several different XP machines as well as on Mac and have never seen it stick SKB files anywhere except the directory in which the SKP file has been saved. I'm not saying it couldn't but I've also never seen this mentioned by anyone else, either.

xennon · 6 Dec 2010, 18:08

@dave r said:

Is that drive always available?

Yes, it is - it's an internal 2nd drive. It's odd that it's not happening to others. I can't think what setting I might have that's different - it's a standard install.

xennon · 6 Dec 2010, 18:13

@dave r said:

I've also never seen this mentioned by anyone else, either.

This is where I saw someone else report the same issue ...

Error 404 (Not Found)!!1

(www.google.com)

Dave R · 6 Dec 2010, 23:43

Doesn't sound like a pandemic anyway. It is quite strange, though.

mitcorb · 7 Dec 2010, 00:43

This is not the same issue but similar:
I got skb's on my desktop when I tried to use a usb jump drive to save files directly to it. I realized that I needed to save on main drive, copy paste to usb drive, and do similar on the destination pc (moving files from home to workplace)
Another stab in the dark, but could some setting in windows preferring the C drive be part of the problem?

Gaieus · 7 Dec 2010, 10:22

I also have my documents defined on a partitioned D drive (not straight under D however) and my file path set to D\My documents_SketchUp (which is my custom folder).

Now I generally do not have any issues with it. True however that SU saves the skb file always in the same directory where my original skp file is. If I temporarily download something (like models from these forums), I usually save them on the desktop (and later delete). In such cases the skb file is of course created on my desktop. But if I saved them on the Moon, they would probably be created there.

xennon · 7 Dec 2010, 11:01

@gaieus said:

If I temporarily download something (like models from these forums), I usually save them on the desktop (and later delete). In such cases the skb file is of course created on my desktop.

I don't do that - I stipulate (without exception) where everything I download it placed. And I never (almost never) put any actual files on the desktop - only shortcuts.

Given that SU is the foreground app and I rarely minimize it while working, it's hard to know when it is happening since they are behind SU. I have even tried re-opening the last file to see if it would do it again with that file but invariably it doesn't. It's freaky - and I can't force SU to do it nor can I predict when it will do it.

I might try changing my default folders to yet another drive and see if that does anything.

I actually have a RAID controller with 2 drives hanging off it (don't know which ones) - perhaps my SU default paths are on one of those drives and for some reason SU occasionally dislikes writing to them. The RAID is not used as a RAID setup, only as extra IDE channels in order to support more HDDs. I'm only guessing here, but it could be related.

RLHartwig · 23 Feb 2012, 15:21

I too have the same problem.
I wish I didn't have but one choice to turn off the backups and auto saves but a way to provide a folder for them to be saved in that I could find every time I needed to go back and restore a file that had been lost or corrupted. The whole idea of having autosave files and backup files that are directed to any folder by default and not to a folder that I can specify then just adds to the torment if a file is lost. Then you are searching your computer to find the files you need to restore the project. I save things regularly but when I'm in the heat of design I like having that autosave every ten minutes or so. But if it is going to save 13 or 14 files to my desktop every time I make a project I can't have it. my desktop would be filled with SKB files with no room for anything else. Is there another fix for this somewhere?

david. · 23 Feb 2012, 16:48

I've never had a .skp or .skb file stored on the Desktop except if I explicitly pointed to that location.