Have you ever opened up Storybook Creator Plus and you couldn't find the project you were just working on? Oooohhh … isn't that SOOOOO frustrating?!
For me, that often happens because I had it stored on an external drive and maybe I didn't remember to plug it in before I opened the program. Then I have to go through the extra steps of doing that and pointing SBC+ back to where it is supposed to look.
If you left the default folders in place when you installed Storybook Creator Plus, your Storybook projects and other content should all be in the same place. But the software does allow you to save your projects in different locations … it's your choice.
So what do you do if you “misplace” a project? Or better yet, if it's accidentally deleted? Yikes!
Well, first of all, don't panic. You can do a search through your hard drive for the page files for your project and hopefully locate it that way. Just go to the Search box (this will be located in different places depending on whether you're running Windows Vista or XP). In the search box, type *.page and then enter to do the search. It may come up with dozens and dozens of pages because each page you create in Storybook Creator Plus will be listed. You'll want to look at the column on the far right that says Folder. That will tell you where your pages are located.
If all goes well, that in itself should help you locate your missing project. (Don't forget to do this search inside the Recycle Bin, too, if you don't find it on a normal search. You never know what you may be able to rescue.)
All of this leads to one of the key tenets of the computer world: you MUST backup. It's not difficult to backup those Storybook folders. Each individual project, whether you just make a 4×6 Thank You card or a 70 page Storybook, is located in its own named folder. All it takes to back it up is to copy that whole folder onto a disc, thumb drive or external.
If you've known me for long, you know that I'm a huge proponent of the external hard drive backup. It's simple and fast (and with Memory Manager 3.0 it can house an automatic, hands-free backup that is priceless). I regularly just copy my entire Creative Memories folder (with all of my Storybook projects and personal content) to the external drive. Keep in mind, though, that a secondary backup may be appropriate from time to time just for safety's sake. External drives, just like everything else in the digital world, can fail. Keeping a backup DVD of your projects in a safe place is also a great idea.
So, I'm off the soapbox. I know that lectures are never fun. Just know that I'm only telling you this for your own good. (And my peace of mind. :))