TIP: How to force AutoCAD to save AutoSave time

Architect K.M. writes:

We have a persistent problem with AutoSave turning itself off. My hope was that we could somehow add it to the ACAD2010doc.lsp to force it to be turned on when AutoCAD is launched. We tried adding this string (setvar 'savetime>5) with no luck – what would the correct line be? Have you heard of this problem, and do you know a fix?

I have never heard of this problem. I would check to make sure the location where AutoCAD saves its .bak backup files and its .cfg configuration file is valid. You may want to check support.autodesk.com in case this is a known problem.

The correct syntax for saving the drawing every five minutes is:

(setvar "savetime" 5)

Change the 5 to any number of minutes you like. Five minutes is certainly the smallest, otherwise AutoCAD spends most of its time saving, especially with large drawings. 

Comments

[Owen Wengerd]

AutoSave doesn't "turn itself off"; something is turning it off. I would try adding a reactor that triggers some kind of alert when the variable changes to try pinpointing the culprit.

[R.K. McSwain]

Agree with Owen. Here is some sample reactor code.
http://cadpanacea.com/node/53

Also, it is good practice to edit "acaddoc.lsp" and to not modify "ACAD20xxdoc.lsp".

[x]

The Publish command will sometimes turn autosave off.