New
#1
Amazing! Windows Update re-boot saved my open windows!
Wow... was this remarkable!
I was working for about 40 minutes writing an email, and hadn't done a "save draft" along the way which I probably should have done.
Unbeknownst to me (well, actually I did see the Windows Update icon appear in the System Tray, so I really did have a clue that the process was proceeding while I was working on that email) when Windows Update decided to just go ahead and re-boot to complete the installation of the updates it had applied it was just going to go ahead and re-boot!!! No matter that I was busy working in my email program... it's time to re-boot!!!
Well I'm surprised you didn't hear the screams coming from out here in LA when I realized the system was shutting down (i.e. restarting). And I got hysterical, trying to figure out how I was ever going to be able to re-think and re-type what now was about 45 minutes of email composition that I'd been foolish enough not to pre-save for self-protection.
Unbelievable. I was paralyzed with annoyance.
Anyway, after the re-boot the desktop appeared and all was normal.
Unbelievably depressed, I launched my email program (Forte's AGENT v6.0). What to my wondering eyes should appear... but all of the very same previously open tabs and in particular the composition window exactly as it was under construction, which had been open a few minutes earlier when Windows Update initiated the forced re-boot!
Apparently, the open data in the composition window was auto-saved by Win7 when the program was shut down by the operating system forced re-boot, and then was reinserted automatically when the program was next opened. In fact, the state of the program (i.e. open tabs) was also saved... because all of those open tabs were also restored when the program was next opened. Either that or the auto-save by Win7 was going on continuously, having nothing to do with either Agent or the forced re-boot from Windows Update.
Now, on a related note, I have seen the very same much-appreciated auto-save when an unexpected power outage in my building suddenly occurred as I was composing a very long post in a composition window of Firefox (just like now) for another web forum. You can imagine my horror when the power outage occurred and the machine shut down, and I expected to lose the whole composition which I'd been working on for so long.
Well, when the power came back and I booted the computer, and then re-opened Firefox... lo and behold all of the previously open tabs at the instant of the power failure magically reappeared, including that open composition window WITH ALL OF MY TEXT STILL IN IT!
So, am I over-reacting? Or is this something really brand new (and MUCH-APPRECIATED) in Win7, or is there some other explanation? I cannot remember having this kind of experience in WinXP.
Also, whereas the graceful shutdown/re-boot caused by Windows Update is one thing... and I can understand how certain reasonable steps could be implemented to deal with currently open windows and data. But to have similar fail-safe frequent auto-save handling of all in-progress windows (Firefox, Agent, etc.) to deal with unexpected power outages... now that is really a thoughtful innovation.
Am I imagining things? Has this actually been around for a while, or is it just new in Win7? Regardless... IT'S A LIFE SAVER!!