[Solved] Disappearing projects?

I had a project I was working on and had exports of it. The exported files are still there, but the entire project folder and it's contents are gone. No one has access to this computer and I am positive I didn't delete it.
 
Has this happened to any of you guys?

That entire folder is gone, no trace that ever existed other than the fact I know it did and I had some saved exports from it. No other projects have disappeared. So, I have tried to locate it.
 
I don't save projects to different locations, just the default "cakewalk projects" folder. I have X3 only installed.
 
I was actually backing up the project folder when I noticed it was gone... It's got me baffled. I have never had this happen with Sonar or any other program.

First not to insult you with the obvious use Windows search. 
You have most likely saved it to a different location then what your normally using. 
Sonar does not automatically put you files in your default location. 
 
SAVE- saves the currant open project to exactly where it was opened from.  
SAVE AS - will give you the option to save the project to a different location. You should always check the Copy Audio box too. 

When you create a new project, Sonar will save it by default to the folder specified in Preferences for Cakewalk Projects.
 
You are, of course, allowed to save anywhere you choose, so you could/can override Sonar's default project folder location and put it anywhere on your computer you wish.
 
I don't know how it would have ended up anywhere else, other than by you either altering the path during the initial creation of the project, or by manually moving or copying the project after the initial save of it.  Wherever you opened it from is what gets placed in the history list (quick access) displayed when you first launch Sonar.
 
If what you wanted to open does not appear in that list, and you click Open, then Sonar will open the folder path listed in Preferences for Cakewalk Projects.
 
If you routinely use a folder that is different from what is listed in Preferences for Cakewalk Projects, I would suggest you update the folder listed in Preferences to be that of the one you are routinely using, so that it makes the process of opening and saving projects simpler, as they intended.
 
Anyways, good luck, 
 
Bob Bone
 

johnnyV
So if your office had a couple of three drawer filing cabinets and you were in the habit of putting all you Documents in one drawer without using folders and dates this would create the same mess. Your boss asks for a document from 3 months ago you need to know where it will be. 
Are you starting to get it?

does my office have an intern living in that filing cabinet who indexes and timestamps all the files i throw into that single drawer? best practice of document housekeeping has been superseded by the search paradigm (did you try searching for it?)

i'm with you johnnyv, but not everyone is, and the point i was trying to make is that users aren't encouraged to do it any more, rather to just use the (that word again) convenient search function

Always make note of the folders you save files to because if you save to a temp or tmp folder, Windows will erase it on the next reboot.

johnnyV
best practice of document housekeeping has been superseded by the search paradigm 
 
We each have our methods. 
 
I was also going to mention that you need to be careful of the practice of opening your projects from the drop down list. If you only have one version and copy of each project ( real bad idea) then this is not so much an issue. 
But if you are doing a good job of backing up, you will have more than one copy and most likely on a different drive.   
You could end up opening and working on a project that is not the original, but the back up file.
I always OPEN and browse to the correct folder and working copy of the project for this reason.
I have Sonar set to OPEN at the root of my Project Data drive.  

Whatever works for the individual gets my vote.
 
I rely on the drop-down list, and it never fails me, or I open the project manually from the Cakewalk Projects folder, which also never fails me.
 
The reason neither method fails is because when I work on any project, I manually copy the entire project folder to a backup location, AND rename both the backed up folder and its embedded cwp project file, so that there is no mistake in getting the name wrong on a subsequent open.
 
So, for me, I never get the names or locations wrong - they are always in the same place, and always have the proper name.
 
Bob Bone
 

Sure - as we had pointed out earlier - whatever works and makes sense to the individual is the key - AND making sure to follow the process, whatever it is.
 
Scar tissue is nature's way of letting you know you learned something the hard way.  Ripping that scar tissue open anew is nature's way of letting you know you still have some learning to do, and that the lesson that produced the first set of scar tissue was apparently not painful enough.
 
Bob Bone