Some of us learned long ago to keep saved off versions of work in progress...under sequential names... simply because the computer WILL eat it if it thinks you are not looking. There is nothing quite as tasty as a 40 layer PhotoShop file with histogram garnish. Some of us also work professionally, where having backups means that when the producer changes his mind about a detail, you don't have to start from scratch. "I liked it better the other way" is not what an artist wants to hear, unless the artist can call up the old version. Some of us have published articles or tutorials, where people want to know how a particular project was accomplished. When writing, it helps jog the memory when you can look at the files. Some of us have also worked for decades. I don't have copies of absolutely everything I have done, but I can pull out almost all the animations/art I did for Kings Quest 4 or Ultima Underworld 2 or Altered Destiny or System Shock or WorldsAway, etc. and etc.. I have almost all sketches and thumbnails and PMTs or prints or photocopies of my 2d work since 1968. (I hold copyright in over 400 pieces of my own finished work.) When I look at the early work, it reminds me of how far I've come... which gives hope for the next few decades. (By the time I'm 80, if this migraine goes away so that I can plunge into work again, I ought to be remarkable.) We all need markers, like measuring height on a doorjam, to tell us that, yes, we have achieved something. I wouldn't try to create files as an alibi for theft... that argument would be as leaky as the ones in murder mysteries. However, keeping backups is always a good idea for numerous and good reasons. Carolly