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It's more than just the word choice. I'd use "preserved" in a
sentence like, "The configuration file is preserved by removing its
entrails, wrapping it in bandages, and interring it in a stone tomb in
Egypt." I'd use "conserved" in a sentence like, "The configuration is
conserved by a means of a hefty endowment and a legion of volunteers
overseen by a board of directors chosen for their unremitting zeal."
If I were dealing with a configuration file in a more mundane manner,
I wouldn't use either word. I'd say, "The original configuration file
has been copied to AUTOEXEC.WHOOPS, and can be restored with the
command 'copy AUTOEXEC.WHOOPS AUTOEXEC.BAT.'"
In short, the word is "copied," because it fits the context.
-- Robert
P.S. I've just had a vivid mental image of ancient Egyptian tech
writers working under crushing deadlines, trying to get their Books of
the Dead finished before the tomb was closed, in spite of el cheapo
pens, bad overseers, and revisionist history about the departed. Some
things never change.
--
Robert Plamondon * High-Tech Technical Writing
36475 Norton Creek Road * Blodgett OR 97326
541-453-5841 * Fax: 541-453-4139 mailto:robert -at- plamondon -dot- com * http://www.pioneer.net/~robertp
