Specially corrupted file

bluemorningblueday -  
 bluemorningblueday -
Hello,

I had a very, very, very (x1000) important file on my computer. I was about to save it to a USB stick when my computer decided to leave this world by giving me the biggest middle finger ever. A technician managed to transfer my files to a USB stick, but I found out that the very, very, very (x1000) important file couldn't be opened. Do you know how to help me? I would really like to recover it...

Configuration: Windows 7 / Chrome 42.0.2311.90

2 réponses

Judge_DT Posted messages 644 Registration date   Status Modérateur Last intervention   10 013
 
Hello,

"Could not be opened"? :-)

Do you have an error message, an indication? Something?

What type of file is it?

Best regards,

There's no need to have a Tiger on your computer if there's a donkey behind the screen... Or a penguin for Linux users, or an Apple for Mac users... ;)
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bluemorningblueday
 


''Unable to open the file (file name). Problems have been detected in its contents.''

Then, I click on ''OK''.

Then, ''Word found unreadable content in (file name). Would you like to recover the content of this document? If the source of this document is trustworthy, click Yes.''

Then, I click Yes.

But then, the first message appears again.
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bluemorningblueday
 
I managed to open it using the "retrieve text from any file," but what was a continuous text of over 165 pages has become 7 unrelated words...
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Judge_DT Posted messages 644 Registration date   Status Modérateur Last intervention   10 013
 
There is a strong chance that if the problem occurred at the same time as the transfer or the file save, it may have been corrupted and poorly written to the disk... So, I think that if there is indeed content that has nothing to do with it... the file may be lost.

Let’s see if others can offer you solutions, but on this one, I don't see any more.
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bluemorningblueday > Judge_DT Posted messages 644 Registration date   Status Modérateur Last intervention  
 
Thank you anyway... :) :'(
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C-Claire Posted messages 4562 Registration date   Status Membre Last intervention   2 250
 
Hello,

If your document has gone from 165 pages to 7 words, you need to check its size.
If its size is still significant, try opening it with Open or Libre Office (free). Sometimes that yields good results.

If OpenOffice does not solve the problem and it's a .docx file, rename it to .zip as since Office 2007, our documents consist of several files primarily in .xml, all zipped together.
You open the zip and in the "word" folder, you should find "document.xml". This is the textual content of your document without formatting, as the formatting is spread across other .xml files.
Any illustrations, if there are any, are in a "media" folder.
If your file is not completely wrecked, you will find your text buried within the xml tags.
If at this stage you get something, come back for tag cleaning.

--
C-Claire
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bluemorningblueday
 
Well, it says that my file is 1 KB while a one-page file indicates that it is 13 KB... Do you know how to solve this? Because my file wasn't like that at the beginning...
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C-Claire Posted messages 4562 Registration date   Status Membre Last intervention   2 250 > bluemorningblueday
 
1 KB?! That’s as good as saying your document is empty.
The only option left is to recover your hard drive, because if your computer (motherboard, processor…) has died, the hard drive is probably intact. In that case, it could be connected to another central unit and there might be an automatic Word backup that could be recovered.
Ask your IT technician to check the temporary files.

C-Claire
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bluemorningblueday > C-Claire Posted messages 4562 Registration date   Status Membre Last intervention  
 
In fact, that's exactly how I managed to recover my "empty" file... A technician took my processor, integrated it into what he called "a special computer," and retrieved my document on a USB stick... It worked for everything and all, but since my file was open when my computer died, the document is corrupted and therefore unrecoverable today :$
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C-Claire Posted messages 4562 Registration date   Status Membre Last intervention   2 250 > bluemorningblueday
 
Okay for the document, but did he look in the temporary files?
In principle, Word creates a temporary file when you work on a document.
This file is automatically deleted when you normally close the document.
But when there is a crash or unexpected shutdown, the temporary file is not destroyed.
It has a name like "~wrdxxxxxxx.tmp" and is usually located in a hidden folder.
C:\Users\Your name\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word\

On the other hand, if you were using Word 2010 or 2013, there is an option: "Keep the last autosaved version if I close without saving."
If it was enabled, it is possible that this version is present. It is a ".asd" file, and the save location is:
C:\Users\Your name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\UnsavedFiles

The paths are provided as a guideline and may vary slightly depending on the version of Windows and Word.

C-Claire
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bluemorningblueday > C-Claire Posted messages 4562 Registration date   Status Membre Last intervention  
 
I don't know what he did, he was my father's colleague... I'll talk to him about the temporary files, and I'll get back to you about it :)
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