General Input/output error

[lightfoot500]

this is a file i keep passwords and the like in.
i also keep a backup file.
the second file used for backup, i have added the word "backup' onto the end of the file and it is in a different folder.
accidently i saved the a copy of the backup in the folder which has the original as well which shouldnt matter.
but now on all copies i get this error message saying'
General Error, General Input/ output error on all of copies..
so in somewhat of a panic.
please help. URGENT !
hate to lose both copies of my passwords..
i closed down open office and reopened but that didnt help
would shutting down windows and restarting help ?

[Hagar Delest]

Have you checked the backup folder in your AOO profile?
See [Tutorial] The OpenOffice user profile.

[lightfoot500]

No, you saying i would find a backup of it there ? why would both copies of my saved file not be opening ?

[RoryOF]

No, you saying i would find a backup of it there ? why would both copies of my saved file not be opening ?

There may be a backup of it there.

Windows may be having some form of brain storm and a restart may cure the problem, but it is best to try the other possibilities before restarting Windows.

[lightfoot500]

i am in the user folder now, you say there might be a backup there ? or should i just go ahead and rename the user folder to user.old ?

[lightfoot500]

Ok,, tried the rename of the user file, and recreated it. went to open it, and still got the message i mention above.
will retry reboot of windows.
if not ?
funny that it would corrupt both copies i had saved with different names

is there another program that will open a file of this format ?

[RoryOF]

That both files are apparently unreadable suggests Windows is having a brain storm; AbiWord and LibreOffice will read this format.

[John_Ha]

If you are happy to send the file to someone like Rory, Hagar or me, we could fix it.

If you want to fix it yourself see [Tutorial] Format error discovered in sub-document or [Tutorial] How to fix SAXParse errors in LibreOffice files. If you extract content.xml you can delete all the XML tags to leave just your content.

See [Tutorial] How to find and un-delete Writer temporary files for

a) detailed instructions on how to recover your file as it was when you last opened or saved it, or as it was when it was last saved with AutoRecovery;

b) how to find previous versions of the file in the folder it is located in, but which have since been deleted;

c) how to un-delete the temporary files Writer wrote while you were editing the file, and then deleted. This will recover your file as it was when you last opened or you last saved it.

You are much better to use a proper password manager like KeePass or Password Safe

[lightfoot500]

i was able to open both files using another computer, a usb, and microsoft office.
but about half of the file is missing.
somehow it didnt get saved.
would there be anywhere to retrieve the old copy ?
but even with a windows reboot, open office will not open the file even though microsoft office and word will open it.
would there be any where else to retrieve a copy of it from before ?

[John_Ha]

See post above.

[lightfoot500]

Ok, just read your last reply. given what i just said above, what is the best way to retrieve the entiriety..
thanks

[lightfoot500]

any chance of a phone call to one of you ?

[lightfoot500]

it wasnt deleted, it just didnt save right. for some reason.

[lightfoot500]

I had this happen once before. when i save it, it just doesnt save all of the file. it chops some of it off.
it is doing it to me again. i had it saved in rtf and also odt.

[lightfoot500]

Ok, is it possible that the Text is still in the file, just not showing up when i open the file in open office ?
is there a way i can look at the file and tell if the data is still there, just not showing up when i open the file ?
i would consider sending the file to one of you guys to have a look but it isnt my first choice since they are passwords ?

[RoryOF]

It is very unlikely that the data is in the file and not showing up; unzip the OO file and open content.xml with a plain text editor such as Notepad. If the information is in the file, that will show it. Have you tried searching for deleted files using PhotoRec, as previously advised?

[John_Ha]

Ok, just read your last reply. given what i just said above, what is the best way to retrieve the entiriety..
thanks

There is no guarantee you will be able to get everything back.

Take the following steps - there are full details in the tutorials I mentioned.

1. Unzip the .odt file and extract content.xml. Open it with an editor like Notepad++ with the XML Tools plugin and "pretty print" it.

You are now seeing all the content that is left in the file.

2. LInearize the XML (ie un-pretty print it) or start again. Go Search > Replace ..., with search argument <[^>]+> and replace argument is blank. Be sure to tick Regular Expressions. Click Replace All.

This removes all the XML tags leaving just the content. Do you have all your passwords?

3. Follow the instructions in [Tutorial] How to find and un-delete Writer temporary files.

Do any of the recovered files work?

There is little point phoning anyone as all they will be able to say is what is written here. If you cannot follow the instructions ask a person with better computer skills to help you.

[lightfoot500]

two files both the same but size is not ?

what is odd is here are two files, one line of text is different.
but the size of file, 5kb and 22kb. quite different.
one is the backup.
but i was also finding some large amounts of text missing sometimes after saving this file too.
is saving in rich text not the best format for this ?
if files the same, why would sizes differ so much ?

[lightfoot500]

A second possibility....
what seems to be happening is that it is not saving ALL of the document.
which sounds unbelievable.
almost like accidentally i highlighted a bunch of the document and then deleted it before saving it.
and then somehow i saved it back onto the backup copy as well.

if that were the case where i deleted a large part of my file with highlight-delete
is there anyway to retrieve that part ,, since it has been a day, i am sure it isnt in the memory of the notepad( i think that is where things go during copy/paste process).
where would that deleted part be ?
searching with the file explorer wouldnt find it since it was deleted.
would the photorec be able to search for that ?
what would be the most efficient way to do it using photorec ( settings, etc )
but that wouldnt explain the I/O error.
thank you

[John_Ha]

1. We need to know what the file qualifiers are. Please go to Control Panel > Folder options > View ..., and un-tick Hide extensions for known file types. What are the two files? .rtf? .doc? .odt?

2. Read the thread following Re: Text has vanished

[RoryOF]

The longer you leave t hings before running PhotoRec, the less likely it is that it will find nything, as the areas of disk containing the temporary (deleted) files may be overwritten by the normal computer usage.

We don't know what you did while using your computer, or what it did on you. All we can advise is the best method of recovering your information. At this stage I doubt you will get much, if anything.

[John_Ha]

if that were the case where i deleted a large part of my file with highlight-delete.
is there anyway to retrieve that part ,, since it has been a day, i am sure it isnt in the memory of the notepad( i think that is where things go during copy/paste process).
where would that deleted part be ?

Any deleted part was being held in memory before being deleted. Once the rest of the file was saved, the original file was overwritten. The deleted text never appeared on the clipboard or in Notepad.

If this is what happened your only chance is to recover the file as it was when it was opened the last time - read the tutorial for instructions on which files to look for and how to do it.

If it is all too much of a problem for you why not just accept you have lost them. If they are website passwords attempt to login in and click the Forgotten password link. You will then be given the opportunity to reset the password.

What are the file qualifiers? I suspect the large one is a .doc or .odt and the small one is a .rtf. Note that you can open even a damaged .rtf file with Notepad.

What happened in these three cases?

1. Unzip the .odt file and extract content.xml. Open it with an editor like Notepad++ with the XML Tools plugin and "pretty print" it.

You are now seeing all the content that is left in the file.

2. LInearize the XML (ie un-pretty print it) or start again. Go Search > Replace ..., with search argument <[^>]+> and replace argument is blank. Be sure to tick Regular Expressions. Click Replace All.

This removes all the XML tags leaving just the content. Do you have all your passwords?

3. Follow the instructions in [Tutorial] How to find and un-delete Writer temporary files.

Do any of the recovered files work?

[lightfoot500]

Ok, i typed *.odt in the start box in the lower left.
up popped some older versions of the missing file.
not current, but better than what i had so far.
i started recreating yesterday for each website, so now i have to combine the re-created file with the .odt i found today...

IS IT as simple as re-naming the .odt file and saving it in .rtf format ?
for open office is there a preferred extension ?

In the photo a few frames up showing the different size file even though text is the same to the eye ?
in the column marked type it calls both rich text document, could one of them ( the larger ) still be .odt or another format ?
I unticked the hide extensions box. and now they both show as .rtf extensions.
you thought there may still be a different file format there such as an .odt file. even thought the larger file will open normally?

I suspect if it was a highlight-delete problem, brushing my palm on the mouse pad may have had something to do with it. using a moust should deactivate the pad but it doesnt.