Corrupted odt file, with some text remaining

[SunnySunday]

Hi everyone,

Yesterday I was using OpenOffice as usual, when I tried to save an error popped up (I forgot the error name). Foolishly I closed the document, hoping to re-open it again and continue where I left off. However the file was corrupted and wouldn't open. However after some minor tinkering I managed to open it and somehow it merged part of my other open txt file into the top of it. The beginning of the document starts with around half a page of '#' signs and what I suspect is my text looks like this:

-#ãOŸ¹Gefñ%d߈B$Ä…ü#S’ñL]�*K/#:0@™l¶###ò†eYö÷«ê“ì#œfrfÏ’~�\0<qÊüÓ®SÒÑUÍg¤QÖÙ#�„Ã#…÷ž#ëÒ#]´§ìšåܶwë#]¶Ù 1##>}2ŸJ�:Öå-{¼ñì;q¯†)µ(_#³`¬Jä‹#k#'’<¢ÐÁÑH(ÈÛS wߨþR¬
²úLk^N^¡>§MàQŒ0H—$N4™,‘#ÙÒK#I÷É<.
j#####Bi�go·KARz#é:Õ#¢##[ì‘�À‡ ¥šé9{Ùs#X#ŸD##”H„�j­¶ôÌœîs D~ãäèàY{¿ƒäTOƒ”Œ0ç¦pUu-}ªpo’A}Îsž×k/Öùd ßÒ’#–¸�ÒÙ#KfÍ™³½ãËì9Ø‘ÏbåöL)”º¥)?Å#^ìFÎ:Ißúes/£·\‘¹| é##r÷#é(^~îœcÞØÑ/¾¼ÞVPvÇ
¹Ò(‹ˆ#i\ÀAð'3*#�}6kÌ'!#qãÃwà 4M#/½ÿ¯‡c##\##ßzO—Óo³¨:.=Á¹ùÎ2O¯t£Ïú»æ)

Unfortunately I've restarted my computer and then upgraded to the latest version of OpenOffice, so I think that got rid of the temp files. Also I didn't save a backup copy since it is a disabled option by default. Recuva also didn't work for me as the Kernel for Writer.

I'd appreciate if I could PM/email the file to someone who has fixed a problem similar to this, but any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[robleyd]

Recuva I think is windows oriented - you might try Photorec which is multi-platform.

I think from what you have posted that your file is well and truly corrupted, but it's worth a look. If it isn't confidential - [Forum] How to attach a document here Note maximum file size is 128K. If your file is larger, use a file sharing site such as Mediafire or Dropbox.

Otherwise contact me via my profile and I'll provide you with an @ddress

[SunnySunday]

Hi Rob, I sent you a message with my file attached.

I forgot to mention that my file was saved on a USB, so I used Recuva on my Windows laptop, where it didn't work. I downloaded Photorec, but I didn't know how to use it, so I've left that for now.

[robleyd]

You need to run the file recovery program on the machine you were editing the document on; and if it was the Mac then the quicker you do it, the more chance of recovering anything.

[robleyd]

Received the file; attempting to unzip it resulted in the expected (by me) error of incomplete zip file. A repair attempt was made which gave me a valid?? zip file; however when opened it had no content.xml which is where the contents of your document should be.

I had a quick look with a hex editor at the original document you sent and found a number of words in it, one per line, in no particular order. On the off chance that they are any use I've extracted them and returned to you via PM as a plain text file.

At this stage, deleted file recovery seems to be your only option, I am sorry to say.

[SunnySunday]

I have a question regarding PhotoRec, do I recover from my USB or the MAC hard drive? Plus when I am asked to select what Drive I want to recover from I get 2 options that are basically the same with the only difference being the word "rec" that is close to the end of the storage drive address. Do I chose the one without "rec" or the on with it?

[robleyd]

The temporary files will be wherever your OpenOffice setup points to for Temporary files - in your case for Mac look in OpenOffice | Options | OpenOffice | Paths. You could also try your removable media just in case.

I've never actually used Photorec, so I can't help much more than that.

[SunnySunday]

Yeah I tried looking in my temp files, I only found 1 but I'm pretty sure (judging by the date) that it's not the one I want.

[Zizi64]

And always create more than one backup file (with timestamped filename) for every important documents.

Here is my little extension for "one click save and create timestamped backup" procedure.
viewtopic.php?f=47&t=86742

[SunnySunday]

Thanks Zizi, I've installed it now.