[Solved] Recover my Document after OpenOffice.org crashes?

[jkw]

I am writing a book on open office 3.3 and it died after the computer crashed this morning for some reason. I think it gets to hot & just turns itself off. Nothing in that back up file. Could not work out how to copy file as a zip file or whatever I was supposed to do.

Some things that may or may not be relevant:
1. When I open the file it is all hashtags.
2. When i open the laptop i get a recovery box with the file in it. This file seeks to be recovered but I get told that it is 'read only’.It then opens a box that I have no idea what it is, but, when it appears it means that the file I’m trying to open will be a random selection of characters.
3. Other files open up fine.
4. The book file was open when the computer crashed.
5. It had been saved several times this morning before the crash.
6. It is an odt file.

What can I do to recover my work that doesn’t involve me becoming a computer programmer?

Thankyou.

[Hagar Delest]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

Sadly, nothing to do: 22 page term paper replaced with pound signs.

Check the temporary folder of the system (see in OOo Tools>Options>OOo>Paths). If there are folders like sgmlf.tmp with a file having the same name inside, make a copy of that file, rename it in .doc or .odt and cross your fingers.

Were you saving in .doc or .odt? Remember that the .doc import/export filters have been reverse engineered, so bette use native ODF.

You may have better luck with AOO. There is no report yet about such problem (but ité has been released for a month only so it doesn't mean that it has been fixed).

Else, nothing to do I fear.

[Bill]

Previous versions of files: frequently asked questions

[jkw]

SOLVED

Thank you Bill.

Lost all the work that had been done that morning (even though I saved it) but recovered everything that I had done up until yesterday morning, I created two open office files & a word document, moved all of that onto my external, and then onto my macbook.

Did I mention how overjoyed I am? Thank you again.

[RoryOF]

For something very important and of substantial size and long time working, such as a book or thesis, the Volunteers on the Forum recommend a definite and regular backup policy. I never bother about backing up short, routine letters, but on major work I back up every morning and afternoon, usually using a name incorporating date and time, such as Book201206070745.odt. So far I have not had to use any such backups in five+ years of using OpenOffice, but if I did, I'd lose only a few hours' work.

[jkw]

In my joy, I neglected to offer thanks to Hagar for taking the time to offer me a potential solution that has helped others. Merci beaucoup

[Hagar Delest]

Welcome.

Indeed, I always forget that feature on Windows Seven!

[jrkrideau]

For something very important and of substantial size and long time working, such as a book or thesis, the Volunteers on the Forum recommend a definite and regular backup policy. I never bother about backing up short, routine letters, but on major work I back up every morning and afternoon, usually using a name incorporating date and time, such as Book201206070745.odt. So far I have not had to use any such backups in five+ years of using OpenOffice, but if I did, I'd lose only a few hours' work.

Long ago I had my thesis of a single Mac floppy and our IT consultant asked about a backup. Oops, so I made a backup that day. Next day the original floppy died! After that I backed up every day and rotated floppies from home to office.