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Help, unwanted ASCII !!!

Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2017 3:03 pm
by BSE
Hi all

I just opened a .doc I have been working on over the last two days and it came up as symbols. The whole doc consisted of ############# .

Closed it down, opened it again, and there was a box asking which ASCII text I wanted. Presumably this must have come up the first time and I must have clicked it without realising. I don't know why it came up though. Other docs seem to be opening without any problems.

Any ideas how I can get my doc back? Two days work down the drain otherwise.

Thanks.

Re: HELP1 UNWANTED ASCII !!!

Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2017 3:07 pm
by RoryOF
Your file has been damaged, perhaps because of over hasty close down of the computer before internal housekeeping was complete.

See this link for information on recovery:
[Tutorial] How to find and un-delete Writer temporary files

If that desn't work as soon as possible do the following:

Download Recuva or PhotoRec (only one needed) and let it do an indepth recovery of deleted files on your computer. You may get a file containing some or all of your data (or not). Do this as a first priority; other use of the computer may overwrite any existing but deleted files and prevent their recovery. There is no guarantee that you will recover anything useful.

Do the above soonest!

Most likely there is nothing usable in your corrupt file, but if you upload it someone will have a look; do the above recovery information anyway, as soon as possible, just in case.

Re: HELP1 UNWANTED ASCII !!!

Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2017 3:10 pm
by BSE
Thanks so much.

I just remembered - I saved a copy to DropBox. Scared to open it in case it's the same though.

Re: HELP1 UNWANTED ASCII !!!

Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2017 3:12 pm
by RoryOF
Try the recovery outlined above first.