Corrupted file - please help!!!!!!!

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technonoob
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Joined: Tue May 01, 2018 11:38 pm

Corrupted file - please help!!!!!!!

Post by technonoob »

I have a spreadsheet in Open Office 4.1.4. My PC crashed and now the spreadsheet is corrupted.

If I try opening it directly it brings up a box asking about Unicode and comma delimited jive. It only has Okay, Cancel and Help as options.

If I try opening a new spreadsheet and then trying to open the corrupted file it thinks it's a word processing document and brings up five pages of 'hashtags'.

I need this file!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please, someone, help me.

I feel sick.

I was trying to save it the minute the computer started having problems. It looked for all the earth as if the save had been successful. It was not a new document, I'd saved it before.

Any suggestions? Anything would be a great help.
Windows 10 Open Office 4.1.4
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RusselB
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Re: Corrupted file - please help!!!!!!!

Post by RusselB »

The Dreaded Pound signs
How to Attach a Document here

Please read through and try the suggestions given in the first link.
If you still have no luck getting your data back, then follow the directions in the second link so that we have a chance of working with the corrupted file.
OpenOffice 4.1.7, LibreOffice 7.0.1.2 on Windows 7 Pro, Ultimate & Windows 10 Home (2004)
If you believe your problem has been resolved, please go to your first post in this topic, click the Edit button and add [Solved] to the beginning of the Subject line.
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Zizi64
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Re: Corrupted file - please help!!!!!!!

Post by Zizi64 »

I really hope you have more than one backup copy of your important file. Open, and use the last backup file to minimize the loss of your working.


For the future:
Here is an extension to create timestamped backup copies of your important files.
https://extensions.libreoffice.org/exte ... amp-backup
viewtopic.php?f=47&t=86742
Tibor Kovacs, Hungary; LO7.5.8 /Win7-10 x64Prof.
PortableApps/winPenPack: LO3.3.0-7.6.2;AOO4.1.14
Please, edit the initial post in the topic: add the word [Solved] at the beginning of the subject line - if your problem has been solved.
technonoob
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Re: Corrupted file - please help!!!!!!!

Post by technonoob »

Hi guys

Thanks for replying, it's really appreciated.

RusselB - tried the suggestions. I found what I thought might have been a temp file and renamed the file extension but to no avail. Different file name but I only worked on one document last night so thought I'd give it a try, to no avail. Recuva didn't find anything of any help.

Zizi64 - I do have my last backup file. It's a list of packed boxes for a house move. I think I may have lost only the last 20 boxes and not 120..........

Attaching file here in case anyone can make any sense of the wreckage. :(
Attachments
Box list.ods
(26.43 KiB) Downloaded 205 times
Windows 10 Open Office 4.1.4
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Zizi64
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Re: Corrupted file - please help!!!!!!!

Post by Zizi64 »

I just downloaded, and renamed your attached .ods file to .zip extension.
(Because the ODF files are ZIP type archives really: try it on a COPY of your other working file. You will see the structure of the ODF documents inside the archive.)

But I can not open the archive - I have got an error message: "Error in archive file!"
Tibor Kovacs, Hungary; LO7.5.8 /Win7-10 x64Prof.
PortableApps/winPenPack: LO3.3.0-7.6.2;AOO4.1.14
Please, edit the initial post in the topic: add the word [Solved] at the beginning of the subject line - if your problem has been solved.
technonoob
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Re: Corrupted file - please help!!!!!!!

Post by technonoob »

Thanks for trying, going forwards I'll be following your suggestion for making backups.
Windows 10 Open Office 4.1.4
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robleyd
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Re: Corrupted file - please help!!!!!!!

Post by robleyd »

The entire file - Box list.ods - has no content at all; it is comprised entirely of null bytes. Unfortunately there is nothing recoverable from it.
Cheers
David
OS - Slackware 15 64 bit
Apache OpenOffice 4.1.15
LibreOffice 24.2.1.2; SlackBuild for 24.2.1 by Eric Hameleers
John_Ha
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Re: Corrupted file - please help!!!!!!!

Post by John_Ha »

Your only hope is to 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 and is probably your best hope.
LO 6.4.4.2, Windows 10 Home 64 bit

See the Writer Guide, the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials and Writer for students.

Remember: Always save your Writer files as .odt files. - see here for the many reasons why.
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