.doc doesn’t open anymore

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massamaahinen
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Joined: Tue Dec 03, 2019 2:09 am

.doc doesn’t open anymore

Post by massamaahinen »

Hello from Finland. And YES, I know now, that it was wrong way to save my document as .doc but I did. :( It has many images and is about 15M. Now it doesn’t open anymore but stays gray and Libreoffice is not responsing. This is of course very important doc which I have been writing for over 200 hours, so I would be really happy if somebody has any idea how to proceed.
Openoffice 3.1 win xp
UnklDonald418
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Re: .doc doesn’t open anymore

Post by UnklDonald418 »

I assume you wouldn't be asking this question if you did regular backups.
The WordPad utility that comes withWindows XP can open ,doc files.
If that fails try opening it on a different computer.
If that fails then it is probably corrupt.
You could search online or on Microsoft.com see if there is some way to recover a corrupt .doc file.
If your problem has been solved, please edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the beginning of the subject line
Apache OpenOffice 4.1.14 & LibreOffice 7.6.2.1 (x86_64) - Windows 10 Professional- Windows 11
massamaahinen
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Re: .doc doesn’t open anymore

Post by massamaahinen »

I have done continuous backups to my RAID HDD but I believe that both
are corrupted as this must have happened when saving the document.
It's possible that I have done something at the same time the Libreoffice
made automatic saving. So I am using Libreoffice.

If I try to open it with WordPad, it is total mess.
Openoffice 3.1 win xp
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Zizi64
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Re: .doc doesn’t open anymore

Post by Zizi64 »

It's possible that I have done something at the same time the Libreoffice
made automatic saving. So I am using Libreoffice.
For the future working:
The automatic saving will save one file only. If it goes wrong, then the software will save the wrong state. You need create backup copies with different (timestamped) file name.
Use the timeStampBackup extension.
https://extensions.libreoffice.org/exte ... amp-backup
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.
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RoryOF
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Re: .doc doesn’t open anymore

Post by RoryOF »

massamaahinen wrote:I have done continuous backups to my RAID HDD but I believe that both
are corrupted as this must have happened when saving the document.
It is good practice to make regular timed/dated backups to at least one other device or computer; a number of these should be preserved - perhaps the last five or six (i.e., don't clear them all out regularly), allowing the recent development of the document to be traced. It is one thing to have to redo a day's or a week's work in the event of a disk failure or file corruption - those changes should be reasonably fresh in one's mind; it is much more difficult to redo an entire document of several hundred hours editing.

Use the timed/dated backup to which Zizi64 has pointed you. Note that this does not automatically replace the usual Save button; you must invoke it by pressing its button which will be added to the toolbar.
Apache OpenOffice 4.1.15 on Xubuntu 22.04.4 LTS
John_Ha
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Re: .doc doesn’t open anymore

Post by John_Ha »

.doc files are ZIP files so unzip it (easiest by renaming a copy of the file fred.doc to fred.zip and double-clicking it). It should open and you should see something like this. The important file is WordDocument - it contains all the text.
.doc file unzipped
.doc file unzipped
If it does not open you could try a ZIP repair utility to try to repair the file - make sure you work on the copy!

Try opening the file with a Hex editor like HxD. You should see the text - it looks like this.
test.doc opened in HxD
test.doc opened in HxD
See [Tutorial] How to find and un-delete AOO temporary files for detailed instructions on how to

a) use Previous Versions (W7 and later) to recover previous versions of the file (is there something similar on MacOS and Linux?);

b) recover your file as it was when you last opened or saved it, or as it was when it was last saved with AutoRecovery;

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

d) un-delete the temporary files AOO 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.

I have sent you an email with my ID - if you send me the file I will look at it for you.
Attachments
test.doc
(16.5 KiB) Downloaded 135 times
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.
massamaahinen
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Re: .doc doesn’t open anymore

Post by massamaahinen »

I tried renaming it to .zip yesterday as soon as it went bad but it doesn't open.

"The compressed (zipped) folder is invalid or corrupted."
"End-of-central-directory signature not found. Either this file is not a Zip file, or it constitutes one disk of a multi-part Zip file."

I also opened it in editor and yes, it was like your screenshot, Have to try that way.
Openoffice 3.1 win xp
John_Ha
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Re: .doc doesn’t open anymore

Post by John_Ha »

massamaahinen wrote: "End-of-central-directory signature not found. Either this file is not a Zip file, or it constitutes one disk of a multi-part Zip file."
With luck the file WordDocument will still be available.

See https://forum.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=94187&hilit=+hxd#p448503 for how to get rid of the spaces.
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.
John_Ha
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Re: .doc doesn’t open anymore

Post by John_Ha »

massamaahinen sent me the 16MB file.
massamaahinen wrote: "End-of-central-directory signature not found. Either this file is not a Zip file, or it constitutes one disk of a multi-part Zip file."
The file does not have a PK marker at the front and is therefore not a well constructed ZIP file. However it does have some characteristics of a ZIPped .doc file including some metadata saying it is a .doc file. I was able to recover about eleven pages of text from two different parts of the file, both fairly close to the start of the file, which may, or may not, be from the lost document. The file looks like a binary memory dump. I asked PKZIP for Windows to repair it and it could find nothing in it - the repaired file was 0 bytes long.

I responded

I am sorry but the ZIP file is very badly corrupted and I have only been able to find 11 pages of text which may not be from the document. They were in two separate parts of the file.

Be sure to visit [Tutorial] How to find and un-delete AOO temporary files for detailed instructions on how to

a) use Previous Versions (W7 and later) to recover previous versions of the file (is there something similar on MacOS and Linux?);

b) recover your file as it was when you last opened or saved it, or as it was when it was last saved with AutoRecovery;

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

d) un-delete the temporary files AOO 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.

The tutorial was written for .odt files. a), b) and c) should work for your .doc file. d) will not work for you because .doc files are designed by Microsoft to be placed in memory when they are opened and and no temporary file is created. .odt and .docx files create a temporary file when opened and this temporary file can often be recovered.

If you have a SSD all deleted files get cleansed automatically so you will not be able to find them.
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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