Essay due tomorrow turned into ########'s

[Axl3]

My essay is due tomorrow and tonight it turned into a bunch of ###### signs and i can't fix it. PLEASE HELP OR I AM DEAD

(i saved it and the battery died)

[FJCC]

You can upload it here using the Upload attachment tab just under the window where you type a response. However, this sounds very grim and I would start recreating it now unless you have a back up. Check under Tools->Options, expand the Load/Save list on the left and pick General. If the option to make a back up copy is selected, then there should be one in your user profile.

[Hagar Delest]

You are almost dead, see: 22 pages term paper replaced with pound signs.
The cache may have not been written fast enough before the battery died...

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 .odt and cross your fingers.

I think there are less reports about such problems, upgrading to AOO 3.4.1 may help.

[RoryOF]

The cache may have not been written fast enough before the battery died...

It is not generally realised that there are two caches - one in software, where the data to be written to disk is queued and flushed at regular intervals, and then one internal to the disk, where the data is held in short term memory while the disk heads move to the correct position. Sudden power failure, however caused, can erase the data in one or both of these.

There is an outside chance that an undelete utility might recover an earlier version; the less use your comuter has until such a utility is tried, the better, so search and download one on another computer.

[Emmy Pendle]

Download Recuva from Piriform, and run a deep scan, save the file to a different drive/usb stick etc. I lost 15,000 words, tried everything suggested on here, and just before I was about to give up, thought I would give this simple idea a try. Magic fix! I was so happy that I signed up on here, just to share my joyous success! Fingers crossed, hope it works for you.