OO Writer shows # as text

[otad12]

I saw a few threads about this same problem, but it seems as if people are saying that there's no solution. I'm quite frustrated.

I have Windows 7, & I just found out today about OpenOffice 4.1.1. I just downloaded it. I had OO 4.0.1 & didn't know about the updates. Well, yesterday, I was at home, & I don't have internet @ home. I was on my laptop, & I was typing a very important document, & saving it every 15 minutes. I worked on this document for 10 hours & it had 21 pages. So, I was also burning some Christian DVD's as data with mixed media. 1 of the DVD's got stuck, & I saved the document I was working on, 1 last time, before shutting the computer down. In these cases when the DVD gets stuck, I'm forced to press the off button, & the computer can't shut down properly, & then it shows a black screen about different ways to start up the computer. & after, I was able to take out the corrupt DVD after the computer restarted again. Well, I did that, which happens all the time, & then my computer works back to normal. So many times I've had this experience, even while typing stuff in OO, & my files work back to normal.

Once the computer got back restarted, & I tried to retrieve my file, OpenOffice asked me something about updates being available, so I clicked YES. & then, it mentioned something about merging OpenOffice 3.0 with OpenOffice 4.0.1, which was what I had. & after I merged it, it said something about Exporting. I don't remember. All I know is that ever since that incident, now, I can't try to open the file without it having a pop-up box about ASCII Filter Options, & I thought Unicode (UTF-8) would work, but every one I try, including Unicode 8, the document shows all my text/words as nothing but "#" signs. I even restored my computer to an earlier point, & that didn't work, either.

After that, I removed OO 4.0.1 off of my computer & then re-installed it, & then same problem. Every other .odt file works normal. Just not this one. & today, I found out about OO 4.1.1, which I installed, & this same file is having this same problem. I don't know what the Paragraph Breaks mean. Also, with the file & the # signs, instead of DEFAULT, it mentions something about Preformatted Text.

C'mon! There HAS to be a solution to this problem, to bring my file back to normal. This is something very important.

[acknak]

... I can't try to open the file without it having a pop-up box about ASCII Filter Options, ... shows all my text/words as nothing but "#" signs. ...

This means that your document file is damaged.

If you see nothing but #s when you open the file, then there is no recoverable data in the file.

With a crash, OO should be able to recover a usable file, if not a completely up to date one. Apparently this isn't always the case--sometimes the auto-save document isn't recovered. In that case you may still find it in OO's temp folder; the file name will have some random letters.

[otad12]

... I can't try to open the file without it having a pop-up box about ASCII Filter Options, ... shows all my text/words as nothing but "#" signs. ...

This means that your document file is damaged.

If you see nothing but #s when you open the file, then there is no recoverable data in the file.

With a crash, OO should be able to recover a usable file, if not a completely up to date one. Apparently this isn't always the case--sometimes the auto-save document isn't recovered. In that case you may still find it in OO's temp folder; the file name will have some random letters.

Thanks for your response.

[Bill]

Once the computer got back restarted, & I tried to retrieve my file, OpenOffice asked me something about updates being available, so I clicked YES. & then, it mentioned something about merging OpenOffice 3.0 with OpenOffice 4.0.1, which was what I had.

I'm not sure what's going on here. The usual message about updates appears when OpenOffice finds an update on the Internet, but if you don't have Internet service, I don't know how OpenOffice could have found an update.

[Hagar Delest]

Sadly, quite nothing to do I fear, see: 22 pages term paper replaced with pound signs.

Check the temporary folder of the system (see in OO Tools>Options>OO>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.

If you want to help fix this problem, you can also do this survey created for this very problem: Document Recovery Survey.

[otad12]

Once the computer got back restarted, & I tried to retrieve my file, OpenOffice asked me something about updates being available, so I clicked YES. & then, it mentioned something about merging OpenOffice 3.0 with OpenOffice 4.0.1, which was what I had.

I'm not sure what's going on here. The usual message about updates appears when OpenOffice finds an update on the Internet, but if you don't have Internet service, I don't know how OpenOffice could have found an update.

I don't have internet service @ home. I use public wi-fi. But usually when I'm offline, it sometimes suggests an update. But this time, it actually tried to update without me being online, while I was @ home. & it suggested an update, & maybe me trying to follow through, without being online, is probably what messed everything up.

Here's the file if anyone can help retrieve it. I need help getting the file back to normal. I didn't even know about backups with OpenOffice. & The file had no previous versions. I need this. This is very important for my spiritual deliverance.

[acknak]

Sorry, it's all zeroes--there's no recoverable data there.

[otad12]

Sorry, it's all zeroes--there's no recoverable data there.

Thanks for trying.