[Dropped] Text is hundreds of pages of gibberish

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Cyberdog
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Joined: Sun Aug 04, 2019 8:50 pm

[Dropped] Text is hundreds of pages of gibberish

Post by Cyberdog »

Hello. I searched the forums for a similar problem and couldn't find one using my search terms - if I missed a match, please forgive.

I have similar .odt files of about 25 KB each in the folder pictured below, each file containing no more than 16 pages of text (no pictures or other objects).

However, there is one .odt that is greatly larger in size at 154 KB, yet it was created as only a few pages of typing, just like the others. It should only be 20-odd KB.

Image

When I open it, I now get a dialogue box that does not appear when I open the others (I have tried many different combinations of Character Sets, Fonts, and the Paragraph Breaks to no avail).

Image

The file is now ballooned to a huge 625 page document of only symbols and gibberish. My original 5 or 6 pages is gone.

Image

Is there anything I can do to get back my typing?

TIA for any ideas
Last edited by MrProgrammer on Sun Mar 24, 2024 4:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Dropped: No attachment provided -- MrProgrammer, forum moderator
OpenOffice 4.1.6 on Windows 10 Home
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robleyd
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Joined: Mon Aug 19, 2013 3:47 am
Location: Murbko, Australia

Re: Text document ballooned 100X number of pages and is gibberish symbols inside

Post by robleyd »

If your document opens with the ASCII Filter options, it is an indication that the file has been seriously corrupted, and most likely has no recoverable data. If you have no backup of the document (why not?), you might wish to try some of the recovery suggestions in [Tutorial] The Dreaded Pound Signs: file reduced to ####

For future peace of mind, you might consider installing the Timestamped backup extension, which will allow you to make multiple, timestamped backups of your documents.

As a long shot, upload your file to a file sharing service - as it is over the forum limit of 128 Kb - and someone here may be able to look at it and see if there is anything recoverable.
Cheers
David
OS - Slackware 15 64 bit
Apache OpenOffice 4.1.15
LibreOffice 24.2.2.2; SlackBuild for 24.2.2 by Eric Hameleers
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robleyd
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Posts: 5087
Joined: Mon Aug 19, 2013 3:47 am
Location: Murbko, Australia

Re: Text document ballooned 100X number of pages and is gibberish symbols inside

Post by robleyd »

Looks very similar to your earlier topic viewtopic.php?p=537754
Cheers
David
OS - Slackware 15 64 bit
Apache OpenOffice 4.1.15
LibreOffice 24.2.2.2; SlackBuild for 24.2.2 by Eric Hameleers
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