Did you try opening this CD on different computers? Perhaps there is a way to access data on the CD even if it gives an error?
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You are welcome. Some readable text near the top of the file, âPETrustâ refers to a graphics file, and âpowrprof.dllâ is used in the computerâs power management. Nothing related to spreadsheets.
A common hexadecimal editor program is handy to have as it will readily identify file problems, especially when compared to a known good file.
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I agree that this recovery doesnât seem to be Excel, but have you recovered any of the temp files? You might have better luck with one of those.
And definitely try the CD in other drives- sometimes they can be a bit finicky.
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Also try to open other files recovered in case one of those is the temp file. When I ran a recovery program I found some Word files that I could read that werenât listed as such. It was very tedious opening most everything recovered, though!
You might want to try a free program called WPS Office for your backup needs. Itâs an office suite (not the best, not the worst) that prompts you to save your work to âthe cloudâ as well. It apparently gives you the cloud space for free because I use it and donât pay anything. There is an ad when you open it (in the free version). It stays for 5 seconds until you can skip it 
Even opening Word files into that suite and then saving them to its cloud would work, really.
I had some CDâs that were corrupted a few years ago. I used a CD recovery program to retrieve the files with no problems. Most CD recovery software can retrieve files even when the directory is corrupted. Warning that a lot of free tools come with a boatload of invasive garbage!
I have always used DropBox. Very easy to use - and not expensive. If you recommend it to others, and they install it - you get free space. I like the interface - very simple and clean.
Also - I have a little portable hard drive that I store all kinds of irreplaceable things. When all else fails - a little thumb drive is great too. (Just donât lose it!)
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@thecityman thatâs really too bad about your file. As suggested once a file becomes that corrupt recovery is almost impossible. I recently began using google backup and sync. It is free if you have gmail , comes with unlimited storage and you can choose the files or folders you want to sync from your computer. It doesnât have all the bell and whistles of the pay services, but it works and is very easy to use. We just backed up 23K photos that my wife was worried about losing.
Agree with Dropbox. Used it for 2 years now, and no problems.
Just in the last week I was using Google Drive to transfer pics from one computer to another (I know- I should just use a thumb driveâŚ). One thing I noticed is that it overwrote all the timestamps, so that when I pulled them down to my other computer the files had the upload time, not when they were taken. To get that to come through correctly, I had to zip up the pics, then upload the zip into Google Drive. When downloaded and uncompressed, the timestamps remain. Otherwise, the only way to get the timestamps back would have been to pull them from the meta-data on the file (where the original resolution, flash/exposure/camera settings, etc are stored).
For our purposes as long as long as itâs in the meta-data weâre good. weâve created folders by year and month to keep sorting easier.
Could be worse, know a guy who lost his entire PhD dissertation using some old awful early IBM PC word processor with no backup.
I donât know if Kevin has already overwritten the damaged area, but doing a filesystem check (disk check) might get the filename pointed at the right place (the actual file contents). Often an Operating System will sense this on its own and do the check, but it can be done manually.
tried to open the file but to no avail. Seems like it was a file you were working on a usb drive which got pulled out accidentally or had loose connection/contact points. Maybe youâre already doing it, but if not, it is always safer to do âsave-asâ instead of âsaveâ, when working on important files. You may be inconvenienced with multiple copies, but youâd always have a back up of the latest readable file in case your most recently saved one gets corrupted. Also helps to email the file/s to yourself. Yahoo offers unlimited data storage, as long as attached file is less than 25 mb.
i use it as my personal freebie dropbox for non-confidential stuff.
yeah, the zip up and down is often a pain, so have opted to save/attach photos as discrete entities. As for time stamps, i actually prefer going retro using our 14 yr old point-and-shoot sony with the orange date-stamps. Sonyâs old-fashioned and gas-guzzling ccd seems to come out with more vibrant colors compared to many higher definition cmos cameras.
Just wanted to say thank-you again, from the bottom of my heart, for everyoneâs concern and attempts to help. Several of you also sent PMâs with other suggestions or offers of assistance. As bad as it was loosing this stuff, you guys have been so helpful that Iâm feeling a little unworthy and like I overstated the importance of my file. It was important to me, but much of it can be recreated by doing searching through my old e-mails to find all my old tree order confirmations, by using information on my tree tags, by searching posts right here, and so on. At the end of the day most of my tree tags contain tree name and plant date AT LEAST, and really that is the most critical info. If I have some other gaps it wonât be the end of the world. After all, as I said the whole file really just had about 130 lines (one for each plant/tree) and about 5-6 fields for each one. So the whole thing could be printed landcape on about 3 pieces of 8.5 x 11 paper. I am telling you this because I donât want it sound like Iâve lost a lifetime of data! Life will go on. But I will always be grateful for everyoneâs help.
OHâŚand Iâve learned a LOT from all your posts and messages. Thanks for that too.
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There clearly are some tech wizards on this site!
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Did you ever see if your computer shows how much data is on those backup cds and did you finalize the CDRs? They can not be read unless they are finalized
That is either not a real xlsx file or itâs heavily corrupt beyond repair
I think it is very possible that you are on to something there as far as me not finishing the CDRâsâŚI absolutely think that might be what I did wrong. But I did try to go back and complete it and it didnât seem to help. But I absolutely think that may be the problem with my CD. I need to look into that a bit moreâŚThank you, Alan!
if it is a multi-session cd recording it should be readable, at least by the cd-writer you used.