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    Accidently Deleted File - Need Help!

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by Cossack7V7, Jan 18, 2011.

  1. Cossack7V7

    Cossack7V7 Notebook Evangelist

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    I accidentally deleted an important Word document of mine while transferring it to my flash drive.

    I installed and used several recovery programs, yielding the same results.

    Every time I open the recovered document, there is text, but it is invisible and the document is completely blank.

    I tried different things, with little success. I have Microsoft Word 2003 Professional. I went to Tools, clicked options and under the formatting marks tab, selected "all."

    What I got was a "y" with two dots on top - a symbol that repeated endlessly throughout the document.

    I would really appreciate it if someone helped! This document is very important to me :cry: and I have resorted to these forums for help to see if I can figure this one out.

    +reps for anyone who helps! Thanks! :)
     
    Cossack7V7, Jan 18, 2011
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  2. -L1GHTGAM3R-

    -L1GHTGAM3R- Notebook Deity

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    -L1GHTGAM3R-, Jan 18, 2011
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  3. Cossack7V7

    Cossack7V7 Notebook Evangelist

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    Thanks for replying. I just downloaded the program, found the "File Undelete" Feature. It found the document, with the status being very good.

    However, when I recovered it and tried opening it, the same problem occurred. The text is there, but it is completely invisible. I tried different things to get the text to appear, but I only got these weird symbols.

    Any other ideas?
     
    Cossack7V7, Jan 18, 2011
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  4. 1ceBlu3

    1ceBlu3 Notebook Deity

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    1ceBlu3, Jan 18, 2011
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  5. Cossack7V7

    Cossack7V7 Notebook Evangelist

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    I checked it out, but everytime I try to download the program, my anti-virus kicks in saying that it may potentially be harmful adware.

    I'll try it again. In the meantime, can you suggest any other solutions? Thanks.
     
    Cossack7V7, Jan 18, 2011
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  6. -L1GHTGAM3R-

    -L1GHTGAM3R- Notebook Deity

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    -L1GHTGAM3R-, Jan 18, 2011
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  7. Cossack7V7

    Cossack7V7 Notebook Evangelist

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    There was no trial version and you need to purchase a license key. I'm sure there must be other programs for the job.

    Is there anyway to convert the format of a Word Document so that I can actually read the text and make it visible again?
     
    Cossack7V7, Jan 18, 2011
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  8. JKleiss

    JKleiss Notebook Evangelist

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    You could install open office and see if it can read the file better than MS word
     
    JKleiss, Jan 18, 2011
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  9. gerryf19

    gerryf19 I am the walrus

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    since it is word 2003, open notebook then drop the file into a blank window.

    the oy you describe is how notepad recognizes some formatting code so I am guessing the file is corrupt. Sometimes, notepad will reveal all the text in a corrupt file. You will need to copy it out of the notepad file and drop it back into word and reformat it, but you might get lucky...
     
    gerryf19, Jan 20, 2011
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  10. TANWare

    TANWare Just This Side of Senile, I think. Super Moderator

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    If the text is there but invisible try copying the entire text area then paste it as "Paste Special" to another doc and select paste text only. you could also try using notepad to text too as it will only accept ASCII...........
     
    TANWare, Jan 20, 2011
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  11. Eugene91

    Eugene91 Notebook Consultant

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    Try Recuva by Piriform?
     
    Eugene91, Jan 20, 2011
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  12. realwarder

    realwarder Notebook Evangelist

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    If using Windows 7, you might try right click and Restore Previous Versions on the folder.

    Take a copy of other files that you might have added to that folder first though!
     
    realwarder, Jan 21, 2011
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  13. wave

    wave Notebook Virtuoso

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    If the actual document file is not working you can try recovering the autosave file created by word. This is assuming autosave is turned on (by default it is) and that you edited the document recently using MS word.

    try recovering ~Wra####.asd files in the folder
    C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word

    you can open them using word's 'Recover Unsaved Documents' option. You can find it under File -> Recent
    It is at the very bottom.
     
    wave, Jan 21, 2011
    #13