Anyone know anything about Word Perfect?

[Kulindahr]

I'm using WP 10 to write my story Fit for Life. I just saved a chapter, unplugged my laptop in one room, took it to another, plugged back in, and now WP says it's an unknown file type.

Is there a program that can read the file anyway, assuming it just got saved wrong? I can' usually pull things out on notepad and wade through all the code crap to recover my text, but it's coming up blank.

 

[trinket]

What's the file's extension? That will go a long way in helping. Is the name (not the extension) some kind of funky generated name, or an understandable name?

 

[Kulindahr]

052 .wpd

I just downloaded UltraEdit to look at the thing. All it shows is 00 00 00 00 all the way through.

 

[trinket]

Yeah, that's WordPerfect's native extension so you'd think there would be no problem! Also, I'm not sure if you have WordPerfect's backup options set, but I think it can be set to keep a backup every X minutes. I thought your file might be the backup so couldn't be opened directly or something, but maybe a backup is still there?

So this guy seems to have a similar issue and mentions lightning.

That was a good plan on UltraEdit, my idea was to use one of the viewers out there that could open anything (even binaries) and have a look at the contents, or at least the beginning (header) that identifies the type of file. But if it's filled with "00" there might be no real data there or the file is corrupt.

Try WPLook. It's mentioned in the first post here, and the FTP link it mentions in the last paragraph is still active (look near the bottom for the executable, and earlier up for the readme file). Apparently it can view and repair corrupt WordPerfect files.

 

[Kulindahr]

Yeah, that's WordPerfect's native extension so you'd think there would be no problem! Also, I'm not sure if you have WordPerfect's backup options set, but I think it can be set to keep a backup every X minutes. I thought your file might be the backup so couldn't be opened directly or something, but maybe a backup is still there?

So this guy seems to have a similar issue and mentions lightning.

That was a good plan on UltraEdit, my idea was to use one of the viewers out there that could open anything (even binaries) and have a look at the contents, or at least the beginning (header) that identifies the type of file. But if it's filled with "00" there might be no real data there or the file is corrupt.

Try WPLook. It's mentioned in the first post here, and the FTP link it mentions in the last paragraph is still active (look near the bottom for the executable, and earlier up for the readme file). Apparently it can view and repair corrupt WordPerfect files.

I've got the backup function set to every ten minutes, but there's not a bloody thing in the backup file! I suspect that the save function neutralizes the backup function.

I'll try WPLook. I think I've reconstructed most of it from memory, but there was stuff in there from research that took me a few hours to do, and I only have really brief notes.

 

[opinterph]

I googled around and found that there are recovery programs designed especially for WP, but they seem pricey. Does the size of your damaged file correspond to similar documents with the same volume of text?

 

[Jack Springer]

Kulindahr - I had no idea WordPerfect was still around.

A suggestion which I'm sure you already know -- always work with a copy of the file. You might try to import the file into another programs like MS Word or other text program. I don's work with PC's anymore but I seem to remember that WordPerfect files could be opened in a variety of software.

There is always the possibility that you saved the file under another name or extension -- we all make mistakes.

A good place to look for software is www.versiontracker.com

I didn't see a recovery program in version tracker but there could possibly be something there that could help you.

Good luck. You're a good writer - hate to see someone like you lose their hard work.

 

[Kulindahr]

I googled around and found that there are recovery programs designed especially for WP, but they seem pricey. Does the size of your damaged file correspond to similar documents with the same volume of text?

I already checked file sizes. I looked at one similar with UltraEdit, and it had the right text, enmeshed in a heap of code.

In just used WPLook, and it said it extracted the file, but now I don't know where the file went.

 

[Kulindahr]

Okay, I re-did it and this time specified where the file went. It came out as a .txt file -- and it's blank.

The source file says it's 20KB, but the result is 0KB.

Yay.

 

[Kulindahr]

Kulindahr - I had no idea WordPerfect was still around.

WP 10 is like... a dozen years old? I think I got it back when I still lived near OSU, which would mean like '98 or before.

These days it's part of the "Corel Office Suite", which is a nice alternative to Microslop Orifice.

There is always the possibility that you saved the file under another name or extension -- we all make mistakes.

I used the ctrl-s command to save it, so it shouldn't have gone under another name -- I looked anyway, though.

I just discovered that WP has an option to make and save a sepcial backup every time I hit save -- that could really clutter my hard drive, since I save every time I finish a section, which can be as small as a paragraph, or any time there's the least interruption.

Good luck. You're a good writer - hate to see someone like you lose their hard work.

Ah, it's only about six hours worth.



p.s. -- are you one of my 'silent fans' at Fit for Life?

 

[trinket]

The source file says it's 20KB, but the result is 0KB.

Yay.

I'm guessing the 20 KB might be just header/type and format data and not any "real" data (or maybe it's the sum of all your "0"'s plus the WPD header data). So perhaps there was no "meat" to work with anyway in your original (corrupt) file, hence the 0KB text file result.

Guess you'll have to re-create it. Kind of sucks. You can double-check your WordPerfect backup settings to see if it lets you specify incremental files (as different names), etc. or other things that might help you for a similar problem in the future, I guess.

 

[Kulindahr]

I'm guessing the 20 KB might be just header/type and format data and not any "real" data (or maybe it's the sum of all your "0"'s plus the WPD header data). So perhaps there was no "meat" to work with anyway in your original (corrupt) file, hence the 0KB text file result.

Guess you'll have to re-create it. Kind of sucks. You can double-check your WordPerfect backup settings to see if it lets you specify incremental files (as different names), etc. or other things that might help you for a similar problem in the future, I guess.

I just checked "Save original as back-up on each save". I used to do that all the time, but since software got more dependable I got kind of lax about it.

 

[mike_n_herrin]

it sounds to me like it didn't save anything. you could try opening it with the free program "openoffice" and see if it sees anything other than a bunch of zeros.

http://www.openoffice.org/

 

[Kulindahr]

it sounds to me like it didn't save anything. you could try opening it with the free program "openoffice" and see if it sees anything other than a bunch of zeros.

http://www.openoffice.org/

Since neither UltraEdit or WPLook found anything, I decided it was corrupt, and redid the material. Two other on-line helpers tried their own methods, and found nothing in it, either.

 

[gsdx]

I use WP7 and I've never had a problem such as you describe. Wish I could help.

 

[looseliam]

Open it in notepad. See if you can see any of the text.

If you do, you'll have to do a find and replace to get rid of the characters WP has inserted as spaces, apostrophes, etc.