[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by roy_libran

Ok, I think I know the problem. I think the data is in the Buffer File, that is automatically created in the same folder (look in hidden files). Try locating that file, and rename that file, and follow the conversion procedure to see if it works.

But wouldn't excel show a list of buffer files in the folder, upon opening?.

Though worth a try, because, I think, the purpose of a buffer file is to save data 'as and when created' so that even in the case of, say, power failure, data is not lost.

[Sedate]

If the amount of data is less then try the zip route.

Rename the file to ZIP. extract it. There will be a folder named worksheets.

Inside that you will have files with name of the sheet (Sheet1.xml, Sheet 2.xml etc)

Open the XML file in notepad.

The data will be in the XML modes

- <sheetData>
- <row r="3" spans="1:6">
- <c r="A3">
<v>DATA GOES HERE</v>

</c>


- <c r="C3">
<v>DATA GOES HERE</v>

</c>


- <c r="F3">
<v>DATA GOES HERE</v>

</c>


</row>


</sheetData>



You can manually save the data from these xml files.

Yes...Its dire boring and time consuming!

[ph03n!x]

Rush, you said you mailed it to your work email - can you open it from your email sent / inbox? Or have you made a bunch of changes in the 3 hours you worked on it?

And if you are on Win 7, see if you have a Previous Version - right click on the corrupted file in its original location > properties > previous version

[mayankk]

umm.Google docs may open the file.
Not too sure though.
i HAVE used it to open xlsx files, but it loses all the formatting etc, just base data is shown.
Pain to get down to an xls(but i think that might be the least of your problems.data might be more important for you).

Edit: oh wait, bblost already gave this info....

[GTO]

Firstly, thank you for the effort & help guys.

Originally Posted by bblost

Not quite sure how this will work. But email it to a gmail account.

Then when you open the email in gmail it will ask if you wish to view it or download it.

Tried. Message reads "Sorry, we are unable to generate a view of the document at this time. Alternatively, you can view the plain HTML (automatically redirecting)." HTML view shows a bunch of weird characters.

Originally Posted by pjbiju

Check if you have any files without any extension residing in the same folder that had the xlsx file. The name could be something like "D647FD10" etc.

No file.

Also check if Autorecover is enabled (under excel options) and if so, check in the autorecover folder for a copy of your file.

Autorecover is indeed enabled. But the only thing in that folder is a sub-folder titled "XLSTART".

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Create a copy of file and rename this copy to .zip

Originally Posted by Sedate

If the amount of data is less then try the zip route.

Rename the file to ZIP. extract it. There will be a folder named worksheets.

Doesn't extract. Had tried this morning. IIRC, error said something on the lines of invalid archive.

Originally Posted by dre@ms

@GTO Are you using Office 2007/2010 at your office too?

Yup.

Its worth a shot trying to open with Open Office.

Downloading Open Office as I type.

Originally Posted by alexpaul

"Save files in this format" < field box >

Probably your office laptop must have the settings to save the document in .xls format instead of .xlsx format and thats where the existing file is getting corrupted.

Both had xlsx, but I just changed them to xls. Never had a corrupt xls till date.

Originally Posted by roy_libran

Ok, I think I know the problem. I think the data is in the Buffer File, that is automatically created in the same folder (look in hidden files). Try locating that file, and rename that file, and follow the conversion procedure to see if it works.

No other file at all, Roy.

Originally Posted by ph03n!x

Rush, you said you mailed it to your work email - can you open it from your email sent / inbox? Or have you made a bunch of changes in the 3 hours you worked on it?

The main work was those three hours of changes

And if you are on Win 7

On XP

[theexperthand]

GTO, can you make a copy of the file and rename it to zip, and try using Disk internals zip repair utility to repair the zip file? May be you will be able to extract the zip file after the repair.

link: Fix zip file with DiskInternals ZIP Repair

[GTO]

^ Didn't work. The list of repaired zip files draws a blank.

[sadnabrina]

I have seen the exactly same error while trying to open files which are initially saved as ".XLS" and later renamed (through windows explorer) to .XLSX.

Did you try renaming the file to ".XLS" and open it?

[GTO]

Originally Posted by sadnabrina

I have seen the exactly same error while trying to open files which are initially saved as ".XLS" and later renamed (through windows explorer) to .XLSX.

Did you try renaming the file to ".XLS" and open it?

Did, but no luck. I've responded to your PM and sent you the file as well

Thanks

[roy_libran]

Ok GTO. Here's another option. Try downloading a Data Recovery Utility and point it to scan the drive on which the file was resident. It might detect a previous image of that file, that you can then ask that utility to save separately. Also, look for Buffer Files (similar to one user has pointed out on page 1) that were created around the time your file got deleted, using the same utility. You might be able to pick up the buffer image, if not an image of the original file.

I have tried these utilities in the past to recover accidentally deleted data from my disks, and I have been mostly successful.

I am assuming that the data is terribly important to you, and hence all this conversation is happening; so this round-about approach might be worth a try.

[luky_13]

I was in a similar fix a year back, some financial data in an Excel, xlsx went bad and the file was 'unrecognizable'. Almost went into panic mode before hitting on this site Excel Recovery Software recovers & repair corrupted Excel File . It actually worked and I was able to recovery all my data in the nick of time.

You could give it a try.

[dre@ms]

Any update GTO? Tasted success?

[GTO]

Originally Posted by roy_libran

Try downloading a Data Recovery Utility and point it to scan the drive on which the file was resident.

Thanks Roy, I will try this.

Originally Posted by luky_13

http://www.stellarinfo.com/excel-recovery.htm

On my way to download.

Originally Posted by dre@ms

Any update GTO? Tasted success?

Not yet, unfortunately. I'm going to give this till tomorrow. If it doesn't work, will start recompiling the data from my grey cells . It's now damage limitation mode.

[DRIV3R]

Originally Posted by roy_libran

Ok GTO. Here's another option. Try downloading a Data Recovery Utility and point it to scan the drive on which the file was resident. It might detect a previous image of that file, that you can then ask that utility to save separately. Also, look for Buffer Files (similar to one user has pointed out on page 1) that were created around the time your file got deleted, using the same utility. You might be able to pick up the buffer image, if not an image of the original file.

I have tried these utilities in the past to recover accidentally deleted data from my disks, and I have been mostly successful.

Highly unlikely to work, cos the older version was overwritten by the new version, after it was worked upon for 3 hours.

Remember, data recovery software work only when those sectors which are to be recovered are not overwritten by data. If we run the data recovery utility now, all we would get is the corrupt file. My take on this.

@Rush: If Autorecover option is enabled, MS Excel should have saved a backup every 10 minutes, by default. Check for any stray xl sheets in the "Application Data\Microsoft\Excel" path in the C drive. This path differs from OS to OS, check what it is for XP and look for any files there.

[GTO]

DRIV3R, Thanks but the application data folder has no such file.