10 Tips For Dealing With Corrupt Files

This is a guest post by James Adams. If you want to guest post on this blog, just drop me a message using the Contact page.

Files get corrupted for a variety of reasons. The hard drive might be failing, the computer was interrupted mid-write, or a virus may actively be corrupting your data. No matter what the cause, having a plan in place for corruption is essential. Here are ten possible solutions to correct corrupted files.

1. Make sure that the file is corrupt – Sometimes your file won’t open or print because of security settings. Sometimes it won’t open because the wrong program was chosen to open it. Make sure that the file is indeed corrupted before taking measures to correct the corruption that has been caused.

2. See if the TMP file is available – MS Office and several other applications will create a temporary copy of your file while you are working on it. If your documents get corrupted because of the program crashing or a power outage, you can recover them by searching for the TMP file that has been created.

3. Use a different program – Occasionally, files just don’t want to work in the program that you are working with. Take the file and attempt to open it in an application that is compatible with the original one. For example, open up your MS Word file in Google Docs or Open Office Writer.

4. Internal recovery – Office has an internal recovery program that you can use to force your application to repair the files that have been corrupted. Choose the file and select open and repair to make an attempt at recovery.

5. Move the file to a different place – Sometimes the foundation of the file is bad, rather than the file itself. Move it to another place on the hard drive or try opening it from an external hard drive. If you are able to work with the file, use ‘save as’ immediately and save another copy of it.

6. Convert to text – Try converting your file to text. This will remove nearly all of the formatting, but it will get most of the file back. With some of the text recovered, you can recreate the formatting that you have lost.

7. Use CHKDSK – CHKDSK comes with every standard application of Windows. It will check your disk and attempt to recover any errors that are on that disk. When you find that your file is corrupted, run the CHKDSK utility and then try to open it once more.

8. Check your email – Check your sent folder if you have been emailing this file to friends or clients. You may be forced to work with an older version of the file, but it has nearly all of the formatting and information that you desire.

9. Export your files – Try exporting your file to another file format. If your Word file is corrupted, try opening it to export it as an Excel file. If you have PDF files that you are concerned about, see if you have any files in the original format.

10. Third party disk recovery – There are several third party data recovery applications on the market today. You can also send your hard drive to a recovery service, where they will charge you based on the difficulty of your request.

One of the best ways to recover from data corruption is to have a backup of the files on hand. Data corruption becomes a mere roadbump rather than a tragedy. File corruption is aggravating, but it can be overcome with planning.

Also see: Document Corrupter – Give Yourself More Time To Finish Your Projects

About the author: During his time at an online supplier of ink cartridges, James has covered developments in hardware and design as well as analysing the latest in the world of technology, design and hardware such as the HP 300XL.

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