damages .xls file recovery

[timtheenchanter]

just been given an important xls document to try to recover, no idea what has been done to it, but it wont open.

The error I get is
"the file you are trying to open XXXXXXX.xls is in a different format than specified by the file extension. verify that the file is not corrupted etc etc...."

google only gives me the "click yes" answer, which I have already done, but get a blank sheet opening.

the file is not blank, its 275kb, as apposed tyo a blank .xls at 16kb.

anyone got any clues here, because despite me advising till I am blue in the face (and them loosing quite bit of data due to a dead hdd a couple of months ago) , this person still does not back up files.[/b]

 

[Igorian]

What version of Excel are you using? Do you know if the file has been renamed?

Can you email it to me (address in profile) so I can check it over?

 

[timtheenchanter]

hi, it was originally created in Exel 2000, has since been edited in 2007, I have tried it using 2010.

it hasn't been renamed as far as I know.

I looked in your profile, but couldn't see an e-mail address, I would very much appreciate you giving it a look over.

thanks

 

[Igorian]

Strange, my contact info isn't showing. Send it to ian bowgen ukonline co uk. Zip it up if it's large.

Mods might remove the email address from post, but they might also be able to tell me why the contact details aren't showing

 

[timtheenchanter]

mail sent, thanks

 

[Igorian]

Ok, it's not good news.

I used meta scanner to try and identify the correct type. The results were mixed, but Excel was not in the list. The best match, at 20%, was a Lotus wk* generic file type. Given that the other example you provided looks and reports ok, I think you can safely assume that the file is damaged.

I also tried a couple of decent recovery applications but they also failed to identify the data.

Maybe he will be convinced about the backups now.

 

[Monkeh]

If you want to email it to me at (removed now to avoid spam) I'll have a look at it also. More eyes are better.

 

[Igorian]

Hiya

I've sent them on. Le us know if you have any luck.

Regards

Ian

 

[Monkeh]

There's absolutely nothing to recover from that file, it's blank.

 

[Illuma]

If you are lucky when the file was edited in 2007 an automatic backup may have been made. Go to the PC where the file was worked on and have have a look at this link http://www.accountingweb.com/item/103824

also they could try this https://www.sugarsync.com 5Gig for free.

 

[timtheenchanter]

cheers,
thanks to those who had a look at it.

my next stop is go have a look at the machine, see if I can get a temp of back up off it.

 

[googley]

There is another little trick that you can try. Open up a new excel file and then select "Insert File" from the top - sometimes it works and you recover the text but may have to reform the columns etc othertimes it wont work. Will only take a minuite to try.

Normally if the file is damaged Windows would have made a back-up copy and the xls extension would have been replaced, try doing a search on the file name only on the PC it broke down on without the extension, this will then show up any back-up copy.

 

[Monkeh]

There is another little trick that you can try. Open up a new excel file and then select "Insert File" from the top - sometimes it works and you recover the text but may have to reform the columns etc othertimes it wont work. Will only take a minuite to try.

A wasted minute. The file he's sent has no data at all to recover via any method.