Corrupt file.....HELP!

juliecouch · 1 Nov 2012, 11:32

Hi, I am desperate to try and recover a Sketchup file which will not open. I was working on it this morning, transferred it to my boss's computer via memory stick and now it will not open.

The error message is unexpected file format. I have tried copying it and renaming it. I have tried to import it into Sketchup rather than open it which results in an error message telling me that the file contains an unexpected object.

Stupid school girl error not to keep a back up copy. Any help or suggestions would be hugely appreciated as the file constitues a whole day of work.

I have attached the file.

Many thanks

Julie

TIG · 1 Nov 2012, 12:05

Do you have any auto-backup SKB version?
Re-suffix that as SKP and it should open as 'one save behind'.

You haven't attached the file.
ZIP it if it's >4Mb.

Dave R · 1 Nov 2012, 12:23

I haven't had this problem for a long time but when I did have it, I found that e-mailing the SKP file to myself seemed to fix it. No explanation as to why but it did work.

juliecouch · 1 Nov 2012, 12:31

Hi, sorry the file is too big to attach, it's 31MB to I don't think zipping it will get it down to the 4MB max allowable.

No, no backup up unfortunately. I will try the email trick and see if that helps.

thanks

Julie

juliecouch · 1 Nov 2012, 12:40

I can't do the email thing as the file is too large for my account or the free version of YouSendIt. Any more ideas?

Regards

Julie

TIG · 1 Nov 2012, 12:55

If you zip it how big is it ?

Dave R · 1 Nov 2012, 12:58

Is it still on the memory stick? Are you trying to open it from the stick? Or did you copy it to your boss's computer? Could you try copying it to another computer?

TIG · 1 Nov 2012, 13:00

Did you Move it to the stick or Copy it ?
If you have the original is it still corrupted ?

juliecouch · 1 Nov 2012, 14:16

when it's zipped it's about 24MB. I have tried opening it on 3 separate computers, from the memory stick and from the network. Still the same problem. The original is corrupt .

TIG · 1 Nov 2012, 14:22

No SKB files are being made ??

juliecouch · 1 Nov 2012, 14:34

There isn't one for this file. I may have been inadvertently deleted!

TIG · 1 Nov 2012, 15:05

Bummer!
What's the largest file your email allows you to attach ?
Can you ZIP the SKP file into segmented parts that are <= that size [many ZIP apps have that option], and email each of those separately to yourself.
Then download them all and then rejoin them [automatic when you try to extract from the first numbered one].
The extracted SKP can then be opened to see if that fixes it...
It's a convoluted long-shot, but seems to be the best we have so far.

If you have a Pro license then SketchUp support would look at the file for you and could perhaps fix it, but that might take a while and it'd need to be segmented as a ZIP too...

juliecouch · 1 Nov 2012, 15:13

Thanks TIG, I'll give it a go. Worst case scenario, redraw!

thanks

ely862me · 1 Nov 2012, 15:20

Is the file still recognized as a Sketchup file ? At times for some unknown reason the.skp extension gets lost.If this is the case try to rename the file and add .skp at the final (in windows 7 you need to unhide the extensions from the control panel in order to change the extension).

If you didn't fix it yet try to archive and split the file in 6-7 parts of 4 mb so you can upload here(if it is ok with you) and some of us can take a chance on it .

Dave R · 1 Nov 2012, 15:24

Julie,

If it comes to that you might want to see if there are any strategies you can use to keep the file size down and to make potential redraws less painful. I don't know what your model is/was like but perhaps there were unused components, materials, styles, etc. Purging unused periodically will help clean up that stuff. Making components of objects and collections of objects would allow you to save them out as separate SKP files. If you run into the problem of a corrupt file again you could just drag the components into a new model. You might also find it easier to send the components to your boss instead of the whole thing in one lump.

There are other possible things you could do to keep file size down and perhaps prevent corruption of the file but exactly what depends a bit on the model.

pbacot · 1 Nov 2012, 16:11

the zipped 24MB file is OK for YouSendIt. Isn't it? If not just buy a month's account. Send the file to someone here to see if they can open. It's a try anyway.

TIG · 1 Nov 2012, 17:06

If you have it split into parts and are wary of giving it to 'everyone' on the open forum, you can PM it to some of us, OR PM one of us for an email address you can send the ZIP[s] to...