I was working on a screenplay in Final Draft 7 when my laptop overheated and shut down (it happens on a regular basis now, so I'm used to saving my projects literally every 30 seconds). Anyway, I was about 45 pages into it when it shut down on me again. I didn't think anything of it, because the projects are always safe when I boot my laptop back up (because I'm always saving). This time, it wouldn't open - it says "Unexpected File Format". Now I usually save a backup, but I was really flowing with this script and didn't think do save a secure copy because I had just started working on it.
This is my ONLY copy of this file and I NEED it, I can't afford to lose the entire first act of my screenplay. All of my other projects made in Final Draft open without problems, its just this one file. Is there anything that can be done to get the file open so I can save a secure copy and move on?
Does the program allow for "auto back Up?" if so I would look in the folder of the original file and look for one closely named but probably with a different extension, if it exists rename it a different name than the original and with the proper extension. then try it. If not you have probably lost your work due to improper closing of the file when your computer crashed. You could try the manufactures web site and look for a corrupt file recovery tool of some sort. Sorry I could not help more.
Look in the programs options menu or preferences, see if you can loacte a "backup directory" path name, it may have one, but it is located in a strange place. Ya know, the files that get corrupted are ALWAYS the most impotant ones.... You might want to change your CPU fan, that could be your "crash" issue.. Only bout 10-20$
One more thing. Can you email me that file? I have a couple tricks I know. But they are 2 involved to describe here. I may be able to at least get your Text from the corrupt file and dump it to a TXT file and you can then cut and paste it. NO GUARANTEES, I will try though
I would also set the minimum amount or time (if the option exists) for it to create a BU file. NOT 1 min, your computer would be doing nothing but saving, but something like 4 to 5 min.
well you should be able to save the backup to you flash automatically by selecting the path
GOOD NEWS!!!!!!!!!!! I see Most, if not all of your data is recoverable, with minor formatting issues. Tell me a couple of thing:
What other programs (if you can remember) were running at the time of the crash?
Do you remember the VERY FIRST line of the script?
and, Do you remember about the last thing you wrote in the script?
Well the file I have the first readable text is:
"Priest", Dawn of the Dead (1978)
"Every dead body that is not exterminated becomes one of them. It gets up and kills. The people it kills get up and kill."
"Doctor on newscast", Dawn of the Dead (1978)
"When there's no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the Earth."
Dawn of the Dead (1978) Movie Tagline
the last is:
JUDITH
(Powerful diva singing)
The ****** on the bus goes "Let me off!" "Let me off!" "Let me off!" The ****** on the bus goes "Let me off!" All through the town.
Ronnie giggles, and it is now Star’s turn.
StAR
(Singing) [ALT]
The black man on the bus goes "I want the front." "I want the front." "I want the front." The black man on the bus goes "I want the front." Until the white man kicks him off.
Now everyone is silent, except Star - who giggles. The song fades and they try to move on. Star looks out the window, desperate to p
is all of that worth saving? it seems to be about (if I had to guess) 5 to 10 pages of text.
the reason I asked about your running apps, You file is corrupted with what appears to be 1 of 2 things: A virus that transmits your data thru a Peer2Peer program, or you were downloading Wheel of fortune sounds or the game, and Hanns Zimmers Dead Man's Chest.
In about 10 min I will be sending the file in TXT format back your way.
well as I said Might be a virus might not. I will paste what I saw as the Headed info in your corrupt file, which I can tell should NOT have been there.
4�L�sha1t� Lcom/limegroup/gnutella/URN;L�ttrootq�~�xpsr�com.limegroup.gnutella.URN«übtRo��xpw+�)urn:sha1:6YSYUXAADOJCDUNJNNQGPWOAMZ3CGEDZ~r�com.limegroup.gnutella.URN$Type����������xr�java.lang.Enum����������xpt�SHA1xpt�LIMEur�-[Lcom.limegroup.gnutella.xml.LimeXMLDocument;©–è³ä
��xp���sr�*com.limegroup.gnutella.xml.LimeXMLDocumentf¤yã½ßõ�I� versionL�
fieldToValueq�~�
L� schemaUriq�~� xp���sr�java.util.HashMap úáã`ñ�F�
loadFactorI� thresholdxp?@�����
w������t�audios__audio__track__t�9t�audios__audio__genre__t�
Soundtrackt�audios__audio__album__t�*Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chestt�audios__audio__bitrate__t�192t�audios__audio__artist__t�
Hans Zimmert�audios__audio__year__t�2006t�audios__audio__seconds__t�406t�audios__audio__title__t�Wheel of Fortunext�http://www.limewire.com/schemas/audio.xs...@�����
w������t�
CONNECT_TYPEsr�java.lang..Booleaní r€õœúî�Z�valuexpxxxsr�7com.limegroup.gnutella..downloader.IncompleteFileManager•¸N'åçº�L�blocksq�~�
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äÿ�L�pathq�~� xpt�bC:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\My Music\Incomplete\T-9786015-09 Wheel of Fortune.wmaw�\xsq�~�����w���sr� org.limewire.collection.Intervalüqåf»+~�I�highI�lowxr� org.limewire.collection.Rangeüqåf»,é��xp�>*3����sq�~�C�D���B��sq�~�C�N|��L��sq�~�C�\���Z��sq�~�C�bV��b��sq�~�C�l���j��xxsq�~�%?@�����
w������q�~�sq�~�?q�~�Aw�\xxxsq�~�%?@�����
w������t�fileSizesr�java.lang.Long;‹äì#ß�J�valuexr�java.lang.Number†¬•
"à‹��xp�����•Rÿt� sha1Urnq�~�t�defaultFileNameq�~�t�saveFilesq�~�?t�VC:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\My Music\Limewire\09 Wheel of Fortune.wmaw�\xt�
attributessq�~�%?@�����
w������t�searchInformationMapsq�~�%?@�����w������t�titlet� Hans Zimmer Dead Man's Chestt�xmlt�¥
L�schemaq�~� xpt�Audiosr�java.util.TreeSetý˜P"•í†[��xpsr�Corg.limewire.collection.Comparators$CaseInsensitiveStringComparator¦í~s¬Bì��xpw���#t�ac3t�aift�aifct�aifft�aut�audt�cdat�flat�flact�kart�lqtt�m4at�m4pt�medt�midt�midit�mkat�modt�mp1t�mp2t�mp3t�mp4t�mpat�mpgat�oggt�rat�ramt�rmt�rmit�rmjt�s3mt�shnt�sndt�wavt�wmaxt�audiot�queryt�hans zimmer dead mans chestxxxxxq�~�=
As you can see it seems to my like a network connection was open at the time of the crash, either an intentional one or a deliberate one.
also there are many free ANTI Virus and Internet proection softwares out there. I suggest (with one hand on the bible) that NO one gets on the internet or even worse P2P programs with out up to date and currently running AV protection. I do not even log into to my personal home hetwork unless all computers are running uptodate av progs. Well enough about...... Lets talk about... LOL JJ. got your file comming in the mail in 2 mins.
Oh one more thing.... Please vote on if my info was helpfull of not by selecting YES or NO
Thanks
AVG is a good Free one,
But I use Panda internet security suite Pro. Costs $30 and it has NEVER let me down it has intrusion protection (stops incomming hacks) Spyware protection and Malware protection. Also uses very little resourse it will slow your system down.
I was help another person with file issues, had them send me the file, before the file was downloaded from the net Panda informed me of a virus in the file and terminated it.
FYI just a thought: I am not able to try it because I do not have the program. Try remaning the file I sent you, to ANYNAME with the extension of your program and open it. it may work it may nbot. But let me know how it handles it.
well it had to be tried.... LOL have a good weekend!
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I started having the same problem when I upgraded to Final Draft 8,
using Windows 7. If I try to open a Final Draft file from My Documents
or desktop, I get the unexpected file format error. However, I've
discovered that I can open the files as long as I go into Final Draft
first and then search for them from File, Open...
This has worked fine for me for many months, until I discovered a new
glitch now. I recently bought an iPad and installed the Final Draft
Writer app. I can email the scripts to my iPad and make revisions, but
when I try to email them back to my computer, I get the same unexpected
file format error and the revisions don't save. So it turns out, I'm
going to have to figure out how to resolve this problem after all.
But if you're not using the iPad app, then my previous solution may work
for you. Try going into the Final Draft program and clicking File,
Open, and then opening your document from there. It takes a few extra
steps than opening straight from your documents folder, but it should
retrieve.
I hope this is helpful.
I know this is an old thread, but I'm posting in case other people google for the answer. Here's what I just received from Final Draft tech support:
I'm sorry for the trouble you're having.
The problems you're experiencing on the computer are because you have both Final Draft 7 and 8 installed on this computer.
You can uninstall both 7 and 8, and then reinstall Final Draft 8 only, by using the link below. (Do this for both FD 7 and FD 8)
http://support.finaldraft.com/article.as...
After that, you can reinstall Final Draft 8. (and only FD 8)
You can download another full Final Draft installer (for free) by going to http://www.finaldraft.com/support/softwa... and logging in with your 8FD Customer Number.
This should fix the issue that prevents you from double clicking and opening .fdx files.
If
you need further assistance, you can visit us in a chat online for
free, so that we can help you with this issue in real time. (830a -
530pm Pacific time)
http://www.finaldraft.com/chat
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Formatting the Data Partition
The data partition on the ScreenPlay Director is formatted with an NTFS file system and will appear as a read-only volume under Mac OS X unless special software is installed on the Mac. If you need to transfer files to the ScreenPlay Director by direct USB connection on a Mac, you must reformat the data partition to FAT32 (see instructions below).
NOTE: On a network connection, Mac OS will see the ScreenPlay Director as a shared SMB volume. This means you can use the network to copy files from a Mac to the ScreenPlay Director without changing the format from NTFS to FAT32. (Recommended if available.)
If you reformat the ScreenPlay Director data partition for use with a Windows PC, it is recommended that you use the Windows format utility to reformat with NTFS. Right click on the drive letter for the data partition and select Format.
CAUTION!
Do NOT change the partitioning on the ScreenPlay Director as this will remove the firmware that enables the ScreenPlay Director to communicate with your TV set. Only media files stored on the active data partition can be viewed or played on a TV.
Formatting the data partition will erase all existing data! If you have files on the ScreenPlay Director you want to save, move them to another drive or volume before reformatting.
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I'm not sure about the backups. When you're writing it has an option to save a backup/secure copy, but I didn't do that for this particular project. In the folder the original file is in it just has the other two project files, not backups. I'm not sure if Final Draft has an auto-backup, but if it does that would be amazing. I looked in all the program files [on the C: drive] in the FD7 folder and found nothing for backups, so I'm at a loss.
The problem I'm having is that my computer crashes ALL THE TIME, at least 3 times a day (I know I should invest in a new laptop, but I'm a college student and can't afford anything right now). When my computer crashes, even if I'm working on an FD7 project, its always there and works fine when I reboot because I'm always saving. It's just this ONE file that's not letting me open after a crash and it's driving me insane.
I'll try looking for a recovery tool, but after hours of google searches I haven't come up with anything. Thanks for the help!
I just found the most suicide-inducing thing ever. I looked in FD7's options windows and found Auto-Backup - and lo and behold, it WASN'T activated. I found the directory for it but since I never turned it on when I first installed the program a few years back, it never started saving files.
I have a date with a gallon of vodka later tonight, then maybe I'll accept responsibility for this. :-(
Thank you SO much for your help though, if you hadn't I never would've found that damn auto-backup thing hidden in the options (I say "hidden" because I'm ALWAYS tweaking options in FD7 and I never EVER saw the auto-backup bit).
Any ideas where I can find something that could fix up the corrupted file? That's my last resort.
Absolutely, if you don't mind a work-in-progress script that I'm writing for a cheesy movie I'm making with some friends before I move on to my bigger film projects. :-)
What email should I send it to?
Alright, I sent that out. Thank you so much!
Ok, I set it to auto-save every 5 minutes. I hope that works for both the original file and the backup. If not, I'll just make sure I keep saving the backup on my flash drive every time I save the original.
Ok, I set it to auto-save every 5 minutes. I hope that works for both the original file and the backup. If not, I'll just make sure I keep saving the backup on my flash drive every time I save the original.
Yep, haha, I just realized that. Everything should be set for my future projects now, thanks! Now I just need to see if there's any hope for this one before I move on. Did you receive the file?
THANK YOU SO MUCH! That just lifted me up so high, haha! Umm, I think I had Firefox, Windows Media Player, AIM, and possibly Microsoft Outlook running when it crashed. The first line of the script should be something along the lines of "We open on a dirty 16mm film screen in Academy Ratio" or something similar. The last line should be the character Honey asking the Ronnie character why all these people are in her house, unless I wrote a sentence after that, I'm not 100% but that's the last scene I remember writing.
That's not all of it, but it's enough to get it working again. I wrote about 40 pages total before it crashed but that was in the last 2 days so I still have most of it in my head still. Thank you so much!
Oh, and the DotD quote is the fourth line of the script so there isn't much missing before that. Thanks again!
Hmm. Well i let a friend of mine use my laptop last weekend for a project that he was using Hans Zimmer's music for, could that be the problem? This script is based off his ideas, I'm just doing the screenplay for him, so that's why I trusted him with it. I think from now on, my POS laptop is on lockdown from anyone but me. And once I have enough to get something better I'll make sure this doesn't happen again.
Wow, that does not look good. I think I better start working overtime over spring break and get rid of this laptop for good, I seem to be getting more and more problems every day. Thanks for pointing that out for me, though. I'll see if I can find whatever my friend downloaded and get rid of it.
Alright, thank you so much. I had Norton for 90 days (it came with my laptop) but since I've had this chunky piece of shite for 3 years I obviously haven't been protected for a while. :D Any recommendations for a good, free anti virus program?
Alright, I got the file - thank you SO much for helping me with this. I'm starting to re-format it right now, it'll take an hour or so but it's better than having to re-write everything from memory! You've helped me so much, you have no idea. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Alright, thank you - I'll give that a try.
Renaming the txt file doesn't work. It just says "Unexpected File Format" like the corrupted file did. It's not a big problem, though. I'm almost done re-formatting the parts you saved for me!
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