Corrupt File-Please Help

[Anonymous]

I am looking for some help regarding a file that is being very problematic.  

Here is what I know:

1.) Drawing wouldn't open.  I solved this problem by breaking the link to all XREFs and orphaning them.

2.) Once the drawing is saved and closed, it won't reopen again.  SaveAs doesn't work either, nor will saving to an older version of AutoCAD.

3.) Drawing won't recover.

4.) Audit and purge doesn't help.

5.) I cannot XREF or INSERT the drawing into a new drawing.

6.) I cannot copy or cut any elements out of the drawing.  I get the error "Copy to Clipboard Failed"

7.) When it crashes I get the error message "FATAL ERROR: Unhandled Access Violation Reading 0x0000 Exception at  d1a16c39h.

At this point, I only really care about the linework in the drawing, not the surface or the points, I can add that back in later.  

Any help on fixing this file would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jenn

[pendean · Accepted solution]

Your file appears to be damaged beyond repair: do you have a BAK or AC$ autosave file you can rename and recover from?
Or how about yesterday's backup?

UPDATE: AutoCAD 2018 is able to recover the file. But all of your AEC content created in another program will be upgraded and lock out whomever sent you this file. Do you want that?

[Anonymous]

I was able to find a .bak file that doesn't seem to have any issues.  I will lose about a days worth of work using the backup but that's a heck of a lot better than loosing a couple weeks worth of work!  Thank you very much for your help. I appreciate it. 

[Emmsleys]

Hello @Anonymous,

Welcome to the Autodesk Community!

I'm sorry to hear you're having this issue. 

I see that you were able to locate the bak file. 

For preventive measures. I'd recommend running through a few file clean steps before working in a new file or on a new system or user setup. 

You can use the steps below or this AKN article: How to repair corrupt AutoCAD files 

• Run RECOVERALL, at the command line and select drawing, save drawing and close.
• Run RECOVER, at the command line and select drawing.
• (-)PURGE > Regapps > Enter>No
• (-)PURGE>ALL> Enter>No
• AUDIT> Yes
• PURGE > Select Purge nested items> Select Automatically purge orphaned data > Purge All
• (-)SCALESEDIT
• CTRL+A > OVERKILL (Warning: use this command with caution, running the command modifies your geometry by deleting objects you may need.
• Save a copy of the original file in case of any unwanted changes. )
• Close and Save newly purged file (ex. CLEANED_file)
• Apply workflow.

[Anonymous]

@pendean

You wouldn't happen to know why or how the file became damaged would you?  I would like to be able to avoid damage to other files in the future.

[pendean]

it could have been a pre-existing error in the file, it could have been a hiccup as you last saved.
Internally here we use RECOVER command to open outside files then Save before you start working in them; then regularly run AUDIT command through the life of the project to ensure nothing has crept in. Knock-on-wood so far we've not lost a single file in 15+years in our office.