ppj file corrupted?!

[EdwardMartinIII]

Hiya!

I'm running XP Pro and Adobe Premiere 6.5. In fact, I've been doing this for quite a few months, now.

A project I've been working on for a few days suddenly can't open. I attempt to open the PPJ file by double-clicking it, Premiere opens, and then I receive an error message that reads

Unable to open that file because it is either locked, write-protected or corrupted.

Okay, it is definitely not write-protected or open (that I can tell), and 48 hours ago, I was editing it just fine (although the system would occasionally crash, but because it's a computer, I expect that.

I tried copying the file and opening the copy. No go.

I tried importing the PPJ into a new PPJ file. Same error.

I tried uninstalling Premiere and QuickTime and reinstalling both from the CD. Same error.

I tried sacrificing a goat. Same error, except now I have to use a vinyl keyboard cover.

I tried searching this site and Google using the wording of the error message, and found nothing.

I looked through the Adobe site for, perhaps, some kind of update/patch/fix. No go.

I looked through the user support forums (which once again has forgotten my password). No help there, either.

(there are no MP3 files in this project)

Supposedly, I do a search for the file by name and I can come up with the last five saves archived on the system drive, except there aren't any. (I did find the shortcut to the file, but no backups)

So, I'm going to start a new project, with much cursing, and I beg of anyone who might have suggestions to offer them!

Thank you!

Edward

"Cut a hole in the door. Hang a flap. Criminy, why didn't I think of this earlier?!" -- inventor of the cat door

 

[LRSmith]

Blasted newsgroup---typed in a reply and it went to a far away place...

First, sacrifice a lamb before a goat, that's correct protocol.

I don't have a good answer, just suggestions. Try opening the project file in a separate editor, compare it a good project file, look for noticeable changes.

You did a Windows file search, found 5 copies, but they were not there when you went to that directory? Strange.

Try Norton Systemworks or similar software with diagnostic features to repair your Windows software. I personally don't trust Bill Gates' lackies to do it, but a reinstall of XP back to its original state may be a last resort. Follow that with the wonderful upgrade process. I did that when XP somehow got corrupted, but regardless XP should not be crashing that often.

 

[EdwardMartinIII]

Ah, I forgot to mention those. I tried opening the ppj file in NotePad, just to look at it. Although it was lots of scrolling in both dimensions, the screen was blank. I tried opening it in WordPad, and it was all those little what-the-hell-is-THIS squares.

I did a Windows search, and found only a shortcut to the file in the Recently Fiddled Items folder. I expanded the search by checking the "Look, I'm desperate" checkbox and found four IE links of the same name, but they all attempted to open the same file anyway -- they were all located in the same place (My Computer) and all had the same statistics. So, I don't know what they were.

I run Fiddle With OS on a regular basis, and Microsoft's website currently tells me "Ain't nuttin' new for you, bub", so it's as up-to-busted as it can be so far.

Since I posted this last night, I crashed intensely on the project and brought the new project up to the same location as the old one, so solving the issue is more an exercise in academia. The Academia of the Mentally Unstable, I admit, but academia nonetheless. of course, if it fails again and becomes mysteriously corrupted, I'm going to get somewhat upset. There may be violence.

Cheers,

Edward

"Cut a hole in the door. Hang a flap. Criminy, why didn't I think of this earlier?!" -- inventor of the cat door

 

[LRSmith]

Your humor in such a situation is commendable. This doesn't help you, but it reaffirms my philosophy to make backups of project files since they tend to get corrupted from time to time. Why, who knows. Bill Gates is involved, undoubtedly.

FYI---windows update is the reason I had to reinstall XP. It wasn't SP2, but an earlier "critical update" that crippled my computer. That's why I don't trust those guys---it will be a while before I install SP2 so they can get all the new bugs fixed with the current release. Norton seems to do a good job fixing Windows, but alas, someone here will have a problem with them too. Find your niche, I guess.

 

[EdwardMartinIII]

Thanks. Ya gotta be funny 'cause let's face it, a handgun has a limited range and besides, it's harder to kill a corporation (althgouh, frankly, I think they oughtta' die a natural death like the rest of us).

I now make regular backups of my PPJ files.

One thing I HAVE noticed is that my sequence went like this:

1. New computer!
2. Install Premiere!
3. Work on some really big projects
4. Update the living hell outta the new computer!
5. Start occasionally experiencing errors in Premiere (including complete reboots, blue screens, etc.).
6. Reinstall Premiere
7. Have experienced no errors since reinstallation!

So, that might be handy for folks in the future.

Cheers,

Edward

"Cut a hole in the door. Hang a flap. Criminy, why didn't I think of this earlier?!" -- inventor of the cat door

 

[CreamCake]

I recall opening a .ppj in wordpad once to manually fix a file's location.

Worth a try I suppose...

 

[CreamCake]

Sorry.. I did not read the post a few up.
Playing Spaceward HO! and reading forums does that to me.

DOH!