Which File to Use

[Dean]

My EXCEL crashed and when it recovered, in addition to an original, it offered me a 7 minute old version and a pretty current "repaired" version.

When it crashed, I was in the midst of mostly inserting and revising cell comments and miscellaneous formatting stuff. I wonder which is the better file to use going forward. Is there anyway to find out what the repair was, which might help me to decide?

This is a monster file I have been developing for months!

Thanks!
Dean

 

[Dave Peterson]

Save them both as different names.

Then look at them to see which one you want to keep.

 

[Dean]

Forgive me for not checking out these new diagnostics before posting, but I guess it now does tell you what it has done. Here is what it says:

Microsoft Excel File Repair Log
Errors were detected in file 'C:\Documents and Settings\Dean\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\PM 03-02 - 4 (version 2).xls'

The following is a list of repairs:

Lost Data Validation information in one or more sheets.

Damage to the file was so extensive that repairs were not possible. Excel attempted to recover your formulas and values, but some data may have been lost or corrupted.

Data Validation refers to some dropdowns I was using. It would be a pain if I lost these, but only a small one. However, it's much worse, in that I now see that the recovered file is totally devoid of all (probably 40 hours worth to redo from scratch) of formatting.

Fortunately, I always keep track of my latest result and can tell that the current result is still the same as that, so I can't imagine (despite the austerity of the error message) there is any way the equations have been compromised, unless it was to some cell that is not material with the given values.

I am intending to use the 7 minute old (unrepaired, if there was an error prior to the last 7 minutes of formatting) version, since it would be hell to redo all those formats, unless I painted them all in from the prior file, which seems risky since that file crashed EXCEL. And, if I redid them manually, would the result just be the same (another crash)? Can anyone tell me how likely it is that this file will crash again soon? Is there any rule of thumb as to how much cell formatting one can use in an EXCEL file before it becomes overloaded?

Thanks for any help. As can be inferred, I have been paid many dollars to develop this file over time and it would not be good for my career if I blow it!

Dean


My EXCEL crashed and when it recovered, in addition to an original, it offered me a 7 minute old version and a pretty current "repaired" version.

When it crashed, I was in the midst of mostly inserting and revising cell comments and miscellaneous formatting stuff. I wonder which is the better file to use going forward. Is there anyway to find out what the repair was, which might help me to decide?

This is a monster file I have been developing for months!

Thanks!
Dean

 

[Dean]

Thanks for responding so quickly. Actually, I had already done what you
suggested and also posted again. Though your advice is appreciated, it is
not very profound.

Kindly read my follow-up post and let me know what you may know about how
random (or predictable) future file crashes are (for the prior saved
version), after you've had one (on a slightly updated version of the same
file).

I notice that the repaired file, which is totally devoid of formatting is
about 8MBs, whereas the prior file was about 9MBs.

At what size are EXCEL files considered potentially unstable?

Are there experts on this subject who don't work at Microsoft?

Thanks much!
Dean

 

[Beege]

Dean,

Does your company backup files? If so, you may have one with < 8 hours of
catching up. If not, back up often to different locations.

Beege.


My EXCEL crashed and when it recovered, in addition to an original, it
offered me a 7 minute old version and a pretty current "repaired" version.

When it crashed, I was in the midst of mostly inserting and revising cell
comments and miscellaneous formatting stuff. I wonder which is the better
file to use going forward. Is there anyway to find out what the repair was,
which might help me to decide?

This is a monster file I have been developing for months!

Thanks!
Dean

 

[Dean]

I have many many backups, though I would be hard pressed to know where each
left off, so that wouldn't help much, as I've upgraded the file daily.

As I mentioned, I have one with only about 7 minutes less work in it, and in
fact, it was all formatting. The problem, at least in my confused mind, is
that I feel that, just because it crashed at time t, does that really mean
that what I did between time = t - 7 and time = t is really the source of
the corruption? Even, if so, which operation is the one that caused it to
crash, the one I should not redo?

Even one with 20 hours less work might have the corruption, as 95% of the
formatting was input 100 hours ago and I am pretty sure the problem is
related to the formatting, not the equations.

My deeper, darker fear is that the file could be somewhat overloaded and
that this kind of crashing will recur. It would be great to know exactly
what the cause of the crash was, if it really is one thing. Is that
knowable? I guess my only guess would be the very last thing I did when it
crashed, if I could remember that.

Dean

 

[Dave Peterson]

I would think that the only person who could decide which version to use is
you. But I may be wrong.

My feeling is that any excel file, in fact, any file is subject to
corruption/deletion. Personally, I don't have much experience with excel files
greater than 20 meg and they were stable. The one file that was troublesome was
about 1-2 meg.

Another not so profound statement--backup, backup, backup.

Just because statements aren't profound, doesn't mean that they shouldn't be
followed.

 

[Dean]

Indeed some good advice is not profound. I should have said it was not that helpful. Behind door #1, I have a repaired file that EXCEL says may not have been fully repaired, and it has lost all cell formatting. Behind door #2 is a file that was last saved 7 minutes before the 'file crash' - I also have daily backups as the file evolved. Numerically, they both seem to be identical in every way, something that is next to impossible a cell was compromised, so I feel reasonably comfortable that the only remaining corruption may be in the formatting. Still, if I am wrong, the results would be disastrous.

I do backup very often but, when a file becomes corrupted, rather than EXCEL crashing, how can you ascertain what the real source of the corruption is, especially when the repaired file says it may not have been able to fix all the corruption. How do you then know whether a prior file version was (and is) already close to corruption. It is not enough to know that a revised file is not crashing. I need to feel comfortable that it is producing the intended results, as programmed.

If I conclude that the corruption is in the formatting only, I guess door #2 is the best choice as I only need to redo 7 minutes of formatting, as opposed to door #1, which might involve days of formatting.

The questions I am left with are:

Are both files likely corrupted, in which case I may need to rebuild from scratch, but then is there something I must avoid to guard against the same eventual outcome? I fear that, although the event happened at a specific point in time, it may have been merely a straw that broke the camel's back and, hence, is likely to return, if I just pick up with a 7- minute old version. I was looking for guidance on all this. I have had this happen in the past, albeit in much earlier versions of EXCEL that did not purport to self-repair. Though one can never be sure, it is my strong belief that, after days of re-doing formats, those files never seemed to fail again. This almost suggests that corruption in EXCEL has a certain random component and is often limited to cosmetics.

Basically, I was looking for insight from anyone who has some expertise in EXCEL file corruption.

I would appreciate any advice.

Thanks for your help, Dave. I didn't mean to offend you. I did not communicate my needs well enough.

Dean

 

[Dave Peterson]

I don't know of anyone who can tell if the file is corrupted -- or close to
corruption.

OpenOffice has opened many files that excel couldn't and may remove the
corruption--I don't know for sure.

Good luck.

Dean wrote:

Indeed some good advice is not profound. I should have said it was not that
helpful. Behind door #1, I have a repaired file that EXCEL says may not have
been fully repaired, and it has lost all cell formatting. Behind door #2 is a
file that was last saved 7 minutes before the 'file crash' - I also have daily
backups as the file evolved. Numerically, they both seem to be identical in
every way, something that is next to impossible a cell was compromised, so I
feel reasonably comfortable that the only remaining corruption may be in the
formatting. Still, if I am wrong, the results would be disastrous.

I do backup very often but, when a file becomes corrupted, rather than EXCEL
crashing, how can you ascertain what the real source of the corruption is,
especially when the repaired file says it may not have been able to fix all
the corruption. How do you then know whether a prior file version was (and
is) already close to corruption. It is not enough to know that a revised file
is not crashing. I need to feel comfortable that it is producing the intended
results, as programmed.

If I conclude that the corruption is in the formatting only, I guess door #2
is the best choice as I only need to redo 7 minutes of formatting, as opposed
to door #1, which might involve days of formatting.

The questions I am left with are:

Are both files likely corrupted, in which case I may need to rebuild from
scratch, but then is there something I must avoid to guard against the same
eventual outcome? I fear that, although the event happened at a specific
point in time, it may have been merely a straw that broke the camel's back
and, hence, is likely to return, if I just pick up with a 7- minute old
version. I was looking for guidance on all this. I have had this happen in
the past, albeit in much earlier versions of EXCEL that did not purport to
self-repair. Though one can never be sure, it is my strong belief that, after
days of re-doing formats, those files never seemed to fail again. This almost
suggests that corruption in EXCEL has a certain random component and is often
limited to cosmetics.

Basically, I was looking for insight from anyone who has some expertise in
EXCEL file corruption.

I would appreciate any advice.

Thanks for your help, Dave. I didn't mean to offend you. I did not
communicate my needs well enough.

Dean