HELP??!!! I cannot open a file and receive the following error message. Your help is appreciated!

Report · Jun 07, 2016

Report · Jun 07, 2016

That error can have a lot of causes, not just one. It could be that it was not correctly closed by someone, and a 'lck' file is still somewhere on the system (means file is locked). It could be that the file is corrupt. It could mean that Captivate is corrupt. It could mean that you have not enough space left. Are you launching Captivate as Administrator?

I hope you have a backup file? Find it in the Documents folder where you have your Captivate files, change its extension to have the normal cptx, eventually rename it and see if you can open that backup.

If you are sure the first reason cannot be the cause, you could clear the Cache first of all. This can be done from the welcome screen of Captivate, where Edit Preferences is available. It has a button on General settings to clear the cache. Beware: that means also the cache of the present project will be deleted, which could mean a last means to recover the project.

Report · Jun 07, 2016

Thank you. If I have all of my projects saved outside of Captivate and I clear the cache, will those projects be ok? I assume it only removes them from being quickly accessed through Captivate.

Report · Jun 07, 2016

I don't fully understand what you mean by 'outside of Captivate'. Check the paths in Edit, Preferences first for 'Publish at' and 'Cache'. Those paths should point to a different location, on your system, not on a networked drive. It is the folder in the Cache location that will be cleared. But I did see users who pointed both to the same location, and then all the project were deleted as well.

Report · Jun 07, 2016

I always save my projects in a separate folder from the publish and cache locations on our companies network drive.

Report · Jun 07, 2016

If your project files saved to the network have become corrupted, then your project cache may be your only way to get them back again.

So I would not be clearing out your cache until AFTER you have established that you CAN in fact open one of these projects normally.

All experienced Captivate users know that saving CPTX files directly TO a network drive or loading them directly FROM a network drive is asking for trouble. You should ONLY ever work on files that are residing on your own hard drive.

Report · Jun 07, 2016

Rod, that is what I wrote in my first answer about cache clearing. Same with having projects on the system, not on a networked drive. Sighing...seems not be understood.