AI files can't be opened in Adobe Illustrator 2020

[Dyess FSS Marketing]

I am losing my mind here. I'm working mostly remote (telework) so I save my work on an external drive. I switch between computers at work and my computer at home. Both have the same versions, same fonts, and so on. I never had problems with it but since the couple days, I can't open the files on either of the PCs.

If I try to open the file via "open with", or "open" or want to try to open it in Illustrator itself, doesn't make a difference. I always get this message...

If I tried to insert it or place it I get this message......

I tried to open it in InDesign but no change.

I'm kinda clueless what else to do. Not to mention the amount of time it took to create files. Basically all Ai files can not be opened, therefore I can't save them as EPS or PDF's.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, I need magic here.

[Ashutosh_Mishra]

Hi there,

Sorry to hear about your experience. Would you mind sharing version of the Adobe Illustrator? I'd recommend copying these file from the external drive to your local drive and see if it makes any difference. It looks like a permission issue.

Let us know how it goes.

Regards,

Ashutosh

[Dyess FSS Marketing]

Thanks for your response. I have at work and at home Illustrator 2020 over the cloud ( so always the newest version because we are required to update immediately). I use the business license at work and my personal license at home. 

I will try the copying but I'm confused because it was just working fine until a couple of days ago. 

[Ashutosh_Mishra]

Thanks for replying. Did you make any recent change with the OS or any network policies updated? Please check if your IT Team has made any recent changes. Thanks!

[John Mensinger]

Have you tried:

Resetting preferences?

Rebooting the computer?

Copying the file(s) to your root drive and opening from there?

[Dyess FSS Marketing]

Thank you for your help. I did a reboot and resetting preferences. I might need to try copying to my root drive.

[Mario Arizmendi]

What method do you use to synchronize your files trough the several computers?

Maybe the corruption occurs at this instance

[Dyess FSS Marketing]

I'm using a Seagate Backup plus slim as an external hard drive and it does it automatically with all the files I'm using.

[Mario Arizmendi]

Looks ok, but I really recommend you to not work directly on the external drive, always save your files directly on the computer and then back up and sync on the external drive, however, may be you want to try the cloud sync offered by adobe as part of your subscription, I used it for a long time and it works really well with no problems synchronizing my files over 3 computers in 3 different cities.

See this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GkxPn-ZFr0

[Joely · Accepted solution]

is the Seagate Backup encrypted or encrypting your files? 

Maybe this helps too?

https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/kb/troubleshoot-damaged-illustrator-files.html