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Unable to open AI files by AI

Community Beginner ,
Dec 30, 2020 Dec 30, 2020

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I have a number of files created with a previous version of AI which would not open by AI and would not even be recognized as AI files. The thing is that now they won't open even with previous version of AI. 

As shown in the attached picture the dialog box says: The file “…” is in an unknown format and cannot be opened.

 

Anyone knows if and how this "scandalous" bug may be overcome?

 

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Bug , Performance

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

Community Beginner , Dec 31, 2020 Dec 31, 2020

You are much too kind Monika but you have actually already solved the issue for me when you kept on mentioning hard disks and upgrades. I copied those files on a macbook which I rarely used which had an AI CC2015 installed, and the files opened in a fly. There must be some kind of issue with my main desktop computer then, which never did show other problems though. I know that in these cases the thing to do is a complete reformatting of the internal drive and re-installing everything from scratc

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Adobe
Community Expert ,
Dec 30, 2020 Dec 30, 2020

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What is the history of these files?

How did they get to the place where they are now?

Where are they located?

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Community Beginner ,
Dec 30, 2020 Dec 30, 2020

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Thank you for your questions Monika.

These files have always been located on the hard drive of the same mac where they were created in the first place by a previous version of AI. The AI icon of these files is different from the accessible AI files I have on my computer. 

Screenshot 2020-12-30 at 13.59.22.png

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Community Expert ,
Dec 30, 2020 Dec 30, 2020

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Are all of the files that old? Not that it would be a general issue, but it could point to a troubled history.

That file is named "Untitled" - any reason for that name? Anything else in those file names that is not standard ASCII? Or in the folder names?

Exactly where are they located? Is that an internal or external drive?

 

Did you have a disk failure?

Have the files been recovered at some time?

Did you update the operating system recently? Did that include a change of file system on that Mac?

 

Do the files still open in Acrobat?

 

 

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Community Beginner ,
Dec 30, 2020 Dec 30, 2020

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Dear Monika,
so many questions, why? They are Adobe Illustrator files, same company, same software, anyone would be expecting those files to stay compatible through their various updates even if they were created at the stone age of computing. So now to open these files I have to undergo a third degree interrogation about the history of every single on/off bit that went through my computer. What difference should it make on what dam hard drives they were saved? Your questions may be absolutely to the point but it is just too much and pointless to me. The solution is much simpler: I will throw away those files and always beware! since this is just the way Adobe builds software. They just don’t give a f…!

Thanks
Roy

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Community Expert ,
Dec 30, 2020 Dec 30, 2020

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"so many questions, why?"

Probably because Monika is trying to help you.

You could have spend your time answering the questions instead of ranting.

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Community Expert ,
Dec 30, 2020 Dec 30, 2020

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The files stay intact like forever. You can still open very old files (I do that regularly).

 

But problems may arise when your hard drive goes corrupt or files have been handled in the wrong way. When hard drives have to be recovered, then usually a couple of files do not take that well. When you send an AI file over certain networks then  it can become corrupted.

 

I am regularly using old files (older than yours) and I have never seen a file go corrupt just because it's old. If it happened at all, then there was something on top.

 

And really: files with the name "Untitled" are suspicious.

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Community Beginner ,
Dec 31, 2020 Dec 31, 2020

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Ok Monika, thanks for kindly keeping at it.

Let me stay simple and general. You say the files are intact forever. Yet, most probably they are corrupted because of one of many occurrences you mentioned that surely took place in all those years, files copied across machines and/or networks, system upgrades, etc. I have 84 files that would not open and are not recognized by AI. I do not believe that “untitled” should be an issue in itself since I usually attach another name or number myself to "untitled". There are other files with specific names which still misbehave in the same way. Considering that I cannot give you a definite clear specific answer to where and when and if that thing or other occurred, is there yet a way to go about them to fix them?
 
Cheers, and Happy New Year
Roy

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Community Expert ,
Dec 31, 2020 Dec 31, 2020

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Can you make 1 or 2 of these available by a file sharing app so we can try to open? 

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Community Beginner ,
Dec 31, 2020 Dec 31, 2020

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You are much too kind Monika but you have actually already solved the issue for me when you kept on mentioning hard disks and upgrades. I copied those files on a macbook which I rarely used which had an AI CC2015 installed, and the files opened in a fly. There must be some kind of issue with my main desktop computer then, which never did show other problems though. I know that in these cases the thing to do is a complete reformatting of the internal drive and re-installing everything from scratch. I am not looking forward to that. But meantime at least I got those files back and they seem to be workable. 

Thanks so very much for your help and I wish you a very happy and healthy 2021.
Roy

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Community Expert ,
Dec 31, 2020 Dec 31, 2020

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Glad you could solve it and thank you for your kind words. Happy New Year to you!

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