InDesign - need a "Fix my Corrupted File" Upload Service

Report · Oct 18, 2007

There are frequently posts on the forum for people who have corrupted INDD files. This means lost work and frustrated InDesign users.

The Indesign team should offer a "Fix my File" upload link to its customers.

For each corrupted file, you will help a customer, and in the process, hopefully improve the overall stability of the product (which has issues) and benefit everyone...

Adobe: If you are afraid that you will be swamped with requests to "Fix my File", then you should probably just get out of the SW business now...

Report · Mar 04, 2009

Keith:

No need to ask. I'm interested in taking a look at any corrupted files to try to determine what may have gone wrong.

If your file is small enough for email, you can send it directly to me (tomdonov@adobe.com).

For larger files, you can upload them to our customer support FTP server. Here are instructions for doing so:
http://www.adobe.com/go/kb402038

When using the FTP site, please create a folder with distinguishing name, transfer your files to that folder, and then send me an email to let me know the files are there for me to take a look at.

Thank you,
Tommy Donovan
Development Project Lead
InDesign Product Family
Adobe Systems, Inc.
tomdonov@adobe.com

Report · Mar 11, 2009

Hello Tommy

Care to take a look at yet another possibly corrupted InDesign file that crashes the ID while trying to open it? :)

And btw, do you charge for file recovery services?

Cheers,
Mikko

Report · Mar 12, 2009

It is great to see Adobe collecting these bad files and helping, where possible. As an FYI, Markzware is offering a "no-cure no-pay" service to fix bad Adobe InDesign files. This is working something like 85% of the time through this rather interesting method, based on our years of file format knowledge:
http://markzware.com/blogs/bad_corruptedadobe_indesign_docs/2008/09/15/

This service is no substitute to sending your files to Tommy and thus Adobe, for they can learn from the various Error messages and corruption that can happen out there:
InDesign Error Message Examples

If your in a jam and need that file raised from the dead; Just email your corrupt files to sales A_T markzware D_O_T nl (if under 10MB) or email us for our FTP info. If we recover the majority of the file we ask for $79.

Friendly Regards,
David Dilling
Markzware Europe

Report · Mar 17, 2009

Hi Tommy -- Hope you can help, I've uploaded a folder named "kahlerslater" on your FTP with database/error code 6 on launch.

Regards,

Kurt Thieding
Kahler Slater, Inc.

Report · Mar 18, 2009

Hi Tommy,

I have a fairly large (250M) IDCS3 corrupt (error 5) file. I don't need it recovered, but I'm happy to provide if you'd like.

For the benefit of others, this file got bloated as I had (contrary to my usual anal practice) done copy/paste images from PowerPoint direct into ID, rather than creating PSDs for placement (big rush job of course!). There were several such images on this 7-page poster size file, so possibly this contributed to the corruption.

ID crashed and brought down the whole machine (2x3GHzQuad Intel Mac OS 10.5.6, ID 5.04, requiring forced shutdown. Yikes!

Report · Mar 18, 2009

Hi Tommy,

I have a fairly large (250M) IDCS3 corrupt (error 5) file. I don't need it recovered, but I'm happy to provide if you'd like.

For the benefit of others, this file got bloated as I had (contrary to my usual anal practice) done copy/paste of images from PowerPoint direct into ID, rather than creating PSDs for placement (big rush job of course!). There were several such images on this 7-page poster size file, so possibly this contributed to the corruption.

ID crashed hard and brought down the whole machine (2x3GHzQuad Intel Mac OS 10.5.6, ID 5.04, requiring forced shutdown. Yikes!

Report · Mar 24, 2009

SOS,
I desperately need help on this one. I have just emailed you an offending indesign file that is causing CS3 to crash each time I try to open it.
Please help.

Conrad Karume
Nation Media Group

Report · Mar 27, 2009

Hi,

I have a problem with a file.
It opens, but if I want to edit it, the program either quits, or tells me that it cannot open the file, because of a database error...
Can you please look at it.
I'm putting the file in a folder "mraj01" on your tech support ftp.

Thanks in advance

Michel Raj

Report · Apr 02, 2009

Michel:

I've taken a look at your file and unfortunately, I do not have good news. It appears to have been corrupted outside of InDesign and I have been unable to recover the file or its contents.

Why do I believe it was corrupted outside of InDesign?

Every time InDesign writes data to the hard disk, we calculate and record a checksum for that data. When InDesign later reads that same data from the disk, it verifies that the data is good by recalculating the checksum and confirming that we get the same number.

Some of your data failed this test, which indicates that there was faulty media somewhere in your workflow. Typically, this is a bad sector on your harddisk, but it could also be a faulty thumbdrive. Occasionally, this problem can be caused by a bad file transfer or a bug in file backup software. I recommend running some disk utilities on your harddisk as a precaution.

Thank you for sharing your document. Im very sorry about your lost work.

Tommy Donovan
InDesign Development
Adobe Systems, Inc.

Report · Apr 02, 2009

Folks:

If you have sent me a document in the last few weeks, I apologize for my slow responses. I was out of the office in mid-March and have just recently gotten the chance to look at the ones I've received.

Over the last few week, a couple folks have posted messages, asking me to look at files. Just send them my way--there is no need to ask.

If your file is small enough for email, you can send them directly to me (tomdonov@adobe.com).

For larger files, you can post them somewhere for me to download, or you can upload them to our customer support FTP server. Here are instructions uploading to our FTP server:
http://www.adobe.com/go/kb402038

When using the FTP site, please create a folder with distinguishing name, transfer your files to that folder, and then send me an email to let me know the files are there for me to take a look at.

Important note: The most common type of corruption that we now see is caused by hardware problems, indicated by the checksum failure that I described in my last post. Running disk utilities regularly is recommended to help avoid these errors.

Thanks,
Tommy Donovan
InDesign Development
Adobe Systems, Inc.

Report · Apr 03, 2009

Tommy,
I have CS4 and I am experiencing the same issue when opening a Pagemaker file.

"Pagemaker file is damaged and cannot be recovered"

Report · Apr 03, 2009

Sid,
What does that have to do with InDesign?

Report · May 13, 2009

Hi Tom

I see that you take in corrupted IDD files and try to save them. This one is a humdinger - my daughter's final project for her degree, due to be handed in on Monday (five days away), lost on the final 'save as' as she was backing up - thus losing backup and original in one fell swoop. It represents 3 months work, and she has lost everything - no input docs remain.

Please please try to save it! Marzware were unable to.

Many thanks

Barbara

Her email:sent separately to tomdonov@adobe.com has the ftp site where she has uploaded her file.

Unfortunately the file is huge, its a zip file, In Design CS3 document which is about 114 MB big...I really hope this doesn't affect your ability to save it.

Fingers Crossed, Best Regards,

B

Report · May 20, 2009

Hi Tommy

Could you take a look at this one, too?

I'm uploading a file in a folder, Susan's Yearbook, to the adobe FTP site. I hope you can help me recover my school's yearbook!

Thanks

Susan Tuck

Report · Oct 07, 2009

I got your file, and it won't open here either. Here's the other thread from this week where this popped up: http://forums.adobe.com/thread/501055?tstart=60

Here's something very curious, though. It will open in Illustrator CS3. It appears to be a mis-labelled Illustraor file contianing a few logos for major businesses.