Error Message: Couldn't find the project data folder

After recording four hours+ of audio (I only meant to record one hour, but got called away to deliver product to a customer), and in my haste (and forgetting the lessons previously learned after making this same mistake), I made the same mistake again: After saving as Audacity files, I changed the name of both files and moved them before editing. Using Windows 7. Now, I get the error message: “Couldn’t find the project data folder”. Both folders are saved, but somehow they are no longer related or joined together or recognizing each other.

Yes, I know… I am an idiot. I know just enough to edit and save Audacity recordings as MP3 files, but, like I said, this time I forgot to edit the file before renaming and moving it. In other words, I know enough to get into trouble, but not how to get out of it.

Have several hundred people nationwide expecting me to have this audio edited down from 4 hours to less than one hour and uploaded to my Dropbox account by Monday and have a show to do tomorrow.

Looking for help from someone with skill and patience to help me recover this file somehow. Once recovered, I am able to edit and convert .aup file into MP3.

Willing to pay for tech support if necessary.

How much chocolate have you got?

Open up the AUP file in any text editor and in the first two or three lines of words should be the original title of the show. Rename the file and folder back to the original, make sure the file and folder are in the same place or folder, double click on the AUP file and they should open.

See where it says “projname”?

http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/aup1.jpg

Koz

Hi Koz,

Got lots of chocolate. How much you want and where should I send it? :smiley:

I don’t have a text editor and to my knowledge probably would not know how to use one, or maybe I should say “I may have one but not know it and not know where it is on my PC”. Any suggestions? Should I look for one on my PC or download one from the Internet?

Could provide my phone number if that would simplify things and expedite this whole process. Appreciate your help but also don’t want to take up too much of your valuable weekend time. And, again, I’ll remind you that even though I’m somewhat proficient at using PC’s, better than the average PC-user, I’m probably nowhere near your level of expertise. So, if possible, go easy on me. I’ve already admitted to being an idiot for making this same mistake before, but somehow was able to undo it and recover the files without help then. Not so this time.

Thanks in advance, Koz!

Koz,

Found something on my PC called WordPad which supposedly edits text documents. Used it just now to check original file name. But, even before I posted in this forum, I had already remembered what the original name of the aup files were and already changed them back to their original names and also put them back in the original folder they were saved to and I still can’t open the file.

Please. Still need help.

Got it, Koz!

Reread your reply, several times. Then finally actually looked at the attached link to document you had included. Didn’t realize there might be something like “_data” attached at the end of the original file and folder names. Added that back to names for both and voila it now works.

I owe you big time. Dark chocolate, milk chocolate or white chocolate?

Thank you so very much. Figured you had given up on me when you didn’t reply a second time. That gave me the hint that the secret was buried in your first reply, so I kept reading, thinking, trying things until I got it.

Have a great weekend. You’ve earned it.

We try to help as much as we can, but as we are all unpaid volunteers that help out here “for fun” in our spare time, we have limited time and resources so we rely on some of the work being done by the person asking the question, which I’m very pleased to hear you successfully accomplished. If you notice any questions by other Audacity users that you are able to answer, please feel free to offer your help to them - that’s what this forum is all about :wink:

I did that between the haircut and shopping for a fruit basket.

Also please remember that if you catch it just right, the question has to ripple around the earth once. I’m in sunny, warm Los Angeles, but many of the elves are in a rainy city somewhere in England. That’s what, nine hours that way [pointing east].

Koz