I am using Windows 10. My audacity version is 2.1.3.
I am new to audacity and looking for some assistance.
When I open my Audacity file, I get the error in the subject. I can then choose “treat missing audio as silence” and the entire track is silent. It said that the 890 files were minor and I could delete with little to no harm. I did just try permanently deleting, and the second dialogue screen no longer comes up.
I did save a second version of this project to edit upon recording. When I open that project, it cannot find the second data file. I checked the hard drive, temp file, and roaming file, and there is nothing there. I am able to find the first project data file and everything is there.
I have attached my log file. Anything I can do to save this audio? I read through many of the forums, and I couldn’t find an exact match. Apologies if this question has already been asked, and I was not able to find it. Audacity Log File2.txt (127 KB)
You need to be careful with Audacity projects. A “project” is not just a file. There is a “project file” that has the file extension “.AUP”, and then there is the audio data.
Recorded audio is saved as block files in a “_data” folder.
Example:
If you save a project to:
*C:\Users\jeffe\Desktop*
and name it: Boards and Bottles Podcast - Episode 3 - Gen Con
A “project file” will be created: C:\Users\jeffe\Desktop\Boards and Bottles Podcast - Episode 3 - Gen Con.aup
and a _data folder containing the audio data: C:\Users\jeffe\Desktop\Boards and Bottles Podcast - Episode 3 - Gen Con_data
The “_data” folder contains sub-folders which ultimately contain the audio data as lots of little “.AU” files.
It is essential that the AUP file and the “_data” folder stay together and are not renamed or manually edited. If they are on your Desktop (as in this case), ensure that Windows doesn’t “tidy” your desktop and move, modify or delete either of them.
If you have an aggressive anti-virus program, ensure that it is set to ignore .AUP and .AU files.
If you have a “system tune up” or “system maintenance” application running, ensure that it does not clean AU files.
I suspect that on this occasion, the missing .AU files are lost and gone forever. I hope the above explanation provides you with enough information to avoid it happening again.
There is additional information in the manual here: Managing Audacity Projects - Audacity Manual
Thank you very much for the quick reply. There wasn’t another prompt between the two prompts listed. The first few times, I just selected ignore. When I wasn’t seeing progress, I did select the permanently delete files. I realize the audio might be lost, and I will chalk it up to a learning experience. I also think it could have been the Windows 10 upgrade.
I am looking for a few more recommendations to ensure I don’t lose work again:
1.) My standard practice thus far has been to save the project, and then “save as” to create a copy. The purpose of this is to have an original to fall back on in case I mess up editing. Will it create a separate _data file for the second project when doing this? Or, will it always reference the original _data file? Is it recommended to only save one version of a project?
2.) Where would you recommend saving the project? Is there any more risk to saving on OneDrive in Windows10? Is the Desktop the best place to save?
3.) Any other best practices I should be aware of?