How to retreive a missing audio file

Audacity Help Forum Windows
1

Audacity ABR 10 22 18jpeg.jpeg
Hello all,

I was editing a recording yesterday (and saving along the way), when a storm hit my area and knock out the power to my home. When I was able to restart my editing, my file was gone. It showed up in “my document”, both the file and the audio icon, however when I clicked on the audio icon, I received an error message that stated: “C:\Users\Doris\Documents\ABR.10.22.18 DLee working.aup” is an Audacity Project file. Use the file > Open’ command to open Audacity Projects.

That is exactly what I am doing, so I don’t understand why I keep getting that error. This was not a new file. I had completed the recording on 10/14/18. I completely closed it after completing it. I then opened it yesterday to edit it and everything was fine until the storm hit. Can you help me find this file?

2

Unfortunately I suspect that the file “ABR.10.22.18 DLee working.aup” may be irreparably damaged.
If you attach it to your reply, we can take a look and check it for you.
See here for how to attach a file to your post: https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/how-to-attach-files-to-forum-posts/24026/1

3

Thank you for replying so quickly Steve. You said
ABR 10.22.18 DLee working.aup (59.1 KB)
what I am thinking because I’m not able to retrieve it. I was able to drag the actual audio file in. Please let me know what you find out.

Thanks,

Doris

4

As I feared.
This is what a good AUP file should look like:

good.png
good.png600×520 169 KB

This is what your AUP file looks like:

bad.png
bad.png600×520 263 KB

I’m so glad that you’ve got an actual audio file. Yes, that’s what you need to do (or “File menu > Import > Import Audio”, which does the same).

5

Thanks again Steve. Lesson learned! No matter how close to finish I am, I will never have a file open during any kind of storm!!!

6

Alternatively…
In Audacity 2.3.0 there’s a new feature for making backup copies: “Save Lossless Copy of Project…”
https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/file_menu_save_project.html#save_lossless_copy_of_project

When the storm breaks out, quickly make a “Lossless Copy of Project” to an external hard drive, then disconnect the hard drive and put it in the bombproof, waterproof, fireproof safe in your cellar :wink:

These copies are big, because by default the audio is 32-bit float, the same as the project itself, but unlike a normal project, the tracks are rendered to 32-bit WAV files, so you have a perfect snapshot of the project that is a lot more robust than a standard project (which has thousands of little data fragments).