unreadable files

[katycopsey]

I am using windows 7 and audacity 1.3 to record. For the second time, I have recorded, saved the file and closed the program so that I can edit later. THe files will not load - somehow they are being corrupted as they are saved because Audacity cannot find the data. I am also getting notices of 'orphan files' and other problems.
Is there any way to secure the files short of exporting the raw data at the time and then going back to edit from that file?
I am looking at contacting 2 people now so that I can get my show out for this Saturday and that is not only frustrating but embarrassing too, so I am hoping someone can help me,
Thanks
Kate

[kozikowski]

As a rule, I don't use Audacity Projects for important shows. Capture the work and export a WAV sound file. Then make a protection copy. I've done several major productions like that, successfully and with perfect stability.

You can damage an Audacity Project several ways: You can use forbidden characters in the filename. No dates. Write dates 20101122, not 11/22/10. You can have corruption on your hard drive. When was the last time you defragged and error checked your drive? You can have a full drive. See Defrag tools.

You can use Audacity 1.2. Audacity 1.2 is not supported and no longer updated, corrected or patched. On some machines, it won't run at all. Use Audacity 1.3.12.

http://audacityteam.org/download/

Koz

[katycopsey]

As a rule, I don't use Audacity Projects for important shows

So which program do you use? I have found Audacity great so far, but this latest glitch is very irritating.
Thank you for your reply.
Kate

[kozikowski]

I use Audacity 1.3.12. Not 1.2. When I get to the end of a show capture, I press Stop and File > Export a WAV immediately. Sometimes I never get around to Saving a Project at all. If I think about it I do it now, but I never used to.

Projects are brittle and easily damaged. You can't easily email one and you have to be very careful not to move or rename one. If you have a very complex show with lots of editing, you can't move a Project or any of the sound clips you used. Projects come with many rules.

You can do anything you want with a WAV file.

There are times you are required to use Projects. There is no other good way to save a show with multiple sound clips running at once -- multi-channel sound. Technically, Projects give you a very slightly better sound quality than a straight WAV file, but the difference is only apparent with tools.

Koz

[steve]

I am using windows 7 and audacity 1.3 to record.

Topic moved to the Audacity 1.3.x forum.

I've heard of this problem on Windows 7, but I can't find it on the "known issues" list.
There is a "Moonphase" bug that may relate to this.
Are you using the 64 bit version of Win 7?

If you are able to reliably make this problem happen by a particular series of steps, that may help the developers track down the issue and fix it.

If you are using any version of Audacity earlier than 1.3.12, try upgrading to 1.3.12 as there have been quite a few bugs from earlier versions that are now fixed. http://audacityteam.org/download/beta_windows

Exporting as a WAV file is probably the best form of backup for a recording. For important recordings I do this as a matter of course, even though 1.3.12 is extremely reliable on my (Win XP) machine.