Corrupt Excel Files after Crash

[Steven]

I had an Excel workbook open on my powerbook when the computer crashed.
When I tried to open the workbook file after rebooting, the file was
corrupt. It didn't have any unsaved changes at the time of the crash.
What are my options for recovering the data from the corrupted file?
I'm running OS 10.2.8 with Office 2004.

Also, what could have caused this, and is there anything I can do to
prevent it? I've seen this problem two or three times now, always with
the same file. (There's nothing special about the file--it has a single
sheet with about 400 rows, 10 columns, and some simple arithmatic
formulas.) I can understand losing unsaved changes during a crash, but
it seems pretty much unacceptable to me to have consistent problems
with corrupting files--I'm now afraid to even open my files and work on
them, given the risk of unexpectedly losing the data.

Thanks,
Steven

 

[JE McGimpsey]

Also, what could have caused this, and is there anything I can do to
prevent it? I've seen this problem two or three times now, always with
the same file. (There's nothing special about the file--it has a single
sheet with about 400 rows, 10 columns, and some simple arithmatic
formulas.) I can understand losing unsaved changes during a crash, but
it seems pretty much unacceptable to me to have consistent problems
with corrupting files--I'm now afraid to even open my files and work on
them, given the risk of unexpectedly losing the data.

I don't know that anyone knows why workbooks corrupt. The file structure
is relatively complex and XL consists of millions of lines of code that
originated in the early 1980's, so bugs can be hard to find/prevent. The
next version's XML file structure should, I would think, make corruption
much less likely (or at least easier to detect and correct).

First, make sure you check the Always create backup checkbox in your
Save Options (in the Save As dialog, click Options). To create every
workbook with this option enabled, create a new workbook, format it the
way you want (including number of worksheets, etc), and save it as a
template named "Workbook" (no quotes, no extension) with that option
enabled, in the HD:Applications:Microsoft Office
2004:Office:Startup:Excel folder. All new workbooks will then be based
on that template (unless you choose a different one from the Project
Gallery).

Second, once a workbook begins to corrupt, it's on a death-spiral.
Backups made from corrupt workbooks will also eventually corrupt. One
way to cure a corrupt workbook is to copy your worksheets (using
CMD-C/CMD-V) to a freshly created workbook.

OTOH, your workbooks should not be corrupting regularly (the exception
is if you're frequently editing VBA code - both Win and MacXL VB Editors
make a mess of edited code over time).

To open a recalcitrant corrupt workbook, WinXL02/03 are more
fault-tolerant than XL04, if you have access to them. If not, I've had
success, even with workbooks that WinXL won't open, with OpenOffice, and
in particular with NeoOffice/J which you can get here:

http://www.planamesa.com/neojava/en/index.php