pack and go problem

[spincityvinyl]

I have a large pack and go document that spans 16 3.5" floppy disks. The
original document is no longer available due to a crash situation.

When unpacking this document we get through 14 disks no problem -- the 15th
disk is bad. Is there any way to recover the first 14 disks of information?

 

[Mary Sauer]

This article could help. It has procedures you may not have tried...
PUB2002: How to Use Pack and Go
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;302938

Try dragging the contents to a folder on your hard drive, then unpack.
Freeware
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download2368.html


Before you try the below utility, copy the disk to another floppy or to your hard
drive.

In Windows, there is a built-in utility for checking floppy diskettes for errors.
This utility is called ScanDisk.
In Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP, go to "My Computer"
Insert the suspect diskette into the floppy drive.
Right-click on your floppy disk drive {usually called "3 1/2 Floppy (A}
From the selection list, select "Properties"
Click on the "Tools" tab
Under the Heading "Error Checking", click on "Check Now"
This will check the floppy diskette for errors.
In the box that pops up, check both options, "Automatically fix file system errors"
and "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors"Click "OK"

The scan will commence. The utility will take several minutes to
thoroughly scan the disk, including a surface scan for physical problems or
imperfections on the surface of the disk.
Bear in mind that if bad sectors are found, the utility will attempt to recover them
and move the data to known good areas of the disk.

Sometimes this will result in the loss of data from the bad sectors, so your
recovered files may not be fully complete, so check your files carefully after using
this utility to see that they are complete.

After the scan completes, copy all files from the floppy disk to a temporary area on
your computer's hard disk. Check the files carefully for completeness, and fix as
necessary. If you must have your files on a floppy disk, copy the files to a new,
unused disk. Most data loss on floppy disks results from improper handling or
storage, and the multiple reuse of floppy diskettes. Floppy diskettes have a limited
life, and repeated read/write functions eventually affect the reliability of the
diskette. A disk with one bad sector will probably develop more errors with repeated
use, and should be discarded

 

[spincityvinyl]

I tried your suggestions. Pack and Go unpacked 14 of the 16 disks. Now, I can
see the file, but Publisher will not open it. I get the error message
"publisher cannot open file". I am sure it is because the last two disks are
not unpacked, but I can't do that. Is there any way to get publisher to open
the file "as is".....I sure would like to save some of this data (it is a 100
page advertising booklet) -- even a part of it is better than nothing.

 

[Mary Sauer]

This may help
1.In the Load Fonts window, select a font that is listed as Status: Embedded.
2.Click Don't Load to avoid using the embedded font information.
3.Repeat this process for each embedded font.

In Publisher, file, open, expand files of type, scroll down to "recover text from any
file." This may get you some of the file.

Are you certain this file isn't backed up somewhere?

 

[spincityvinyl]

I can't seem to find the options you have given me -- whenever I try to open
the file I get the message "publisher cannot open file" -- I don't see the
option of recovering text......and no, the file is not backed up anywhere --
I do have a hard copy but have been trying to avoid re-creating it.

 

[Mary Sauer]

Open, files of type "recover..." before clicking on the document... I have attached a
small image, if you use your newsreader in Outlook or Outlook Express you will be
able to see it.
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.publisher.prepress

 

[spincityvinyl]

Thanks for info. I finally realized what you were telling me to do. Tried it.
It didn't work. I guess I will have to go back to "the old fashioned way." I
can recreate this file, but just did not want to put in the time to do it.
THIS YEAR it will be burned to CD -- not pack and go. Thanks again for your
help.

 

[Mary Sauer]

If you can see the file, maybe your anti-virus software is in the way. Disable
"script blocking" in Norton and in Norton options, disable Office Plug-ins.

What version Publisher are you using to unpack? I have Publisher 2003, I can give it
a go. If you want me to try, send the file and I will see what I can do...
Remove "my" to reply.

 

[Jeff Daghir]

A data recovery service might be able to recover the data from the floppy -
of course they charge for this, but it might be worth it if there is a lot
of info to recreate. Do a google search on "hard drive recovery" or "data
recovery" and you get links to several data recovery services.

--

Jeff Daghir
MPS Printing, Inc.
The Ink & Paper People!
Madison, IN