HDD crashed, recovered ACAD files invalid.How to reconstruct invalid .DWG files?

Hello !

About a month ago the HDD (wd7500bpkt) of my Acer 7750G laptop decided to teach me a lesson about backing up data and not putting all the information on the same data storage device no matter how reliable the classic HDD has become.

The hdd failed and I tried to fix it with a recovery software and damaged it even further. I took it to a data recovery firm and they managed to recover some data but most of it is non usable(I am referring to .dwg files). The following message appears when I attempt to open a damaged .dwg file:

"Drawing file is not valid"

However, the file amounts to 1177 KB* which, to me, means that the file contains information but with missing bits; those missing bits may be interpolated using those that are intact as I don't think the .dwg file is encrypted with random sequences that can not be predicted(*that is roughly the same size it had prior to the failure).

I found "DWG Repair Toolbox" but have not tried it yet.

Has anyone tried repairing a damaged .dwg file and was successful in doing so ?What was the procedure, what software has been used?

Thank you !

AND

-always back up your work (memory stick + Mitsubishi-Verbatim archiving dvds)

-don't try to fix something as important as a hdd that contains all of your work and important documents with software you have just found out about,

as you will only worsen the situation: do not reconnect the hdd to voltage and take it to a data recovery company.

- defragment your HDD* periodically as it greatly improves the chance of a full recovery for a given file (*defragmenting is recommended for the classical, spinning platters hdd and not for the SSDs )

Did you try to Recover or Audit the drawing?

Insert into a new .dwg or XREF?

See if there is a .bak file of the drawing and rename?

Did you try to Recover or Audit the drawing?

 

Insert into a new .dwg or XREF?

 

See if there is a .bak file of the drawing and rename?

I tried audit and it could not open it.

Now, after I read what you told me, I changed the extension from .bak to .dwg and it worked in one out of four files so it is a good start.

I will also try your other suggestions and post the results.

Thank you, SLW210 !

I tried to insert it: Insert/dwg reference/

and this was autocad's conclusion:

[Window Title]

XATTACH - Invalid File

[Main Instruction]

This file cannot be opened.

[Content]

The problem can be caused by several things:

- The data in the file is corrupted

- The file is an earlier format that is no longer supported

- The file format is not supported

Try to obtain a better copy of the file, recreate the file using different settings, or convert the file to a supported file format.

[Close]

click red A in left corner/ Drawing Utilities/Recover/Recover with Xrefs

The drawing could not be recovered

click red A in left corner/ Drawing Utilities/Recover/Recover

Unable to recover drawing.

this is interesting: I tried to insert another invalid file and when I selected it in the "Insert DWG reference" dialogue,

a correct preview of it appeared in the small window at the top right of the dialogue box

then, after clicking "Open", the "Attach external reference" dialog box also showed a correct preview of the file but after pressing ok:

Attach Xref "tije": C:\Users\Dr. Evil\Desktop\recuperate\tije.dwg

** File C:\Users\Dr. Evil\Desktop\recuperate\tije.dwg isn't a valid drawing.

The previews were correct but the file is not valid.

The same file analyzed with "recover" yielded a partially recovered drawing: 72 errors found and fixed and 92 files erased

but I was not allowed to save it

---------------------------

AutoCAD Message

---------------------------

One or more objects in this drawing cannot be saved to the specified format. The operation was not completed and no file was created.

---------------------------

OK

---------------------------

I selected the remaining objects and tried to copy and paste them in a new .dwg file but

select,Ctrl+C, => "Copy to clipboard failed"

The previews are just saved image files and not the actual DWG file.

The previews are just saved image files and not the actual DWG file.

I feared that.

Does anyone know how to recover autocad files from "pagefile.sys " file in Windows

or from hiberfil.sys ?