Composition Lost
I was working on a composition for my Music Theory class. I saved it constantly. One day, I decided to continue working on it and I clicked the file and it wouldn't open. I decided to restart my laptop. That didn't work. My friend had me email it to them, just to see if it would open for them. It didn't.
Is there anything I can do to get my composition back?
Thank you.
EDIT: A copy of the file will be posted below.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Clarinet_Trio_in_Eb_Major Final Exam.mscz | 12.77 KB |
Comments
hopefully https://musescore.org/en/node/52116 helps
In reply to hopefully by Jojo-Schmitz
I tried to open the backup (the one with the period in the front), and it said, "Can't open file. File extension 'mscz,' not supported."
In reply to I tried to open the backup by Swiftpool99
Right, as explained in the page referenced above, you need to rename the backup to remove the trailing comma in order to sue it. This is, as I explained above, to prevent you from 8accidentally* opening the backup when you meant to open the real score.
Be sure you really are opening the score itself and not the backup copy - the filename should not start with a period or end with a comma. Sometimes people see both versions - the real score and the backup - and get confused and try to open the backup. That deliberately doesn't work, to prevent you from accidentally opening the wrong version.
If that and the link posted above don't help - be sure to check for both the backup *and* the autosave file - then anything else you can remember about exactly when the problem started would be useful in trying to understand what happened. In particular, do you remember MuseScore crashing at any point? Also post the file here so we can see if there is something simple that can be done to recover it.
Be sure, BTW, to update to the latest version, 2.0.3. Many bugs were fixed that could possibly have led to corrupt files. Getting the latest won't fix any scores already corrupted, but it should greatly reduce the likelihood of this ever happening again.
In reply to Be sure you really are by Marc Sabatella
I was always saving the score directly, and not the backup. I have edited the original post to include the file in question.
I remember the problem started on either Saturday or Sunday (April 16th or 17th). I was working on it the night before, and then I saved the file as I was going to bed. The next day, I wanted to open it up to work on it, or finish it.
The file wouldn't open. It would show a blank screen. I attempted to open up different files to see if they suffered from the same problem. It turns out the only file that is gone is the one I was working on for class. I can open up every single file except the one I need. (The luck, right?)
As for MuseScore crashing, I can say with 100% certainty that it did not. The day before the incident started, my laptop did force a restart at one point, and I saved the file and exited away from it, but that had no effect on it, as I was able to continue working on it once I turned my laptop back on. (Laptop forced restart at around noon. I didn't experience the issue until the next day).
Tha file is certainly beyond repair, it contains nothing but zeros
In reply to Tha file is certainly beyond by Jojo-Schmitz
It's absolutely unsalvageable? Nothing I can do except start from scratch?
In reply to It's absolutely by Swiftpool99
As mentioned, the backup is probably fine - you just need to rename it to use it. You didn't mention if you tried looking for autosave files, but there might be one of those as well.
In reply to As mentioned, the backup is by Marc Sabatella
I found the backup and got rid of the comma at the end and the period in the beginning. The file is doing the same thing the normal file is: showing me a blank screen.
In reply to I found the backup and got by Swiftpool99
Well, that's not the same as the normal file at all - the normal file puts up an error message and will not load. Getting to a blank screen is a big improvement. So, if you pst *that* file here maybe we can sort out what is happening.
Do follow the isntructions regarding the autosave file as well, though. Chances are what you want is to be found there.
In reply to Well, that's not the same as by Marc Sabatella
For the life of me, I cannot find the autosave. (Honestly, I was unaware the files even autosaved.)
I was searching through my documents on my laptop, trying to follow the instructions for locating it, and I don't seem to be able to find it.
In reply to For the life of me, I cannot by Swiftpool99
Are you using a Windows operating system?
If so, can you find the "Application Data" folder mentioned in the recovery instructions? It may be hidden, in which case you you have to read "How to see hidden files in Windows", also in the recovery instructions.
Please note that the autosaved backups are alphanumerically named, the one you seek will not display as "Clarinet_Trio_in_Eb_Major Final Exam.mscz
Open the backups to see if the one you want is there. You can use the file creation date as a clue to which one(s) to open if there are many files listed.
Regards.
In reply to Are you using a Windows by Jm6stringer
After doing everything that the link told me to do about showing hidden files, everywhere I look, I cannot find anything like that. (I narrowed my search through ALL of the files using a a search for "mscz," since all of the Hidden files in the image above use that in the end.
I just get the original and the backup, which neither will open.
In reply to After doing everything that by Swiftpool99
Nope, the auto-save files with the weird names in the above image (not backup files) do not have a comma at the end. The backup files are stored with your MSCZ score files, the auto-saves are in your user profile space.
In reply to After doing everything that by Swiftpool99
Are you running Windows? If yes, what version?
The image above is from Windows 10.
It shows the auto-save, or session backup files, with no comma at the end.
Were you able to find the 'AppData' folder?
(In Windows XP it's the 'Application Data' folder)
(In Mac OS X it's 'Application Support')
Regards.
In reply to Are you running Windows? If by Jm6stringer
I found the folder entitled AppData, which resulted in me finding only one "hidden" file. Attempted opening it and it wouldn't open. It said that MuseScore wasn't responding. Do I need to rename the file? (Asking before I do, just so I don't mess it up.)
(I was trying to save a screenshot and post the picture of what I saw, but my laptop won't take the screenshot, even though I'm hitting the correct buttons to do so.)
In reply to I found the folder entitled by Swiftpool99
@Swiftpool...
Since you cannot open it, please attach the cryptically named .mscz file that you found (in AppData/Local/MuseScore/MuseScore2).
There are ways to extract, check its integrity - and perhaps fix it.
Be advised though that the file might be an autosave from a different score. There's no way to tell by reading the cryptic alphanumeric title.
Also, you mentioned a file that opens to a blank screen (with no error message). That's the one Marc refers to. You should attach that also.
Regards.
In reply to After doing everything that by Swiftpool99
As I said, if you get a blank screen opening the backup, that's a huge improvement over what you get with the original file. if you attach it here, perhaps someone can fix the problem.