File Vanished
I was working on an arrangement–which I saved repeatedly–and I went to restart Musescore because it kept not responding and now the arrangement is gone. It was saved with the type of file name it would receive after restoring from a crash, as Musescore had crashed last night. I've searched for it under its original name and its restored name and the original is an old copy and the restored file simply isn't there.
I've checked where the backups are stored and it's not there. I've searched for any hidden files and it's not there.
It's version 2.0.2 on Windows 7. I don't know what else to do. I can't find it anywhere and I spent hours and hours on it.
Please help me. I don't want to lose all of that work. I've tried everything and I can't find it. I know I saved it. I saved it several times and now it's just gone.
Comments
When you recover a file after a crash, you should notice from the title bar or the score tab that the file name constructed for the file is actually the full pathname - something like C_Users_Marc_Documents_MuseScore2_Scores_MyScore.mscz. So that is the file you need to look for. By default, it will be saved in whatever folder MuseScore started up in, which is entirely system-dependent. Could be your home folder, could be somewhere else. Use Windows "Find" facility to search for the filename, it should turn up. Maybe someone who has that particualr OS can tell you where to start looking.
In reply to When you recover a file after by Marc Sabatella
I've tried that and I'm still not finding it. I've looked in Documents, I've looked in Scores, I've looked in the folder where Musescore runs. I don't see it anywhere. I can't even find any files with the correct date.
In reply to I've tried that and I'm still by xxbroadwaygalxx
If you did in fact save the file, then it *has* to be present on your drive somewhere, assuming the drive is functioning correctly. So either you did not in fact save it - seems unlikely - or else your drive is failing (certainly possiuble). Or, perhaps you aren't doing the search correctly and are managing to miss something. Like maybe you are looking for the wrong date, or are not searching all drives or folders.
In reply to If you did in fact save the by Marc Sabatella
I did a full system search and then searched specifically for files modified on the 6th and on the 5th. The only thing that came close was an audio file I had made of the arrangement, but no mscz files.
In reply to I did a full system search by xxbroadwaygalxx
Then to the extent you are sure your search was exhaustive, then I'm afraid the only other two possibilities are the ones I mentioned: you in fact did *not* save the file, or your drive is failing.
Does https://musescore.org/en/handbook/recovered-files help at all?
In reply to Does by Isaac Weiss
I tried that as well, but it's not there.
In reply to I tried that as well, but by xxbroadwaygalxx
Keyword searches are very finicky; if you mis-remember a single letter, space, underscore, or digit in the file name, nothing will turn up. Instead, run a search for all the files you modified on the date on which you last worked on that file. Set the search to cover the entire computer, not just your usual directory or user account. If it's in the computer at all, and if you got the date correct, it'll turn up.
If your copy of MuseScore was installed in the default folder in Win7, it should be under C:\\Program Files (x86)\MuseScore2. If that's where the program is installed, the likelihood is that your missing file is in C:\\Program Files (x86)\MuseScore2\bin.
In reply to Keyword searches are very by Recorder485
I've just tried both of those and I'm still not seeing it anywhere.
In reply to I've just tried both of those by xxbroadwaygalxx
I'm really sorry; I know how frustrating that can be. Here's hoping you can revise one of your earlier versions without having to re-do all the input.
Good luck.
ETA--Wait a minute! You mentioned above that you found an audio file you'd created from that score. Did you by any chance create that audio file by downloading the score in MP3 format from MuseScore.com? If you did, your revised score is still there on the server, and all you'd have to do is download it again, but this time as an mscz file.
In reply to I'm really sorry; I know how by Recorder485
No, I exported it as a WAV file.
In reply to I tried that as well, but by xxbroadwaygalxx
In case you didn't already, be sure to check out the external file link at the bottom of Isaac's post. Or just go here:
https://musescore.org/en/node/52116
The auto save files use a different, computer generated name, tinstead of your original file name.
Here's some breaking news about another possible Windows location for a lost file:
https://musescore.org/en/node/117451#comment-531441
It's for Windows 10, but Windows 7 may also have a VirtualStore folder somewhere, for example:
C:\Users\[User Name]\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\MuseScore 2\bin
Regards.
In reply to Here's some breaking news by Jm6stringer
I don't know if my configuation is typical of all Win7 machines; I run the Pro version which includes a Virtual Machine capable of running Virtual XP (that's why I paid extra for it). But in any event, there are a couple of additional paths to various MuseScore folders through 'Users' in Win7Pro, but the subfolder \bin does not exist in any of them, only in the C:\Program Files (x86)/MuseScore2 folder.
Here are the directory paths through C:\Users--:
C:\Users\[User Name]\AppData\Local\MusE\MuseScore
That folder should contain a plugins folder but may also contain a large number of autosaved mscz files with randomly-generated file names.
C:\Users\[User Name]\AppData\Local\MuseScore\MuseScore2
Same story for that folder; it will contain four other folders (locale, plugins, profiles, workspaces) and may contain a number of autosaved mscz files with randomly-generated file names.
There is indeed a path through 'Users' to a 'Virtual Store' folder in Win7 Pro, but it does not contain any MuseScore folders of any sort, only Microsoft\Office (at least that is the case on my machine). I can only assume this has something to do with how/where the program installed itself. I honestly no longer remember if I manually changed the default folder upon installation; I think not but I won't swear to it.
In reply to Here's some breaking news by Jm6stringer
The only thing in that folder is a folder titled 'manual', and it's not in that folder either.