ASCII Encryption

[Matthew Lee <ms...@gmail.com>]

Hello, I have used OpenOffice for a while without any issues but recently,
a file that I was working on wouldn't open without me specifying some ASCII
encryption. None of the pulldown menu options for what language I'd like to
decode the file in resulted in anything that looked like a normal document
(my file was about 20 pages of all text, no pictures). I don't know how the
file came to be encrypted in such a way but after going through the Support
Forums, I couldn't find any help so I was wondering if there's a way that I
can have my file restored from what it is now (like removing the coding
encryption, etc.?) I've attached the file if that helps.

On an unrelated note, I've also noticed that when I transferred my files to
an external hard drive, they all showed up as Microsoft Word Documents even
though they were all created and saved as .odt files. Is there a way to
change all of them back to .odt files without having to individually open
and save each file as an .odt file?

Thanks for any help,
Matthew Lee

Re: ASCII Encryption

[Rory O'Farrell <of...@iol.ie>]

On Tue, 8 Sep 2015 11:15:37 -0700
Matthew Lee <ms...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello, I have used OpenOffice for a while without any issues but recently,
> a file that I was working on wouldn't open without me specifying some ASCII
> encryption. None of the pulldown menu options for what language I'd like to
> decode the file in resulted in anything that looked like a normal document
> (my file was about 20 pages of all text, no pictures). I don't know how the
> file came to be encrypted in such a way but after going through the Support
> Forums, I couldn't find any help so I was wondering if there's a way that I
> can have my file restored from what it is now (like removing the coding
> encryption, etc.?) I've attached the file if that helps.

I doubt that your file is actually encrypted.  That message (ASCII filter) occurs when a file is damaged and OO can't understand it. This often occurs if there has been a computer or program crash, or sometimes if the computer has been turned off too quickly, before the hardware/software write buffers have flushed to disk.  

You should look in the backup and temporary directories pointed to by /Tools /Options /OpenOffice : Paths. Rename any files in those to type .xls and see if they contain your data. Run an undelete utlity such as Recuva or PhotoRec and see if it will find some deleted temporary file holding some or all of your data. I'd start with Recuva or PhotoRec (you only need one of these, and the sooner the better).
You can also rename the file to .zip (outside of OpenOffice) and use an archive utility (typically winzip or 7-zip) to open the archive.  If it opens, in content.xml you will find your text.


> 
> On an unrelated note, I've also noticed that when I transferred my files to
> an external hard drive, they all showed up as Microsoft Word Documents even
> though they were all created and saved as .odt files. Is there a way to
> change all of them back to .odt files without having to individually open
> and save each file as an .odt file?
> 
> Thanks for any help,
> Matthew Lee


-- 
Rory O'Farrell <of...@iol.ie>

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