Forum Discussion
Error: Specified argument was out of range of valid values
Trying to save my presentation last night and I received this error.
When I clicked OK, the Story View went blank - no slides were visible. Nothing I did worked to save my presentation. I couldn't save it to the original location, or to another location, and I couldn't even try to open a new instance of Storyline and copy/paste so I didn't lose my materials.
Eventually I had no choice but to completely shut down Storyline, and when I reopened, everything I'd done since the last save, and some things I'd done prior to saving, were gone, including several minutes of screen recordings.
Has anyone encountered this error, and is there anything I can do to retrieve my data?
Lesson Reiterated: Save Often
30 Replies
Hi Carrie. I wasn't able to find any reference to this specific error message in our Knowledgebase. Do you know if you have Storyline 2's autosave feature enabled?
Here's a quick walk-thru of the autosave feature. I realize it may not help you recover lost work in this instance, but hopefully it'll save you some agony in the future.Yes, I do have that enabled, and did at the time I was working on this.
Carrie Spalding
Training & Education Specialist
Ungerboeck Software
636-300-5606 x173
ungerboeck.com[GlobalConference
Ah. Glad to hear you've got that enabled.
The auto saved file should open your project in the state of when it was last saved, either by you, or by Storyline's autosave feature. But it sounds like that didn't happen in your case. Could you share this information with our support team? Perhaps they can offer some more suggestions.
I have the same issue. I have lost two recordings this morning.
Sorry to hear you've hit this roadblock, Margie! Since this is an older thread, let's start from the beginning.
- What version of Storyline are you using?
- Are you working from your local hard drive?
- What happened just before this error message appeared?
Storyline II
Yes
The only unusual thing that I did yesterday was to “remove all unused recordings,” with a Storyline file open.Margie Patton
Instructional Designer11724 NE 195th Street, Bothell, WA 98011
T 425 354 6211| M 206 375 3630
vertafore.com | mpatton@vertafore.com
Thanks, Margie. Let's get your file in the hands of our Support Engineers so they can help you nail down why this happened. You can send it directly to them here.
In the meantime, you may find an older version of your project that contains the two recordings you lost in your temp files. Here's a quick Peek at how to find temp files:
Open this folder in Windows Explorer: Frippdata%\Articulate\Storyline
- Scan the contents of this folder for a file that starts with the name of your project. If you find one, copy it to your desktop. If you find more than one, copy the latest version to your desktop.
- Change the file extension of the copy on your desktop from *.tmp to *.story.
- Double-click the file to open it in Storyline.
It has been 3 years and it seems that this issue still has not been fixed. I've managed to retrieve the file using the temp file trick. However, it is still corrupt and cannot be opened. Please advise. In addition, perhaps your team should look into this bug as its been a few years and its still ongoing?
Hi Tarek,
I'm really sorry you've run into an issue with a corrupt file. It's an awful position to be in, made only more frustrating by how tricky it is to track down the cause of the corruption. There are a few things that we know contribute to corruption, and the majority of users who follow the best practices outlined here don't run into any of these corruption issues. Please take a look and let me know if you have any questions.
Sadly once a file is corrupt, there isn't anything we can do to repair it. Looking in your temp folders and files is our best recommendation to find an earlier version and then follow those guidelines to prevent any future issues.
4 years down the road and it appears that this is still an issue...sigh
Well, it is 2023 and it has just happened to me... I'm devastated, long night ahead.
if it happens the next time - try: delete all scenes/slides, then undo
- go to story view
- select one scene
- control-a (select all scenes)
- delete key -> "Are you sure you want to delete [n] scenes" -> yes
- control-z (undo)
try "Save As" with a new name
Hello Nicole and welcome to E-Learning Heroes :)
Thanks for contacting us to let us know that you've run into a similar issue.
It looks like you are using Storyline 360.
Are you running into the same issue that was originally reported? Are you working locally (typically your C: Drive) with your software and files?
Hi there,
I have a problem concerning previewing either slides or entire projects. It coincided with me getting a new Articulate update. The error information says: Specified argument was out of the range of valid values and I can't do the preview of some of the slides or the entire projects. I thought it was a matter of putting in an mp4 to the project but the same thing happens with a different one, where there are no mp4s. Can you please help?
Hi Joanna,
I'm sorry to hear you're running into this error! I've opened a case on your behalf with our support engineers and would like to have them take a look at your file.
Feel free to use your personal upload link below, and they'll reach out as soon as they're done testing!
