This project is invalid or corrupt

Oct 25, 2018

A project I've been working on for the last week, suddenly wont open and says the project is invalid or corrupt.  Before this message, I would get a message saying it was sayinf file is being used by another process.  Need help!

Thanks,

4 Replies
Leslie McKerchie

Hey Phil and welcome to E-Learning Heroes :)

Thanks for reaching out and I'm really sorry to hear about your Storyline project file.

There may still be a working version of your project in your temp files. Here's how to check:

  1. Open this folder in Windows Explorer: %appdata%\Articulate\Storyline
  2. 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.
  3. Change the file extension of the copy on your desktop from *.tmp to *.story.
  4. Double-click the file to open it in Storyline.

File corruption is unpredictable, and there's no straightforward way to determine what causes it. Common causes are environmental (disk errors, power outages, improper shutdowns), viruses, failed Windows updates, and even file size (i.e., very large files have a higher risk of corrupting). Consider using the preventative measures described in this article to protect your project files.

Dan Shannon

Same problem.  Tried everything suggested.  File path wasn't too long, using latest version, saved to local drive only.

Saving to network drive worked, though. Still had to use old file and lost a day's work.

Fact is, if you use Articulate Storyline and save in normal manner, if you fail to take the extra steps to  1) save to a network drive, AND 2) publish to Team Slides (if you have that feature), your hard work is completely at risk. 

Even if you take both those extra steps, there's no way to be sure your work won't be lost.

The articulate people in this community have been making excuses and blaming users for perfectly normal, acceptable saving procedures for at least five years without taking responsibility or steps to keep the destruction of your hard work from happening in the first place. 

From now on, will be

  • working on file on local drive (because that's what they say to do), and then
  • saving to network drive and
  • publishing to Team Slides every day.

Let's hope that works.  Too bad they haven't made real efforts to figure this out and prevent it from happening. 

This discussion is closed. You can start a new discussion or contact Articulate Support.