Just about every computer user has encountered a problem opening a program or file. Sometimes a simple reboot will correct this, but corrupted files often prove resistant to this failsafe. A corrupted file is essentially a file that has become damaged and refuses to open properly.
What It Is
Every file on your system is a piece of electronic data. It has a certain structure and a certain content. With the right information in the right part of the file, it functions normally. But if the wrong information is written to a file, or the right information is written in the wrong place, the data can become garbled and scrambled, leaving you with a corrupted file. Damage to the storage medium can also render parts of a file physically unreadable, creating the same result. A corrupted file may not open at all, or may show an error if it does. These damaged files are self-contained, meaning they don't indicate a problem with the original program. If a Word document is corrupted and refuses to open, other Word documents and Word itself may open without issue. Programs and your operating system can also develop corrupted files, which may prevent proper use of any files that rely on these core programs.
Why It Happens
A file typically becomes corrupted when a problem occurs during saving. If your computer loses power or crashes as you save a file, there's a good possibility that the file will become corrupted. Bad sectors on your hard drive or other storage media can also cause file corruption, even if the saving process finishes properly. Viruses and other malware can also cause file corruption.
What to Do
Before you resign yourself to deleting the corrupted file and losing all your hard work, do some research into recovery programs. Software such as Recuva from Piriform helps recover damaged, lost or deleted files. You can also try opening the file on a different computer. Corrupted program or operating system files may require full reinstallation of that software to correct.
Although recovery programs can help open corrupted files, they don't always work. You may have no choice but to delete the bad file and start over from scratch. This is a good time to start a new habit of making backup copies of your files as you work. Always keep two or three updated copies on your computer or keep a copy on a separate storage device such as a USB flash drive. Run anti-virus scans regularly to keep malware at bay and use a surge protector to prevent problems while saving. Keep your software CDs and operating system recovery discs close in case you need to use them to fix a corrupted file.
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