I've. Lost. Everything.

[BrianPacos]

I cannot believe I am writing this, as I've spent 9 years creating all the content I use in Trainz. I ran a cleanup (Avast) on my computer the other night, and said cleanup seems to have wiped out all of my files. Nothing in the build folder, I was logged out of the Content Manager, and the game was reset to factory. I tried a Windows restore point from 2 days prior, but unfortunately that doesn't change your files. I tried expensive file recovery software (Wondershare) which recovered a TON of files from the previous build folder; however, when I move the recovered files to the build folder mapped to the game, nothing shows up. Only thing I can come up with is that the recovered files are damaged and unreadable. I've used this cleanup software in the past and this has never happened to me before. Has anyone ever had this happen before, and if so we're you able to recover anything? If I can't recover this work I will likely just quit altogether and I really don't want to do that. I have assets on my last computer from almost exactly 3 years ago, but 3 years of work is still so much work. Plus, if I try to rebuild everything that I've worked on since then, I don't have the KUID numbers from the original assets. I'm hoping someone who knows the mechanics of Trainz would know what to do. I'm about as devastated as one could be about a computer game, haha.

 

[UnionPacificFan1005]

Was the directory located on a different drive? If so, it could have moved to a different folder. Something happened to me a few months back where I thought I had lost everything, but my directory was just reset back to the default folder on my C: drive.

 

[pware]

Unfortunately I can offer no advice for your situation as I have never experienced anything like that with Trainz or any other software package.

I learned the hard way many years ago (long before Trainz) to regularly make backup copies of all my work on external storage. I had to restart a years worth of work from scratch but, because of the experience that I gained during that year of development work, it took me only a month or two to get back to where I was before the self-inflicted disaster.

Years later I am still "paranoid" about backups and at the end of each Trainz editing session I backup my work as .cdp files to a external storage device. At the end of each day I copy those backups to 3 other external devices. I also have copies on external devices of all installation programs (Trainz, Libre Office, GIMP, etc) so I don't have to spend time and money downloading and reinstalling them again.

I sympathise with your situation but treat it as a learning experience, not as a permanent setback. Take steps to ensure that if it or a similar event happens in the future, then you will be prepared for it.

Regards.

 

[Tony_Hilliam]

Are there any logs listing what Avast did during the cleanup? Usually deleting files requires at least accepting of a prompt.

when I move the recovered files to the build folder mapped to the game, nothing shows up.

You need to then run a db repair for those files to be recognised.

 

[JimDep]

I cannot believe I am writing this, as I've spent 9 years creating all the content I use in Trainz. I ran a cleanup (Avast) on my computer the other night, and said cleanup seems to have wiped out all of my files. Nothing in the build folder, I was logged out of the Content Manager, and the game was reset to factory. I tried a Windows restore point from 2 days prior, but unfortunately that doesn't change your files. I tried expensive file recovery software (Wondershare) which recovered a TON of files from the previous build folder; however, when I move the recovered files to the build folder mapped to the game, nothing shows up. Only thing I can come up with is that the recovered files are damaged and unreadable. I've used this cleanup software in the past and this has never happened to me before. Has anyone ever had this happen before, and if so we're you able to recover anything? If I can't recover this work I will likely just quit altogether and I really don't want to do that. I have assets on my last computer from almost exactly 3 years ago, but 3 years of work is still so much work. Plus, if I try to rebuild everything that I've worked on since then, I don't have the KUID numbers from the original assets. I'm hoping someone who knows the mechanics of Trainz would know what to do. I'm about as devastated as one could be about a computer game, haha.

I'm really sorry you're going through this. It's one one the worst feelings in the world, investing so much time into something you love doing and then have rug pulled out from under you. Did you have your build file backed up anywhere ? Is there a Best Buy store anywhere close to where you live ? They have connections to a central location that can do hard drive data recovery for situations similar to yours. It can be expensive, but for all the time you've put into this, it would be worth it if they can get this resolved. I'll pray that there's a solution out there.