Question Broken AVI File

[__Dodger__]

Hi not sure if this is the right place for this but I'm in a pickle and need some help.

I've got a large video file (153GB). I was screen recording with MSI afterburner and the program i was recording crashed meaning the recording stopped unexpectedly. The video file can now no longer open properly.

VLC will not even acknowledge its existence. Premiere Pro says it ain't touching it. Media Player Classic will open it and play it without sound but i have no ability to seek or pause or anything.

I've tried a number of AVI fixers and none have worked so far. DivFix++ says its not an AVI file so wont try.

Its saved as .avi and was recorded with MSI Afterburner with the MJPG Compression and AVI setting. Because it somewhat plays in MPC I assume its fine but just has a dodgy header or something.

Any help appreciated.
Thanks!

[Edit]
I looked in MediaInfo to see the header and it doesnt seem to have one. All it says is its 154GiB

 

[USAFRet]

This is when you recover the original file from your backup, and start over.

 

[__Dodger__]

Recover the file? The video was broken by the recording being cut unexpectedly. How do you recover from a backup when you never had the chance to get one. The original file is broken. That's the problem.

 

[USAFRet]

Backups are what you do before the BadThing happens.

I am unaware of any method to recover an avi that was broken like this.

 

[__Dodger__]

Yeah but in this case it is impossible to have got a backup because the issue happened during the recording. It seems to be like maybe the index or something is missing in the file. I know this can be a problem i'm just not sure how to fix it. And any programs saying they can fix wont try because the file is too big for them

 

[USAFRet]

Yeah but in this case it is impossible to have got a backup because the issue happened during the recording. It seems to be like maybe the index or something is missing in the file. I know this can be a problem i'm just not sure how to fix it. And any programs saying they can fix wont try because the file is too big for them

No, it is NOT "impossible" to have a backup.
This should be a routine part of working with a PC. Scheduled, automated backups of your data. To include the whole drive if desired.

My systems are backed up every night or weekly, depending on their needs.
In a case such as yours, I'd simply revert to last nights copy of the file.
Or, if it were a new file from today...I'd be working on a copy of it. Not the one and only.

 

[__Dodger__]

No, it is NOT "impossible" to have a backup.
This should be a routine part of working with a PC. Scheduled, automated backups of your data. To include the whole drive if desired.

My systems are backed up every night or weekly, depending on their needs.
In a case such as yours, I'd simply revert to last nights copy of the file.
Or, if it were a new file from today...I'd be working on a copy of it. Not the one and only.

I don't think you understand what I'm saying. I'm not editing a file or video at the moment. The file broke while it was being created. There could be no backup for it because it didn't exist before. I was recording my screen. The program I was recording crashed and closed itself while I was recording. This caused the recording to stop but it didn't stop properly so it couldn't save properly.
Similar to as if you were filming something on a camera and the camera died half way through filming. The video is there. But it cannot be read properly because the video didnt get to save properly.

 

[USAFRet]

Then, if the system crashed partway through, and the file is unreadable....it is not a workable file.
There is nothing to "fix".

You are exactly correct with the camera analogy. There is nothing there to "fix". It was never properly created and ended.

 

[__Dodger__]

I would believe its unfixable except for that I can get it to play in Media Player Classic. It plays with no sound and I cannot seek on the timeline but it plays. Which means its all there. Just no other program wants to open it. The fact that one program can somehow play it means it must be there but just missing something to make it recognised properly.

 

[__Dodger__]

I figured it out by myself in the end. I recorded a clip with the same settings as the original and copied the Hex info from it into a copy of the original and then converted the result into an mp4 and viola! it works again. Fun times.