# [SOLVED] Soundrecorder.exe Froze While Saving - Where is file???



## BuckS (Jun 19, 2008)

Hi,
I just finished recording an important family discussion using the regular old basic soundrecorder in Vista. I clicked "stop recording" which brought up the SAVE dialog and just at that moment, Google Chrome, which I also had open, crashed and my recording save dialog went white and the title bar said "not responding". The save dialog went white just as I clicked "Save" after entering a filename.

I let it just sit there and churn for 1/2 an hour. No progress. I launched Task Manager to try and shut down Chrome and Task Manager crashed "not responding". So, right now, after 2 hours, I still have a 'not responding' message on Chrome, Task Manager, and Soundrecorder, and Windows Explorer too because I started to look for the soundrecorder temp file (not knowing what I was looking for) and it crashed too.

I need to find out WHERE, and under what type of file name and extension, soundrecorder.exe saves files that are in progress and not yet saved to a .wma file type.

I've searched google, bing, microsoft.com, and several other places and have come up empty.

I really can't afford to lose this file. I have not yet even shut down the machine - it just sitting there with the spinning blue circle cursor and half a dozen white out not-responding windows.

PLEASE help?

And...if someone is able to help me FIND the file, what will I be able to do with it when I find it?

Thank you very much in advance to anyone who may try to help.

Machine is Dell Inspiron 1420, Vista Home Premium (up to date with auto update).


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

*Re: Soundrecorder.exe Froze While Saving - Where is file???*

Hi - 

I ran several tests w/ SoundRecorder then ran another app to summarize hard drive write byte totals. The largest file written to - and the one to look for will be named similar to --> c:\users\username\appdata\temp\ART5A0.tmp

Run this - 
START | type *cmd.exe* into the Start Search box | RIGHT-click on cmd.exe | select "Run as Administrator" 

Paste this command into the screen - 

```
[FONT=Lucida Console]
copy "%temp%\ART*.*" "%userprofile%\documents" 
[/FONT]
```
Look in your Documents folder for a file with the prefix "ART", the date/ time of the freeze and it should be around 75mb if my math is correct. Re-name the file with a *.wma* file extension. Then click on it and see if WMP plays it. I tested this by crashing SoundRecorder - the temp file was saved as SoundRecorder crashed. The one major difference in my test from your situation is that I killed the SoundRecorder.exe application and had control of the system the whole time. 

The file analysis is in the screenshot.

Try it and see.

Regards. . .

jcgriff2

.


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## BuckS (Jun 19, 2008)

*Re: Soundrecorder.exe Froze While Saving - Where is file???*

Hey jcgriff2,

Can't thank you enough for the time you took to figure out the answer to this problem. I spent ages searching for a "changed file" and didn't come up with a thing, but you figured it out. The file was named exactly as you described, I found it, changed the extension to .wma and it worked perfectly. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

ray:

Cheers,
Buck


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

*Re: Soundrecorder.exe Froze While Saving - Where is file???*

You are most welcome.

It is always fun for me to get into new territory.

For info, Chrome has been causing problems lately for some. I can't say for sure that Chrome caused the crash, but I would advise next time to shut down Internet screens. 

Also - check Problem Reports & Solutions - see if info on crash of S/R is there.
START | *wercon* | "View Problem History"

THANK YOU for letting me know this worked out.

Regards. . .

jcgriff2

.


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## Oldrooster (Sep 21, 2010)

Wow...thanks so much for this post!! I also had a recording that was so important. I lost the recording after "blue screen of death" happened. 

I am using Window 7. I was able to retrieve the recording based upon the ART*.* search in my appdata files! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU


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## reventon (Oct 16, 2009)

Oldrooster said:


> Wow...thanks so much for this post!! I also had a recording that was so important. *I lost the recording after "blue screen of death" happened. *
> 
> I am using Window 7. I was able to retrieve the recording based upon the ART*.* search in my appdata files! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU


If you are having a lot of problems with Blue Screens - follow these http://www.techsupportforum.com/f21...-posting-instructions-452654.html#post2545708 and create a new thread, we will see if we can help you figure it out.


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