I did something stupid and I can't reverse it

[Spirit]

Have you heard of the curse of smile.dog? Basically it's a creepy picture of a husky with human-like teeth in dim lighting. There's also a hand that's hardly visible in the dark. The curse is that if you look at it you'll go crazy or something. I looked at it, and I'm not crazy yet. I decided to make my own version, but with a cat. I worked for a while on it, and it looked pretty good actually. So I went to save it. I selected .JPG for the file type because the alternate name of 'smile.dog' is 'smile.jpg', and named the picture 'smile.cat'. I closed the paint.net. Later I wanted to work on it again, and it said: "The image type in not recognized, and cannot be opened." I saved it as a .CAT file!  How can I recover it now that it's convinced itself that it's a security catalog?

[James Moon]

LMTO XD
do you an IM i can walk you thruogh it lol

[Valexi]

Well, I'm not sure if you can do the same on Windows, but on my computer you can rename picture extensions.
Like, I would just rename the picture from "smile.cat" to "smile.jpg" and it'll fix itself.

[James Moon]

it matters what version of windows you are running and how you have it set up

[Spirit]

LMTO XD
do you an IM i can walk you thruogh it lol

You can tell me in PM.  

Well, I'm not sure if you can do the same on Windows, but on my computer you can rename picture extensions.
Like, I would just rename the picture from "smile.cat" to "smile.jpg" and it'll fix itself.

I tried that, it didn't work.

[furtopia02]

Try forcing it to open in notepad then resaving as .jpg.  I have fixed some other files that way before.

[Spirit]

Try forcing it to open in notepad then resaving as .jpg.  I have fixed some other files that way before.

I tried right-clicking and going to "open with" but notepad isn't on the list.

[McMajik]

Try forcing it to open in notepad then resaving as .jpg.  I have fixed some other files that way before.

I tried right-clicking and going to "open with" but notepad isn't on the list.

Go to open with > other application

[Spirit]

Try forcing it to open in notepad then resaving as .jpg.  I have fixed some other files that way before.

I tried right-clicking and going to "open with" but notepad isn't on the list.

Go to open with > other application

It seems to have worked, but when I open it it gives me an error. I'll list the programs and the messages if you want.
Windows picture and fax viewer: No preview available.
PictureViewer: Couldn't display "Smile.jpg" because it is corrupted.(I wonder if smile.dog itself is doing this...?)
Paint.NET: There was an error opening the file.
Paint: Paint cannot read this file.
At least it's a .jpg, but it still isn't working right.

[Weisseman]

If you can send me the file I'll take a look at it.

[Foxpup]

Try forcing it to open in notepad then resaving as .jpg.  I have fixed some other files that way before.

DON'T DO THIS!!! YOU WILL CORRUPT THE FILE HORRIBLY!!! Just email it to me and I'll see if I can't fix it. PM me for an address.

EDIT: typo

[Arbutus]

Clearly, this file is cursed!

(Just kidding. I hope one of the nice computer-savvy furs above me can help!)

[Spirit]

Try forcing it to open in notepad then resaving as .jpg.  I have fixed some other files that way before.

DON'T DO THIS!!! YOU WILL CORRUPT THE FILE HORRIBLY!!!

That would explain it... But I still have the original .cat file.

[Avan]

Ok, I Was about to warn you but Foxpup already did.

Ok, just go to control panel-> file/folder options-> (2nd tab with all the check boxes)-> uncheck "hide file extensions for known file types"

[Foxpup]

Smile.JPG.cat: JPEG image data, JFIF standard 1.01

There is nothing wrong with the file, and it opens fine on my computer. You're probably just using a bogus operating system that assumes the filename extension corresponds to the actual file type. I have no idea how you managed to screw that up, but rename the file Smile.cat.jpg and it will work (in Windows, you'll need to disable "Hide extensions for known file types" like Avan said (although in Windows 7, Folder Options is no longer in the Control Panel, it's in a Windows Explorer -> Tools (you also need to press Alt to see the menu for some dumb reason)).

[furtopia02]

Try forcing it to open in notepad then resaving as .jpg.  I have fixed some other files that way before.

DON'T DO THIS!!! YOU WILL CORRUPT THE FILE HORRIBLY!!! Just email it to me and I'll see if I can't fix it. PM me for an address.

EDIT: typo

That's not true. I do that a lot with files. As long as you aren't changing the code or changing the format to something it never was or isn't then it's just code. You can always make a copy of the unreadable file first to mess with anyway. There is no risk in copying the file and trying.

[Spirit]

I got it.

Yes, the original was a photo taken by Stigandr, I hope you don't mind. 

[Foxpup]

Try forcing it to open in notepad then resaving as .jpg.  I have fixed some other files that way before.

DON'T DO THIS!!! YOU WILL CORRUPT THE FILE HORRIBLY!!! Just email it to me and I'll see if I can't fix it. PM me for an address.

EDIT: typo

That's not true. I do that a lot with files. As long as you aren't changing the code or changing the format to something it never was or isn't then it's just code. You can always make a copy of the unreadable file first to mess with anyway. There is no risk in copying the file and trying.

I don't know what program you're talking about, but Microsoft Notepad (as well pretty much every text editor in existance) does change the code when you save a file: whenever it encounters a non-standard newline code (LF on Unix systems or CR on old Apple systems) it changes it to the "proper" newline code CR+LF required by old teletypewriters. This will render any binary file totally unreadable (especially if it's a compressed format like JPEG), and it can't even be reversed since there's no way to know which code the file had to begin with. I haven't the faintest idea how this has never happened to you, but it will happen if you keep it up.

[furtopia02]

Try forcing it to open in notepad then resaving as .jpg.  I have fixed some other files that way before.

DON'T DO THIS!!! YOU WILL CORRUPT THE FILE HORRIBLY!!! Just email it to me and I'll see if I can't fix it. PM me for an address.

EDIT: typo

That's not true. I do that a lot with files. As long as you aren't changing the code or changing the format to something it never was or isn't then it's just code. You can always make a copy of the unreadable file first to mess with anyway. There is no risk in copying the file and trying.

I don't know what program you're talking about, but Microsoft Notepad (as well pretty much every text editor in existance) does change the code when you save a file: whenever it encounters a non-standard newline code (LF on Unix systems or CR on old Apple systems) it changes it to the "proper" newline code CR+LF required by old teletypewriters. This will render any binary file totally unreadable (especially if it's a compressed format like JPEG), and it can't even be reversed since there's no way to know which code the file had to begin with. I haven't the faintest idea how this has never happened to you, but it will happen if you keep it up.

We are talking about two different things, if you are not changing the file extension or code of the original file then there is no risk of screwing anything up. I was just saying it wont hurt to try because you aren't changing the file. I have fixed many files this way though. You'd have to be pretty dumb to not make a copy of the file you are making changes to so I didn't think it needed to be said. Sorry for the confusion.

[Foxpup]

I don't know what program you're talking about, but Microsoft Notepad (as well pretty much every text editor in existance) does change the code when you save a file: whenever it encounters a non-standard newline code (LF on Unix systems or CR on old Apple systems) it changes it to the "proper" newline code CR+LF required by old teletypewriters. This will render any binary file totally unreadable (especially if it's a compressed format like JPEG), and it can't even be reversed since there's no way to know which code the file had to begin with. I haven't the faintest idea how this has never happened to you, but it will happen if you keep it up.

We are talking about two different things, if you are not changing the file extension or code of the original file then there is no risk of screwing anything up. I was just saying it wont hurt to try because you aren't changing the file. I have fixed many files this way though. You'd have to be pretty dumb to not make a copy of the file you are making changes to so I didn't think it needed to be said. Sorry for the confusion.

My point is that the file does get changed, even if you don't do anything to it. Just opening the file then immediately saving it will corrupt it horribly if it happens to contain a non-standard newline code. Fortunately the whole mess has been averted, but it was a bad idea that would have resulted in Spirit losing her precious picture had she not saved it to separate file.

[furtopia02]

I don't know what program you're talking about, but Microsoft Notepad (as well pretty much every text editor in existance) does change the code when you save a file: whenever it encounters a non-standard newline code (LF on Unix systems or CR on old Apple systems) it changes it to the "proper" newline code CR+LF required by old teletypewriters. This will render any binary file totally unreadable (especially if it's a compressed format like JPEG), and it can't even be reversed since there's no way to know which code the file had to begin with. I haven't the faintest idea how this has never happened to you, but it will happen if you keep it up.

We are talking about two different things, if you are not changing the file extension or code of the original file then there is no risk of screwing anything up. I was just saying it wont hurt to try because you aren't changing the file. I have fixed many files this way though. You'd have to be pretty dumb to not make a copy of the file you are making changes to so I didn't think it needed to be said. Sorry for the confusion.

My point is that the file does get changed, even if you don't do anything to it. Just opening the file then immediately saving it will corrupt it horribly if it happens to contain a non-standard newline code. Fortunately the whole mess has been averted, but it was a bad idea that would have resulted in Spirit losing her precious picture had she not saved it to separate file.

If you make a COPY of a file.. then open the COPY of that file it does NOT change the original file. If you open the original file and do NOTHING and DO NOT HIT SAVE it .. wow.. does NOT save. Why are you intent on arguing with me over something I didn't even say? Seriously, I can't make it any more clear than that.

[Kobuk]

Both of you, calm down, please. Thanks.

[furtopia02]

Sorry Kobuk. The OP's issue was solved anyway, so we all probably don't even need to keep posting here now so I'm done with it.