Error message when extracting backup file

  • Hi there,
    I made a backup of my wordpress site using online backup which says it was Successful. However, when I go to open it using winzip or 7zip, I get the following error message. Error: central directory not found.

    Why am I getting this error??

    I am trying to extract my blog posts from the backup file. I installed a theme for wooecommerce and the sample data which overode all my blog content. Thankfully, I backed up my site the day before installing the wooeccomerce theme, so I am hoping and praying that I can use the backup to retrieve my content.

    Any help you can provide would be appreciated. I really hope I don’t have to lose 4 months of work.

    THANK YOU in advance!
    Jen

    https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/wponlinebackup/

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
  • Plugin Author Online Backup

    (@driskell)

    Hi Jen,

    What version of the plugin did you generate the backup with?
    It looks like the file you downloaded didn’t download fully so is not valid. If that is the case using 7zip to attempt a repair is the only thing you can do and even then not all data might be there.
    If you have the backup on the server still you can try downloading again too

    Jason

    Thread Starter LilGivers

    (@lilgivers)

    Hi Jason,
    Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I appreciate it.

    I have Version 3.0.2 of the plugin.

    If it didn’t fully download, why did the plugin say the backup was successful?? A little frustrated over here. I will try to repair the file in 7zip and also try downloading again. I do have it in my local backups.

    Thanks so much!
    Jen

    Thread Starter LilGivers

    (@lilgivers)

    Hi Jason,
    Quick update for you. I was unable to repair the file:-(

    Any other suggestions???

    Thanks!
    Jen
    https://www.LilGivers.org

    Thread Starter LilGivers

    (@lilgivers)

    Hi Jason,
    Me again!

    Another update for you. 7zip was able to extract the backup zip file with an error. When I go into the folders, the files are listed with the size of the files, but when I go to open them, I get the following error: Unsupported compression method.

    Is there any other way for me to open the backup files? Any other suggestions?

    Thanks for your help!
    Jen
    https://www.LilGivers.org

    Plugin Author Online Backup

    (@driskell)

    Hi Jen,

    7-Zip is quite picky and not very good at repairing. Can you see what this tool does:
    https://www.diskinternals.com/zip-repair/

    If it didn’t fully download, why did the plugin say the backup was successful??

    The backup was successful. Chances are your browser will say “Failed” in it’s downloads due to download disconnected halfway through, or it may be the web server disconnected the download and the browser didn’t notice (used to happen sometimes, but not since 3.0.0 we managed to prevent this disconnecting).

    Jason.

    Thread Starter LilGivers

    (@lilgivers)

    Good morning Jason,
    Hooray!! That worked. Okay, it looks like the file was repaired since I am able to open the contents. Now, I know this is probably a stupid question, but what file contains my blog post contents??

    The only thing I want from this backup file is my blog posts since I have a new theme for woocommerce. Can I just copy the content from one of the backup files or is there a way to import only the blog posts into my new theme through the WP admin?

    THANK YOU for your help. I really appreciate it. I am one step closer!!!!!

    Jen
    https://www.LilGivers.org

    Plugin Author Online Backup

    (@driskell)

    Hi LilGivers,

    It will be a manual technical process to just “cherry pick” things from the database backup file.

    You’d need to look for “INSERT” commands for just the “_posts” and “_postmeta” tables. For comments it will be “_comments” and “_commentmeta” tables.
    Take ONLY those and run them in phpmyadmin to import them. Make sure no existing posts exist though or it will fail.

    Jason.

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
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