Local Creo 4.0 files lost when changing Windchill server settings

[BA_9848583]

I started working with Creo 4.0 at a new company without Windchill being configured correctly.

Already some 3D parts were made and saved in the local (windchill) workspace.

After a few days the Windchill server location was changed and I lost all my 3D parts and assemblies.

Is there any way to recover these files? It was about a week work, so that would be nice.

Thank you in advance.

[Chris3]

When you say that the sever location changed did the .wf folder location change or did the sever path just change?

The default .wf folder location is c:\Users\Your_User_Name\Application Data\PTC\ProENGINEER\ Wildfire\

It is somewhat common to change this with an environment variable or a startup script using the PTC_WF_ROOT variable. You could go back and check the default location for any files there.

Creo stores windchill files as .lid and .sid files. The .lid files are locally modified files. You can open them up with a text editor and in the header it will give you the Creo filename and extension (.prt, .asm)

Someone wrote a app a while back that was unoffical that you could look into as well. I haven't tried to use it in some time. More info here:

https://community.ptc.com/sejnu66972/attachments/sejnu66972/Windchill/21639/1/WC_FileRecovery%202%20User%20Guide.pdf

[BA_9848583]

Dear Chris,

Strangely enough I don't find the folder location that you stated. Nowhere I can find a PTC or Wildfire or Windchill folder (I have view hidden files enabled).

Furthermore, when I tried to look for .sid or .lid files, I couldn't find any of them on my C-drive.

I'm going to try the last solution that you stated, the application. I'm not sure it will work on my version of Windchill (which I am unable to find).

Thank you already for the quick help.

[Chris3]

I think with Windows 10 "Application Data" was renamed to be "AppData" and it is a hidden folder.

Also I should have noted that you can just rename the .lid files to be .prt or .asm files and they will work perfectly fine. If you can't find the .lid and .sid files then the app I linked to isn't going to help you. Its often easier to just open the .lid files (sorted by date) one by one rather than to use the app I linked to.

[BA_9848583]

Dear Chris,

I was aware that in Windows 10 the Application Data folder is now called AppData, but still the folders you mentioned or not te be found. And like I mentioned, I already made all hidden folders visible, but still I can't find them.

I searched for .lid files but I cant find any. So I guess there maybe is something else wrong?

[Chris3]

Presumably there are .lid and .sid files somewhere as is sounds like you are still working in Windchill (PDMLink).

Are you using a startup script? When you start Creo does the link you use point to the .exe directly or to a .bat, .vbs, etc file? If the latter then open the startup script with a text editor and look for a line that sets the PTC_WF_ROOT variable path. Alternatively look for the PTC_WF_ROOT variable in the user or system environment variables and see where the path takes you.

If you were using a startup script before you would need to find a copy of the previous startup script to determine where it was setting the PTC_WF_ROOT path. Some at your organization that is defining that script should be able to help you.

Alternatively if you are not using a startup script then the path should have been the default one I listed. If you can't see the folder structure then it is possible it was removed by some software policy at your company.

[BenLoosli · Accepted solution]

I looked in my .pdm10/.cache2008/<servername> folder and the files are named beginning with 'lid'.

Search your drive for lid* files. Mine have a .wfcont extension.

Opening in Notepad and I can see the header information.

[Chris3]

@BenLoosli has it right here. They start with lid and sid. Sorry for the confusion I caused.

[BA_9848583]

I did find my new .wfcont files, but apparently the old ones were deleted when the server settings were changed.

Maybe I'll have some luck using a file recovery software program like recuva, but because I have no admin-rights, I'm not sure it will be possible to do something like that.

Still, thank you all for your help.

[BenLoosli]

Sounds like your system admin has no idea what they are doing!

I ALWAYS have my users check everything in and remove the cache files before doing a system rehost/rename.

Never trust IT to manage your Windchill system unless they have been trained in Windchill system administration. It is not a straight forward application like MS Office! It has a lot of nuances to making it work and even more when it comes to moving the system and its files.

I have been using and administrating Windchill since V6.2.6 in 2003, now on 11.0 m030 with 11.1 m020 coming soon, and I am still learning new tricks to making Windchill perform better.

[BA_9848583]

Unfortunately I am new at this company and wasn't aware what the capabilities were of the person who was trying to help me out.