This is the 2nd time this has happened. My October Challenge Entry seems to be gone. I open the file in Bryce and get this error message: A file error has occured (unexpected end-of-file) what does this mean and is my entry really gone??

Run a scandisk on your hard drive and select automatically fix file system errors. This should solve the problem hopefully. If you are using a PC, for operating system XP Start/My computer/Right click on C: drive/Properties/Tools, for 98 Start/Programs/Accessories/System tools. TT.

It did not solve the problem:(( I am heart broken. but thanks anyway.

I looked online for this error and it looks like bryce exited before your file was saved all the way. According to what I found there isn't anything to be done to fix it but maybe if you open a different scene and try to merge the 2 ??? unfortunatly this is why they tell us to back up our files, I ussually have 5 or more backups of every scene I do

thanks tmac. Bryce has been giving me problems when there are a lot of things in the picture. while it is being saved it says bryce has generated errors and the program will close. This must be what happened. Oh well, by back ups do you mean save the same scene under different file names? If I had done that I guess I would at least have some of the pic left.

Colette1, I usually keep a running total of 5 or more backups - different versions of a scene saved to slightly different file names like scene001.br5 - scene002.br5 - scene003.br5 etc... Or I will name a version after the last major thing I did to it like scene001-Mountain.br5, it can get a little confusing but beats losing a whole scene any day.

Collette1, are you using Bryce5 and WinXP? Twice, I've had complicated scenes and unexpectedly got "Bryce has encountered a problem, bye" lost whole days worth of work...I've started burning to CD my saves... Zhann

Is this sort of problem something to do with XP then ? Bryce never crashed with '98 but I've had a few crashes since I started with XP Pro. What a bummer.

I've had the problem with some scenes, but lately they seem to have disappeared. I use WinME, but I don't think the OS matters in this case. Usually if I save a big scene I save it under a new file that way I can always go back to the old version if something goes wrong. If saving the scene takes a long time. just walk away. don't use CTRL-ALT-DEL to shut down bryce unless you're absolutely sure that Bryce has chrashed. If you shut down bryce while it's still saving the file will be damaged. Also if Bryce said that the file was saved for 100% it just might be doing some saving after it says it's finished. Only shut down bryce if your harddrive isn't writing anymore. That way you can keep the chances of damaged files as smal as possible.

I have windows 2000 office, so it seems it doesn't matter the OS. I just figured out last night(quite by accident) to just walk away as you said. I have a new project I have been working on (off and on) since the end of Sept. I was going to try and merge the 2 files. but one of them doesn't want to save, bryce keeps shutting down. I will keep trying though. If I am nothing else in this world, I am determined...LOL If needed...Can 3(or more) files be merged into one?

I too have seen the dreaded "generated error" crash. It has ALWAYS happened when I get click happy and click something before Bryce has finished it's previous task. As the project gets larger and more complex, Bryce takes more time finish each of it's tasks. I force myself to go slow and it has virtually eliminated the errors. Of course if your errors persist, it might not hurt to reinstall.. in case you have a corrupt file. Blue