Recovered files look like gobbledeygook after crash

[robert_woodhouse]

Two days ago and without any apparent reason my computer crashed very badly, on trying to repair the damqge I found that drive 'C' had lost all information.
Undaunted I started to re-install all my programmes safe in the knowledge that all my files were backed up on a memory stick.
However when I tried to re-install them I found that the memory stick had also been wiped clean!
I've now tried 4 re-cover your files programmes and only found one whose results I can understand, maybe at 85 I'm getting to old for this sort of thing hpwever, the real problem is that although files created by programmes like my DTP programme open OK and I can save them safely away but not with the ''Word' files they open but in some rediculous gobbldegook nonsense that I can't understand and neither it seems can ''Word'. Does anyone know what's happend and more to the point how I can recover them back to a state that I can at least read them?
As always I would be most grateful for any help that any of you can offer, some of these files are quite old now although not quite as old as me, but they are very important so please, help if you can
Thanks very much
musicator

[Old_Geezer]

That does not sound good. Just yesterday I had a text editor stop responding on me during a save to a pen drive, and I had to force close it. Totally ruined the file I was saving, but I did have fairly recent back up to replace it.

One can never tell what a crash will do. Most often you get away with it, but occasionally ...

Text files are most likely to be salvageable if they have not been overwritten be something else. But files containing data instructions, as word processor documents tend to do, can become difficult if not impossible to restore to a state where the word processor can still read them. Corruption ensures it can't make head nor tail of the data.

Sometime you can make a copy and edit out all the non text items in the file, to get a draft form back. Whether it is worth it depends on the importance of the document and its size.

For future reference it is always best to check back-ups before writing new files to a disk that has experienced problems.

Apart from that I can only recommend a good recover programme, R-Studio, which has helped me in the past; but it does depend on the original file not having been corrupted, but just no longer known to the system.

But I have to say the outlook doesn't look overly bright. But best of luck.

[robert_woodhouse]

At 85 I suppose that I can safely say from one old geezer to another thanks but as you say not much help but at least you took the trouble to reply, I'll just have to hope that one of those young upstart no-it-alls will be able to help me, If my grandson is anything to go by it's sometimes amazing what they know but he (my grandson's) forte is music so what he knows about computers can be written on a postage stamp.
Thanks for your concern
musicator