How to change from text file to mp4?

[temptozz]

Windows just made my new files which are supposed to be mp4 as some kind of text... tried writing .mp4 in the end, but nothing happens... any idea how to go about changing them back? Hope this is posible?

[TorBru]

Impossible without knowing what exactly they have been converted into.. But sound weird.. Maybe Win10 discovered something pirated and turned it into a textual fairytale where bits bonks bytes..

[temptozz]

Impossible without knowing what exactly they have been converted into.. But sound weird.. Maybe Win10 discovered something pirated and turned it into a textual fairytale where bits bonks bytes..

Sorry for the lack of info.

They are just .txt files now... but with the right sizes (2GB for the one of them - a lot of text to fill up 2gb )
And I have win8.1...

Does that help?

[temptozz]

... and nothing pirated... just filmed them myself with my camera

[redwudz]

In Windows Control Panel>Folder Options (File Explorer Options in W8-10) >View, uncheck 'Hide extensions for known file types', or you cannot change the extension.

Check the file with MediaInfo and see if VLC Media player can play it. If that fails, check the Properties of the file and assign a default video player and it may correct the problem.

And welcome to our forums.

[PuzZLeR]

Maybe Win10 discovered something pirated and turned it into a textual fairytale where bits bonks bytes..

Seriously, do you mean that? This would be news to me.

I have nothing pirated on my HDD, but if it's true then anything can make Win10 decide something is indeed pirated, even a simple H.264 encoded MP4/MKV or some AVI. Does Win10 have some sort of mechanism as such? That would be annoying.

[temptozz]

Hello
Tried the first one, and that worked for changing the file type. The MediaInfo is a program i don't know, so I have no idea how to 'check the file'? VLC Media Player connpt play the files... and Windows player says 'cannot render the file'... Triede with all the players I have and none of them worked

Are the videos lost? Or do you have any other things I could try?

[TorBru]

Maybe Win10 discovered something pirated and turned it into a textual fairytale where bits bonks bytes..

Seriously, do you mean that? This would be news to me.

I have nothing pirated on my HDD, but if it's true then anything can make Win10 decide something is indeed pirated, even a simple H.264 encoded MP4/MKV or some AVI. Does Win10 have some sort of mechanism as such? That would be annoying.

It was in deed a half joke.. But in fact Win 10 can disable and/or remove pirated software/content without asking you, it's part of their service agreement and there has been quite a bit of buzz about it. In real life it's probably restricted to pirated games.

Back to topic!

The content of the files have probably not been turned into text. Maybe Windows just could not recognize the file format or mime type and selected TXT as fall back. You should figure out what format the content was recorded in and properly rename the files from txt to what ever you've really got!

[temptozz]

If you read what I've read I already tried that and the files cannot be rendered... Don't know what else to try?

[temptozz]

*what I wrote

[TorBru]

What is the original format? And are you sure that you rename from *.txt to *.whatever and not to *.whatever.txt? Please do as requested above and probe one of the files with mediainfo - it should be straght forward..

[Cornucopia]

First read more about MediaInfo and use it on one or more of your files. Post the results here. Then we can much more efficiently help you.

Scott

[temptozz]

The other files from the same camera = .mp4 and the new and odd ones were saved as .txt when I turn on whatever it was that made the filetypes show... eg whatever.txt I changes it to whatever.mp4 the files looked real but the players will not play them... just says that the files cannot render... :'(

[temptozz]

First read more about MediaInfo and use it on one or more of your files. Post the results here. Then we can much more efficiently help you.

Scott

Sounds great, but I think I have read all that I can find... what should I post? I have checked the files with all the views but don't know which ones you would like to see?

[smrpix]

Sounds great, but I think I have read all that I can find... what should I post? I have checked the files with all the views but don't know which ones you would like to see?

Tree view.

[temptozz]

But there is nothing interesting there?

[smrpix]

OK, that's bad.

Do you still have the files on the SD card? If you do, DO NOT RECORD ANYTHING ELSE ON IT.

How did you transfer them initially? Did the camera shut down properly when you were shooting? If the files are on the SD card, will they play in the camera?

[temptozz]

OK, that's bad.

Do you still have the files on the SD card? If you do, DO NOT RECORD ANYTHING ELSE ON IT.

How did you transfer them initially? Did the camera shut down properly when you were shooting? If the files are on the SD card, will they play in the camera?

Awww But I was affraid of this.

But Yes, they are on the card... the camera does not have a display, it's a polaroidcube+ actioncamera... and my pc doesn't support those small cards (but my tablet does) Should I try to plug it in there? The camera only has ONE button, to activate/turn on, click to record and click to stop, så if it shut down proberly is hard to tell...

Can I do anything?

[PuzZLeR]

Maybe Win10 discovered something pirated and turned it into a textual fairytale where bits bonks bytes..

Seriously, do you mean that? This would be news to me.

I have nothing pirated on my HDD, but if it's true then anything can make Win10 decide something is indeed pirated, even a simple H.264 encoded MP4/MKV or some AVI. Does Win10 have some sort of mechanism as such? That would be annoying.

It was in deed a half joke.. But in fact Win 10 can disable and/or remove pirated software/content without asking you, it's part of their service agreement and there has been quite a bit of buzz about it. In real life it's probably restricted to pirated games.

I knew it was part-joke, but really felt the part-truth too.

In theory, I have nothing to worry about. But theory and practice are only equal in theory, not in practice, and if Win10 starts deleting/changing stuff on me because IT THINKS something is bent, then I seriously will raise some serious stuff with MS. I promise the Forum on this one.

[smrpix]

First just try to transfer the files again.

Second does your PC have a regular SD card reader -- those minis usually come with full size adapters ? If so you can use that or get a cheap card reader.

Third, no harm in trying it in your tablet -- but be sure nothing gets recorded to the card.

Unfortunately with action-type cameras batteries can die during recording and/or SD cards can be improperly formatted (for example, GoPro requires exFAT file system.) Getting those wrong can cause corrupted and useless files.

edit: Just saw a forum where someone said exFAT didn't work for him with cube but FAT did. Hopefully you have another card to experiment with.

[temptozz]

First just try to transfer the files again.

Yeah, tried this, same result...but the SD card came with the camera in nothing but clear plastic, no adaptor... but I could look for one. The batteri was fully charged and the camera blinked as it should all through the shoot... but who knows, maybe the SD card is just bad... or the camera is... Recieved the lot to test and report back on... but not much fun so far...

[temptozz]

Lookes even more f***ed now

[TorBru]

I knew it was part-joke, but really felt the part-truth too.

In theory, I have nothing to worry about. But theory and practice are only equal in theory, not in practice, and if Win10 starts deleting/changing stuff on me because IT THINKS something is bent, then I seriously will raise some serious stuff with MS. I promise the Forum on this one.

You might just start to squeal right away http://www.ghacks.net/2015/11/24/beware-latest-windows-10-update-may-remove-programs-automatically/

A simple rule applies to Win 10: You don't own it, it owns you!

BTT!

temptozz: What happens if you try to open one of the files with a textviewer / editor? Do you have some utility that can display the contents of the files as binary / hexadecimal? I'd sure like to se the header of one of those files.. They might have been corrupted on the camera / card as others have mentioned - if this is the case, no rescue is available.

[TorBru]

The image of the file system on the SD-card does not show any camera folder structure that I know of. I'm tending to the conclusion that the card is wrecked and the content on it has been lost. You might try to carve files with TestDisk, though.. But I'd defenately not use that card for anything important anymore..

[temptozz]

BTT!

temptozz: What happens if you try to open one of the files with a textviewer / editor? Do you have some utility that can display the contents of the files as binary / hexadecimal? I'd sure like to se the header of one of those files.. They might have been corrupted on the camera / card as others have mentioned - if this is the case, no rescue is available.

The large one on 2GB will not load in text (it must be huge in text) but the other 3 looks like this:

[darkknight145]

From the info i've seen on the net those cameras just have a USB port on the back to copy the files from the camera, you don't need to take the SD card out.

[PuzZLeR]

Why don't you post a small sample? Maybe one of us can get a better idea of what happened?

You might just start to squeal right away http://www.ghacks.net/2015/11/24/beware-latest-windows-10-update-may-remove-programs-automatically/

A simple rule applies to Win 10: You don't own it, it owns you!

Fine. Just like my dogs and cats have always allowed me to live in THEIR place, it never was abusive, or an issue to us living together.

Same thing here. Win10 can have the impression they "own me" all they want. That's fine if it makes them feel better. But once Win10 starts making an issue of it with my data, in a way I deem unethical, that's abuse.

Then again, I spent a fair bit of time getting rid of all the tracking Win10 natively had on my PC, even stuff in system32, Cortona, and other so-called "vital" stuff. Read a number of guides on it. Without that garbage-ware on my PC, I consider their ownership of me over. I also consider Win10 now "fixed".

[temptozz]

From the info i've seen on the net those cameras just have a USB port on the back to copy the files from the camera, you don't need to take the SD card out.

I don't take the card out... Only to check if I could view the files elsewhere... I could not...

[temptozz]

Why don't you post a small sample? Maybe one of us can get a better idea of what happened?

Sure thing... A sample of what?

[TorBru]

The first and the third screen shot looks like settings or metadata for a recording. The second looks like it could be a recording, but wordpad only displays characters used in the actual codepage, so hard to tell.. I'm pretty sure that your SD-card is wrecked and you will most likely not be able to recover the recordings on it. If you need to recover something from it, a SD-card reader and the TestDisk (PhotoRec for file carving) utility would be my suggestion.

http://www.cgsecurity.org/

But once Win10 starts making an issue of it with my data, in a way I deem unethical, that's abuse.

Then again, I spent a fair bit of time getting rid of all the tracking Win10 natively had on my PC, even stuff in system32, Cortona, and other so-called "vital" stuff. Read a number of guides on it. Without that garbage-ware on my PC, I consider their ownership of me over. I also consider Win10 now "fixed".

Read MS Privacy Statement, sections "Personal data we collect", "How we use personal data" and "Reasons we share personal data". They basicly claims the right to collect data about everything about you and what you do with windows and what software is installed. Win 10 is in deed a refined piece of spyware. Shoking! Don't forget to kill the "DiagTrack" service, btw.. Rumors tell that it has been renamed into something else in a recent update, though.