Occasionally computer files get damaged. If an EndNote library gets damaged, you may get an error message when trying to open it or work with the references. The best way to protect yourself from damaged files is to make regular backup copies of your important documents (see Backing Up Your EndNote Files). If you do not have a backup copy of a damaged EndNote library, you can use the Recover Library command to repair the damaged file.
To repair a damaged EndNote library:
Close the library if it is currently open.
From the Tools menu, select Recover Library. Read the information about the Recover Library command, and click OK.
In the dialog that appears, locate and select the library that needs to be repaired, and click Open.
EndNote creates a copy of the library with the suffix "-Saved" added to the name. For example, if you were repairing a library called "References" the original library would remain untouched and a new, repaired library called "References - Saved" would be created in the same location.
Once the new library has been saved, you should be able to open it and use it in place of the damaged library.
Note: The Recover Library command also creates a new DATA folder. If you rename the recovered library to the original library name, remember to also rename the DATA folder to match.
The purpose of the Recover Library command is to recover as many references from the original library as possible. This means that it may also recover references that had previously been deleted from the library, but not yet purged from the file itself. If there are more references recovered in the saved library than existed at the time the original library was damaged, it means that EndNote was able to reconstruct references that had recently been deleted. These references must be deleted again.
Term lists are not recovered with the library. Consequently, you will need to rebuild each term list by selecting Define Term Lists from the Tools menu, highlighting the list, and then clicking Update List to fill the term list with the terms used in your library.
Images cannot be repaired, but are copied from the original library’s DATA folder to the new DATA folder.