The Problem
So your computer crashed and after you reboot and start ArchiCAD, the project you cared most about does not show up in the ArchiCAD Project Recovery dialog box. You realize you haven’t manually saved your file. You also realize that your .pln file and .bpn file are outdated.
There may be hope…
Thanks to an article I read at ASIABIM, there’s a neat little trick that I didn’t know about. You may be able to recover your file by navigating to your AutoSave folder and looking for a file named database.fdb, copy it to your desktop, rename it and change the extension to .pln instead of .fdb, then open it in ArchiCAD, there may still be hope that this is your file at its state during the computer crash.
Good luck!
Important note: Do take the time to set up you Company Standards Scheme to ensure your AutoSaves are set to something preferable as well as enabling ArchiCAD to Make a Backup Copy. And make a habit of saving more often – I hope one day it will do this automatically in real-time. And remember, always keep backups, onsite and offsite. The time you spend now setting it all up will save you time later when you’ll be depending on it.