If you are receiving this error in Surfer 15 or lower, the file may have been opened and saved in a newer version of the software. To test, open the file in the latest version and save to the appropriate file format for your version. For more details, please see Save an SRF file in Surfer that can be read by older versions of Surfer.

Otherwise, the error message "...appears to be corrupted (end of file is missing)" indicates that the file has been truncated and can not be recovered. There is no way to restore a partially saved file.

The most common causes of a truncated file are that the save is interrupted somehow (e.g. shutting off the computer, shutting down Surfer, or an error was generated during saving) or that the file was saved to a corrupted block on the disk.

You may want to check your backups (if applicable) to see if you have a backup copy that contains the full file. You might also want to consider turning on Surfer's backup feature: 

1. Click File | Options.
2. In the Options dialog, click on General.
3. On the right side of the dialog, check the box in the Backup files before saving field and Save auto recovery information. 
   

Enabling these option will create a backup file and create auto recovery information in case the original becomes corrupted in any way. That may help in the future, but not for the current file.

Updated November, 2021