I've discovered a fix that worked for me in un-corrupting corrupt adobe Illustrator files - quite by accident. Hope this helps someone!!

Requires Acrobat (not just the Reader).

Adobe Illustrator 10 and Acrobat 5.0. (this is what I run... don't know if it will work or not with other versions.)

*****NOTE: I posted this tip in a forum about 2-3 years ago - someone just emailed me to thank me for it recently - he was running CS2, and it worked for him, too.*****

>Open the corrupt file in Acrobat.
>Take the arrow tool.
>Click on any element or text in the document.
>Just move the object by hitting one of the directional arrows on your keyboard.
>File, Save.

>Open the file in Illustrator.
>It will say 'this file has been modified outside of Illustrator' or something to that effect. it will ask if you want to keep changes.
>Say 'Yes' (or OK)

Your file will open virtually intact!

This has worked when nothing else has... believe me it is painful to have to recreate a corrupt file....

(A preventive tip? (not foolproof, but a good habit.)
Delete all extraneous swatches, symbols and brushes prior to saving. Sometimes bad default symbols cause the file to lock up.)