General ⇒ blank .tex file combined with inability to typeset

[A_F]

I attempt to open a .tex file via a shortcut on my desktop. It returns a window with the .tex file as well as the last compiled pdf version of the document. The .tex file however is now blank (but allows typing in the window). The .tex file in the shortcut window under properties shows up as 202 kB though, so it is there. If I try typesetting the blankly showing document using pdfLaTeX, it returns 'process crashed'. Why is the .tex document its full size but not showing up and not typesetting? No signs of viruses on my computer, at most I may have accidentally shut down the computer improperly once without closing the document. But I believe that would have at most just returned a previous version of the .tex file. Thanks for any advice.