.it files from as far back as 2012 don't play in latest versions of OpenMPT

[Eleyan]

I have historically been able to open old existing files created in moplug tracker without fail, that is, until now.
I used Windows XP on a 32 bit laptop until August 2015 and had no problem reading the files.

Now I am using Win7 64bit on a new laptop, same brand just next generation and I get the following message (attached).
These are valuable to me as a basis for future versions of the songs I created at the time.
I lost a whole bunch of data on another external hard drive when I dropped it and broke the plug point.

Any ideas?

[Saga Musix]

If OpenMPT was installed correctly, the third screenshot looks like something that should have been fixed ages ago already, so please confirm that you are running the latest version of the software.
OpenMPT generally can open any IT files made with previous versions, so it cannot be ruled out that your data got damaged. Please provide one of the troublesome files (preferrably a small one) to have a look at.

[Eleyan]

I installed OpenMPT 1.26.07.00  today.

I tried to attach a .it  file called "Piano River"  and got the following message.

[Saga Musix]

Yes, so how about compressing the IT file with zip, rar or 7z?

[Eleyan]

Oops..ok

Uploaded rar of "Piano River"  a  .it  file.

[Saga Musix]

I'm afraid you have suffered a disk failure. This file contains just unreadable binary garbage. There is nothing we can do about that.

[Eleyan]

OMG.   That's bad news.   Thank you for checking.

[Eleyan]

I am still having a problem withe openMPT modplug tracker  .it files. 

My question is:   when a .it file is made, it relies on sound files located elsewhere and when those files
                           are moved, what exactly is the file extension I should be searching for?   Is it   ' .bak'  for example?

[Saga Musix]

IT files do not rely on external sound files. The MPTM feature has an optional feature for using external samples, but that does not exist in the IT format.  An IT file is always self-contained, i.e. it contains all pattern, sample and instrument data. If the samples in your IT files are suddenly missing, then I'm afraid you suffered more data loss.