My main database file is severely damaged. Not only that, but whatever it was that corrupted the file, was saved with the backup copy as well. The data is still there but the table occurances in the graph have disappeard and all of my layouts give me the "table missing" nightmare. When I go into the graph and attempt to recreate the table occurances, it tells me that the name is not unique. This implies that the info is still somewhere in the file.

I've tried running the recover utility and it tells me that the file was not created by filemaker or is severely damaged. Does anyone have any advice?

I'd try calling FIleMaker Inc tech support and see if they can take your file and do something with it.