Lost data

I think I might have posted this in the wrong area. If I have, I apologize.

I have a huge problem. I am currently writing a paper and after saving it (I'm sure I saved it) I came back an hour later and tried to open the Microsoft Word file. Unfortunately, all the work I had done before the last time I saved it was not there. I searched and searched but it is nowhere on my computer. And it clearly says that I modified it at the correct time. Is there any possible way that I can retrieve this lost data? I am so desperate for anything.

Thank you.

 

Well, you could try opening the file in, say, MS Write. I doubt that would work though.

Had your computer rebooted in the time you went away? If so, did it not shut down properly? If so, then that could cause the problem. If it is caused by that, then scandisk would have saved "lost data" in a directory called "FOUNDxxx" (i think), where the Xs stand for numbers. Look in the file(s) stored there (in write or notepad) and see if they contain your lost data.

Good luck.

 

Thank you very much for your help. It had rebooted when I was away. It brought up a blue screen that mentioned something about memory but we get that a lot and have never had a problem like this before.

I couldn't find the 'FOUNDxxx' directory but I'm still going to search for it.

Thanks again.

 

maybe they aren't called that on your OS. On XP it creates a new folder, but if you are using something else, the file names and locations may be different. Sorry I can't help you any more than that, but one thing you could do is do a file search, with the advanced options and choose "containing text". Then type a segment of a sentence you remember writing in the file (maybe the title of the file). If a file contains your lost data, that should find it for you.

 

You could try system restore if you are usnig XP, but you are probably looking at a pretty small window.