IT Queries: Computer problems answered

Hi

After working on a document (University paper) for 8 hours that same document was saved without the final changes although it was saved at various stages along the way. All we have is the document opened at the starting point.

Our question is, is there a way to access the document at a point prior to the last save, the save icon was pressed to save the work to C: drive, and also e: Flash drive, but the search with the filter, ‘date modified ‘failed to locate the finished document in either place.

I have Windows XP.

It sounds like the document hasn’t saved to where you think it did. The first thing we’d suggest to search all your drives to see if it isn’t hiding in a different location.

Another possibility is the name is wrong, try searching for all files modified in that time. It might be under a different name or file type.

If you still can’t find it, Microsoft Word (which is what we’ll assume you’re using) saves the file you’re working on as a tmp file. Often, Word doesn’t clean these up so there’s a working copy of your document still on the system.

Often temp files are hidden, so in the Windows search panel choose the More Advanced Options heading and tick the Search hidden files and folders option and repeat your search on all files modified during that time.

Unfortunately in this case it does sound like you’ve done everything right. So if you can’t find it there might be a problem with your computer and we’d recommend getting a tech out to check it.

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