feedthebird

I'm not very good on the computer front. My friend sent me a paper to proof read. I sent it back and she used the attachment to type everything up. She saved it multiple times, but she never used the save_as function to save it straight to the hard drive and now is unable to find the paper. Is there a way you can get the file back or is it gone "forever"?

Tony.b99

Have you tried the serch all files and folders function?

feedthebird

Tried that didn't work :(

Zazula

If one edits and saves "as is" a Word document which is attached to an email message, then the edited document gets saved in the Temporary Internet Files folder (a hidden system folder in your hard disk).

So, the $64 question is: Has your friend kept your original email or not? If she has kept it, then when she opens it again, the attached document will be the edited one.

If she hasn't kept the original email, then she has to make her hidden and system files/folders viewable (this is done via the Folder Options), and then open My Computer (or Windows Explorer) and navigate to her Temporary Internet Files. The default locations for these files (i.e. if you haven't changed them via Internet Options) are:
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temp\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\
C:\Windows\Temp\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\

Also, worth reading through, so that you familiarize yourself with tracking down and recovering the various forms of temporary files that Word saves while a user is working on a document, in order to retrieve your data: How to recover a lost Word document.

gistek

In most cases what Zazula said will work.

Sometimes the attachment in the e-mail isn't the revised file. The revisions may have been saved with numbers appended. If your friend opens the attachment and does a save-as the directory pulldown will tell where the file is located and the filename pattern may help with determining which file is the right one. Once your friend knows that, cancel out of th save-as and find the file via Windows Explorer.

Another way is to use advanced search function to limit the search to the C:\Documents and Settings\ folder, the type of file (*.doc) and the date range that the file was edited

gistek

We had the same problem at work today and couldn't find the Temporary Internet Files folder. Yes, we did have "Show hidden files and folders" turned on.

But I found a way around the problem.

Open the attachment from the original e-mail (actually you can open any attachment of the same file type).

Start the Save-as process.

Right click on the file you want to open.

Select Send To and then select Desktop. This will put a shortcut to the file on the desktop.

You can do this with several files if your not sure which file you want.

Now you will be able to open the file from your desktop. The first thing you do once you have the right file is SAVE-AS