Is it gone?
October 16, 2010 4:20 PM Subscribe
Help me find my lost document. Please!
I spent most of the day typing up a paper and now it has disappeared. I'm at the computer lab at school and the computers have numerous annoying restrictions. The docx file was attached to a gmail message, and I clicked "download" and then "Open" in the IE dialog window, which opened the file in in Word 2007. I then wrote my paper in the file, saving (but not saving as...) plenty of times. Finally, I closed Word.
Is there a chance the file is still in some temp directory somewhere? The computer's Search function is disabled, and Windows Explorer is sort of disabled, but if I right-click in an Open dialog box I can go to Explore and navigate around to various places, and even see hidden files and folders if I turn that option on.
Are there any programs that will search for files on somewhat-restricted computers? Or do you have any idea where the file could be hiding? Or is it just gone?
I spent most of the day typing up a paper and now it has disappeared. I'm at the computer lab at school and the computers have numerous annoying restrictions. The docx file was attached to a gmail message, and I clicked "download" and then "Open" in the IE dialog window, which opened the file in in Word 2007. I then wrote my paper in the file, saving (but not saving as...) plenty of times. Finally, I closed Word.
Is there a chance the file is still in some temp directory somewhere? The computer's Search function is disabled, and Windows Explorer is sort of disabled, but if I right-click in an Open dialog box I can go to Explore and navigate around to various places, and even see hidden files and folders if I turn that option on.
Are there any programs that will search for files on somewhat-restricted computers? Or do you have any idea where the file could be hiding? Or is it just gone?
Response by poster: There are no recent documents listed at all (even when I open other files and save them on the harddrive).
posted by ropeladder at 4:25 PM on October 16, 2010
posted by ropeladder at 4:25 PM on October 16, 2010
Is it possible that you opened it in gmail as a Google document, worked on it and saved it as a Google document, and it's still there in the cloud? Can you go to your gmail account and check?
posted by zadcat at 4:29 PM on October 16, 2010
posted by zadcat at 4:29 PM on October 16, 2010
When you create a new document and go to save it, what is the default location for the file to be saved? Check this file.
Also, are there people at this computer lab who are in charge of the computers? They may be able to help you much more effectively than any of us here.
posted by sciencegeek at 4:31 PM on October 16, 2010
Also, are there people at this computer lab who are in charge of the computers? They may be able to help you much more effectively than any of us here.
posted by sciencegeek at 4:31 PM on October 16, 2010
Response by poster: PHEW. I found it, using the portable version of UltraFileSearch. It was saved in one of the gobbledigook hidden Temporary Internet Files subfolders.
Thanks for the (quick!) suggestions, everyone.
posted by ropeladder at 4:36 PM on October 16, 2010
Thanks for the (quick!) suggestions, everyone.
posted by ropeladder at 4:36 PM on October 16, 2010
Best answer: If possible, open Internet Explorer on that PC, and from the Tools menu, select "Internet Options". Select Settings from the "Browsing History" section, then click "View Files". That should open up the Temporary Internet Files directory for the current user. Depending on the cache settings, your document may still be there. If you don't see it (sort by file type to get to docx more easily), try appending "\Content.IE5" to the path and check that directory instead.
If you can't get to the IE options, then get your Explorer window up and go to "C:\Documents and Settings\(username)\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\" (assuming 2000/XP) or "C:\Users\(username)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files" for Vista/Win7.
posted by sysinfo at 4:40 PM on October 16, 2010
If you can't get to the IE options, then get your Explorer window up and go to "C:\Documents and Settings\(username)\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\" (assuming 2000/XP) or "C:\Users\(username)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files" for Vista/Win7.
posted by sysinfo at 4:40 PM on October 16, 2010
Whoop, neglected a last-minute preview. Nevermind, and congrats!
posted by sysinfo at 4:41 PM on October 16, 2010
posted by sysinfo at 4:41 PM on October 16, 2010
i was going to suggest your temporary internet files. this is a windows thing that used to drive me crazy. i'm glad you found it!
posted by janepanic at 6:44 PM on October 16, 2010
posted by janepanic at 6:44 PM on October 16, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
Good luck.
posted by sciencegeek at 4:22 PM on October 16, 2010