Solved: Lost homework!

[Chris Lear]

Yesterday, my 8 year old daughter deleted her homework from a Word file (Word 2003). The file is still there but the data inside it has been deleted. She doesn't know how she did it and I wasn't there to supervise. I did a system restore to a previous restore point but the data is still not there. System restore automatically reboots on completion, but when I googled 'Windows system restore' for more info (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306084) it said to log back on as 'administrator'. Does it mean that if I don't log back on as 'administrator' the system restore will not take place?
Any help greatly appreciated.

 

[Yorkshire Guy]

Hi Chris,

What you have done is to restore the Operating System (Windows) to a previous Restore Point.

That doesn't restore your data though.

To restore your Word Document you need to have previously backed it up (i.e. taken a copy at a previous time).

You have got a data backup haven't you? else sorry, it's gone for good!

lol
Hew

 

[ShadowProwler420]

Unfortunately, doing a system restore won't bring back that document to its original state. All system restore does is revert critical system/OS and some program files back to a previous state (mainly used to combat virus infections/corrupted system files/etc).

You're going to most likely need to recreate that document from scratch.

 

[Blackmirror]

You could try this

http://undelete-plus.com/

 

[Yorkshire Guy]

Blackmirror, Chri's daughter hasn't deleted the Word File, it's the contents that have gone.

Undelete-plus will not bring back the deleted words!


Chris,
Lesson maybe to be learned, take backup copies of 'MyDocuments' regularly.

This free software is excellent:
http://www.versionbackup.sb-aw.com/


lol
Hew

 

[Gombot]

Is there any chance you have Shadow Copy turned on? If so, you might recover a previous version of the file.

Here's a nice overview of the "what and how":

http://www.petri.co.il/how_to_use_the_shadow_copy_client.htm

It doesn't replace a good backup policy, but sure can come in handy.

 

[Chris Lear]

Lesson learnt! Normally do regular back-ups but been a bit slack recently.

 

[Rollin_Again]

I always email a copy of all important documents to myself. That way I can access them from anywhere and they are being stored in a remote server belonging to the host.

Regards,
Rollin

 

[Blackmirror]

Oh i am so sorry

That will teach me to try and solve a problem when im a moody moo

 

[Anon B]

When working with a document in Word if you have the AutoSave option enabled then it autosaves at the prescribed time interval to a .asd file.
It is possible that the .asd file for the document your daughter was working on still exists and can be recovered, see here for more information
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827099

If I remember right they are stored in this location by default
C:\Documents and Settings\your username\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\STARTUP

Good luck