Help someone! URGENT Word Crisis

[Dave Edwards]

I'm in the US at the moment and my wife, in the UK, has
managed to erase almost all her university thesis from a
Word document which she then resaved before calling me.
She also closed Word down before calling me.

Is there any way that the earlier file version could be
restored?

She is absolutely distraught at the moment.

 

[Robert Moir]

I'm in the US at the moment and my wife, in the UK, has
managed to erase almost all her university thesis from a
Word document which she then resaved before calling me.
She also closed Word down before calling me.

Is there any way that the earlier file version could be
restored?

She is absolutely distraught at the moment.

So an effectively blank document has been re-saved in place of the "full"
one?
If so, your wife absolutely needs to turn off that computer right now, do
not use it again, and you need to talk to a specialist data recovery firm
about what they think the chances of recovering the document are.

Sadly, this may not be cheap.

 

[David Edwards]

Robert -

Thanks for the post which confirms what I already feared.

 

[Gord Dibben]

Dave

If she had Tools>Options>Save "always create backup copy" checked, she will
have a backup of the previously saved version.

Look for *.WBK if you want to chance it.

Gord Dibben Excel MVP

 

[JLee]

If she was using the 'track changes' feature on the document she may still
be able to get the deleted portion back. Suggest she use explorer and find
the file, right click on it and choose copy and then paste it in another
directory.
Open the copy just made in Word; select tools|track changes|accept or reject
changes. If she was tracking changes as she went, all the original material
will still be there and she can get the material back by rejecting the
change that deleted it. If she was not tracking changes to the document as
she went then chances are recovery will be difficult and expensive if
possible at all.

 

[Guest]

Deleting a file does not actually delete it, there are available spaces for use b
the next program that is saved or loaded to the harddrive. When your wif
saved the partial document it very likely went to that space and possibly
could be recovered if she had given it a different name. Saving it with th
same name is practically unretrievable. Try the below program, it runs fro
a floppy disk and not your harddrive, make sure you download it to a floppy
Restorer (Rest2514.exe
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/regs_edits/REST2514.EXE

 

[Robert Moir]

If she was using the 'track changes' feature on the document she may
still be able to get the deleted portion back. Suggest she use
explorer and find the file, right click on it and choose copy and
then paste it in another directory.
Open the copy just made in Word; select tools|track changes|accept or
reject changes. If she was tracking changes as she went, all the
original material will still be there and she can get the material
back by rejecting the change that deleted it. If she was not tracking
changes to the document as she went then chances are recovery will be
difficult and expensive if possible at all.

Thats very true, but every time someone continues to use their computer the
recovery problem becomes more difficult and more expensive. Which is why,
especially when a file has been "overwritten" with another copy with the
same name, I always suggest switching the computer off and speaking to a
data recovery expert as soon as the mistake is realised.

 

[Malke]

Deleting a file does not actually delete it, there are available
spaces for use by
the next program that is saved or loaded to the harddrive. When your
wife saved the partial document it very likely went to that space and
possibly
could be recovered if she had given it a different name. Saving it
with the
same name is practically unretrievable. Try the below program, it
runs from a floppy disk and not your harddrive, make sure you download
it to a floppy. Restorer (Rest2514.exe)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/regs_edits/REST2514.EXE

Byte, normally I would completely agree with you about using this
program. However, since this is an extremely important document that
she lost and she's obviously not skillful with computers, it would
definitely be better to do as Robert Moir first suggested. Turn off the
computer - do not use it. I don't know a good data recovery firm in the
UK, but here in the US, DriveSavers is excellent. Their website is
www.drivesavers.com and I think the OP should immediately call them.

Malke