"Deleting" a file doesn't actually delete it; it just marks the space as
available to be used. There are third-party programs that can sometimes
recover deleted files. The problem is that the space used by the file is
likely to become overwritten very quickly, and this makes the file
unrecoverable.
So your chances of successfully recovering this file are decent if you try
recovering it immediately after deleting it, and rapidly go downhill from
there. If you've been using the computer since then (for example to write
this question and read this answer), your chances are probably very poor by
now.
But if the file is important enough, it's worth a try anyway. Stop using the
computer in question immediately, if you haven't done so already. Download
an undelete program (here's one:
http://www3.telus.net/mikebike/RESTORATION.html but there are several others
to choose from; do a Google search) on a friend's computer and bring it to
yours on a floppy to try.
If this fails, your only other recourse is to take the drive to a
professional file recovery company. This kind of service is very expensive
and may or may not work in your case.
Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP
