How do I recover a lost file on my computer?

I am no computer whiz but can you not reset your computers time? To the date you wrote it.

did you delete it? is it in the recycle bin? if yes, right click and restore. if no, the only way to maybe recover the file is by using the the same technique as computer forensic investigators use, you will need a special software that yes will cost money, and additionally the hard drive will most likely be destroyed, and you will then need to buy a new one.

Firstly you need to be sure that it is gone. Often people forget the name that they saved a file under and can’t find it for that reason. With both Macs and PC’s it is possible to search for content if you can remember a few of the words that will be in the file. Names etc. Failing that, yes it is often possible to recover a file if the file space has not been overwritten . After a year and a half that would be unlikely, but not impossible if you have deleted other files to make space.

When you delete a file it is not really deleted. DOS renames the file by replacing the first letter with a ?. If the file was named “thisfile.wpf” it would now be ”?hisfile.wpf”.

If you have saved other files since then your file may have been overwritten, if this is the case the file cannot be recovered in its entirety.

from C:\ enter the command

C:\ rename ?hisfile.wpf thisfile.wpf

If you get the message “file is unrecoverable”, then it has been overwritten by another file.

@DrBill: I was tickled pink to see your DOS-based explanation using a word perfect file.

If you are using WIndows:

1)
Maybe it’s not deleted at all, use Start -> Search

2)
Look in the Recycle Bin

3)
Recuva is a good file recovery tool.
As @DrBill mentioned, the file may show up with a mangled name in Recuva’s list of files. And the longer it’s been deleted, the more likely something else has been written over it and the file is gone forever.
http://www.piriform.com/recuva

You don’t need to buy.But there is a free software utility(file recovery software) called ‘recuva’.It will recover your file if you haven’t formatted your drive.

Look for a temp file of the sort generated by your word processor about the time you wrote the story.

@jaytkay thanks, I just downloaded recuva! No emergency yet but I like to be prepared.