Is this file really lost?

august0208

My entire spreadsheet for my wedding was on my desktop...my laptop crashed the other day and it was minimized when this happened. There isn't an icon for this document on my desktop anymore...after a ton of searching I found a link to the spreadsheet...when I click on it, it says it has been restored or moved. Moved to where??!?!?!  I have it backed up but from several months ago...I'm an idiot for not backing it up more recently I know. But does anyone have any idea where I can look for this???? TIA!!!

belovedbride07

You may be able to get it back; I searched CNET for "recover deleted files" and their top recommended software is this: http://download.cnet.com/Recover-Files/3000-2094_4-10715455.html?tag=mncol.  I've never used this particular program, but it's been years since I've used something like this so I can't remember what the name of the one I had success with in the past.

belovedbride07

Grr...I keep getting an error when I try to edit my post.  I was trying to add:

Before messing with that, try the basics.  Try restarting your computer, right click and rearrange your desktop icons just in case it got stacked with others, and check your recycle bin in case it's in there.  Let us know if it works!

fallbride_2004

I dropped an external drive on a hard floor and couldn't access any files.  I downloaded a trial version of a restoration program to test it.  It would only recover a small amount, but it was enough to see that it worked.  I paid about $40 for the full version and was able to recover most files, although the filenames were not there, so I had to individually go through file 1, file 2, etc.