I spent 3hr writing the blog posts for the past 2 weeks, suddenly the computer froze and I had to restart. Word periodical auto-save helped recover most of the writing yet I couldn’t simply overwrite the older file. I saved it as a different file and deleted the older version. Not sure what happened, the new file shows 0 byte while the older version (10 month of writing) is gone. I spent the next hour searching tips online, trying different ways and tools to recover the file. I ran the HD scan overnight and the deleted file wasn’t found; I tried to convert ~WRA2464.asd file but it shows up in unrecognized codes. I contacted Microsoft support and after 3 agents, it’s still not resolved.
I was about to give up, turn off the computer, and work on plan B (re-write the unpublished content and figure out how to download the previous 10 month blog posts) later. I saw the same file (~WRA2464.asd) that I couldn’t convert in auto save folder, I clicked it again (& didn’t expect anything would be different)…This time it opens up in word and miraculously, has all the content up to about the last half hour before the accident. I can’t believe my eyes, the writing is back!
After 3hr’s trying (& overnight computer scan) and disappointment, I’m thrilled for the outcome. Lesson learned: (1) make sure the new file works before deleting the older one, (2) backup file or post content more frequently, (3) try recovery tool, e.g. Microsoft auto save: office => file => option => save => auto save file location or Recuva.
Use tool, backup, and do not give up!