[INFO] Recovering Lost Word Data

Microsoft Word 2010, by default, has autosave enabled.
Anything you write in word gets saved every ten minutes by default.
The location of the saves:
%appdata%/Roaming/Microsoft/Word
Each file gets its own folder.  The saves have the extension of .asd
Ever delete something; computer crash; copy & close without saving, only to not be able to paste what you copied?
Check that folder.  Likely word saved it for you.

To disable/adjust the autosave feature in Word:
File -> Options -> Save

The autosave is called AutoRecover.
I'd recommend setting it to around three minutes if you write with word often.

I understand there is a similar feature in word 2007, but I haven't look into it in great detail.

If you find the asd files, but are having trouble opening them, here's what you do:
Step 1 - Open Word, select Open from the file menu.
Step 2 - navigate to the autosave location.
	-If you haven't changed it, you can do the following to get there quickly:
		- type %appdata% in the file dialogue, and click open.
		- this should take you to the roaming folder under AppData.
		- Navigate to the Microsoft folder
		- Then to the Word folder
Step 3 - You'll see some folders that have odd looking names; these contain your autosaves.
Step 4 - Open the folder of the file you want to recover.
Step 5 - You probably won't see anything, this is normal.  Type *.* in the dialogue box, and click open.
Step 6 - You should now see the .asd files.
Step 7 - Open the most recent file.  By default, these are arranged in the order of oldest to newest.
Ergo, the most recent autosave is on the bottom.  If it doesn't have what you were hoping to recover, go to the file above it and try that one.
Repeat until you find what you were hoping to recover.

As I understand, the procedure is largely similar for word 2007, save for the autosave files having a different extension.

Hope this helps some of you out.

Ctrl + S is your friend, and likes it rough.