BleepingComputer.com: Recover Previously Saved Version Of Excel File?

I feel like an idiot, but I was working on an excel document, and I wanted to use that template to create another similar one. I erased most of the data in the first doc, and then entered some new data. Instead of clicking on "save as" and making a new document, I just hit save accidentally without thinking. So I erased the original document and saved over it with the new doc...which I didn't want to do obviously. It wouldn't let me undo any changes I made either. Is there any way I can recover the original document that I was editing? Thanks

Hi nakedyak.
Too much time has passed and the original is gone.
In Excel, there is an auto recovery setting at Tools>Options>Save tab.
Default time is around 10 minutes and can be set for a maximum of 2hrs.
The original worksheet will still be in the listed location within the time frame settings.
Beyond that, it's gone. Just something for future reference.

For future reference, could I have recovered it within 10 minutes?

Yes, provided the autorecovery function is enabled and was set for a time equal to that or longer. It is there mainly in case of a brief power outage or system chrash while you're working.
Navigate to the location I posted and check.

This post has been edited by HitSquad: 02 October 2008 - 10:03 AM

Join the crowd, nakedyak: I feel this too-fast save is the most serious risk of losing a document, given my typical work pattern. I'm so sick of the same careless error of mine that I leave a freeware program called Instaback running in background always. Mine is watching the whole of My Documents on my work desktop, and keeping a copy of the last three versions of any document I create or change. All of that is settable. It's been keeping those records for six months now on a 2Gb memory stick, and has dug me out of destroying a de-facto template twice.

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Something along those lines is always preferable if you earn your living with docs,sheets,etc.
I always thought Office's Autorecovery should do the same rather then overwriting the original every set time period.
If it is overwritten twice before you realize your mistake, you're screwed anyway.