http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HP051891691033.aspxYou might need to open the recovery file yourself When the AutoRecover feature is turned on, Word typically opens recovery files when you restart Word after a power failure or similar problem. If for some reason Word did not open the recovery file, you can open it. By default, the recovery file is located in the Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Word folder. If you changed the location for recovery files, check the new location on the File Locations tab (Tools menu, Options command).
Word might not have created the recovery file yet By default, the recovery file is created 10 minutes after you open the document. If Word or your computer stops responding before the recovery file is created, you cannot automatically recover your changes. To have AutoRecover save your changes more frequently, you can change the interval at which the recovery file is saved.
You might have closed the recovery file without saving it When you close a recovery file without saving it, the recovery file is deleted. There is no way to recover unsaved changes after the recovery file has been closed.
You might have deleted the recovery file Recovery files have an .asd extension. If you delete the recovery file, you cannot automatically recover your changes.
The document might be a master document Word can create recovery files for individual subdocuments, but it cannot create a recovery file for a master document.
Were you using the Visual Basic Editor to change a macro? AutoRecover creates a recovery file only for a document that has been modified during the current session. If your only changes are in the Microsoft Visual Basic Editor while you have a document open in Word, Word cannot recognize that the document has been modified. To have Word create a recovery file that includes changes to macros edited in Visual Basic Editor, make a change in the Word document itself (for example, add and delete a paragraph return).
