Hidden temp files on laptop - help!!

[cousinsandra]

Hello. I have filled in an application form but cannot find it in any search I do. However when I downloaded another new one, I saw the file saved in a temp file in a folder called AppData. I can't access this at all. Can anyone help? I have spent ages on this job application and it needs to be in tomorrow!

Thanks

Try in the start bar typing in %temp%

That should bring up the temp folder. Have a look there. Depending on what you did, it may have been deleted

AppData is, I think, a folder that Windows Vista (and possibly 7) uses.

You should be able to get to it by opening up Windows Explorer and then opening:
Users -> Your Name ->AppData

You can also type %appdata% which will open the folder.

Wow! Thanks for your replies - that is incredibly helpful.... But! When I then locate it, it won't open it, but asks me to save it. I save it, then when I try to open it and it asks me to save it (continue ad quite literally naseaum!)

What is the file extension ...

What is the file extension ...

sorry - my mistake

there isn't one, but when I hold the mouse over it, it says it is a microsoft 97 / 2003 . doc (but the .doc isn't on the listing)

thanks!

I've done it!! With a bit of right clickage, and using your % thing !! Thanks so much for your replies, it's really kind of you.

I'm feeling a bit clever now!

What Browser are you using ? Sometimes you can choose where to save anything you download, and if that's the case, then you should also be able to go to the parent folder (imagine a yellow folder image with an upwards arrow inside - that takes you 'up a level' and may be shown across the top of the 'save file' window if that is shown.

The "AppData" sounds like a new name for the Application Data on some versions of Windows (maybe you are using Windows 7 ?)

Anyway, it is likely to be hidden in the depths of 'Documents and Folders' on your C:\ drive.

Windows shows you "My Documents" as a tree of folders (with My Photos, My Music, My Downloads, etc) as folders inside "My Documents" but they're all stored on your C drive and some will be hidden (because accidentally deleting some files there can make applications go wrong).

( I wrote this a long time ago but unfortunately my sister rang at 16:45 and I had to ring her back, then we chatted for 90 minutes, and eventually I got back to this tab, one of [too] many open ).

I am using windows 7. What seemed strange was that it was listed as under Users, but when I went through 'normal' searches, it wouldn't list it. It was only when I re-opened the original read only file and then tried to save it that I saw it was there!

Thanks so much for your help anyway!

I have not been using Windows 7 for a year, but on XP (which I use a lot), then attempting to view some folders brings up a warning about the files being hidden to discourage viewing/ problems. If one chooses to view 'hidden' folders then a lot more are shown.

I can quite understand the confusion, but it's a simple way to protect people from mistakes (or young fingers on the mouse managing to delete large quantities of files) - for example if the 'Program Files' folder was deleted, your browser and many free/ paid-for apps could be wiped off the drive... (yikes!)

Yes, that did happen when I was nosing around. It basically asked me if I wanted to override security settings. To which my response was as yours 'yikes'!