The steps one must follow to recover deleted document files are a bit more complicated than those required for basic data recovery. When working through the process to recover deleted files Windows XP users may be at a slight disadvantage.
The most recent versions of Microsoft Word have built in auto save capabilities that are not always included in earlier Word versions. Furthermore many programs designed to recover document files do not include in their search and locate functions the ability to find lesser known word processor type files. Most word processors that are open source such as Abiword or Open Office use proprietary file extensions. Lesser quality programs for document recovery are not able to recognize these file structures and as a result cannot recover these deleted files. The solution is to purchase a better quality data recovery program that is designed to recognize blocks of machine code pertaining to data storage of a document.