kristiane66,
i did this for a customer with a similar problem,
may be kind of a weird way to do it,
BUT, it worked, try this:
are you using xp/vista?
if so,
use your 'roll-back / recover / restore' FUNCTION,
in other words,
go back to the day before you did the 'lame' copy-paste-save thing,
B-U-T
make sure anything you've done since is backed up,
because it sure will be gone!!!
Kristiane66: Did you try and do a file search yet if not try doing that to see if anything comes up.try looking here for a version of your document that has been auto saved.

C:\Documents and Settings\*(your user)*\Application Data\Microsoft\Word

You will have to allow hidden files/folders to be viewed

TOOLS > FOLDER OPTIONS > VIEW (tab) > select the "show hidden files / folders radio button

Hope it works*You can send your computer into a data recovery company and see if they can find it. It will likely be very expensive, but may be WORTH it, ESPECIALLY if it's for a masters or doctorate.guess OP either jumped off that cliff,
or just lost interest in the thread,
I think she decided to start over on her work. I'm GUESSING she hasn't been back to check.if u computer using NTFS,try out this software : getbackNTFS and if u computer using FAT32, try out this software : getbackFAT32.

today i lost my document after format the pc, but thanks god that i had recover my document back by using this software.