Okay, I was playing several games at once and I got distracted as I was switching and accidentally hit "delete" instead of opening the game. Yes, I know it asks you, but I wasn't concentrating and just automatically hit yes thinking I was opening the game.

Is there any way to recover that game now? Is there some way to back up the files in case this happens again? I'm just sick that the hours I spent playing that game are lost. It was my most advanced one.

UGH!! Please HELP!

JL

Never mind. I found out how to do it using Nortons Recovery. It also clued me in to how to backup the games.

Thanks for the help--or rather lack of it.

There is a backup file in your Virtual Villagers folder, but it won't be as current as the one that you deleted. The savegame files are Isola**.ldw (where ** is a number). The single-digit numbers are your "primary" savegame files and are numbered 1-5 (corresponding to the player slots). The two-digit numbers are the "backup" savegame files, and are numbered 21-25. If you rename the backup file that corresponds to the one that you deleted, you will be able to recover that game to a previous point in play.

The savegame files are ordinary files that can be backed up in a safe location of your choosing. Just remember to pause the games first, or you may be greeted by an unpleasant surprise if you ever need to restore one of them.

This is excellent info, and probably much safer than my idea of using XP System Restore! (at one point I discovered that by using that feature I could redownload and play demos, but since I cleaned up my hard drive I can't do that any more - probably a good thing :S )

Dar