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Question

I have lost an online form I was filling out...

Jul 9, 2012 11:12AM PDT

I was completing an online form through a website to adopt rescued dogs. I left the form page open, and went to another website to find some additional information I needed to add to the form I was working on. When I found the information I needed at the second website, I closed that down and expected to see the online form I was first working on, but it nowhere to be found. I did not close this form. Is there anyway for me to search for it? When I go back to the website where the online adoption forms are located, I only can open new ones. Have I lost all that information I had been entering? I am just sick about this mistake I obviously have made. I tried going through all my Internet temporary files, and came up with nothing. Help!

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Sadly, it looks like the content is lost
Jul 9, 2012 9:35PM PDT

It happens when we fill in forms and/or post submission boxes like these in the forums.

If we lose the page then what we typed in is normally lost. It is as if we cancelled out of the form filling which clears all the data.

You did right to search through your TIF, (Temporary Internet Files), but it was unlikely to have worked.

Sorry.

If you intend to try again, open two windows (the second for any research) and leave them open until done.

Mark

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re: losing online application form
Jul 10, 2012 5:24AM PDT

Thanks for your help Mark. When I sit down to fill out that adoption application form again, I will make sure not to close down any other windows until I am done. A lesson learned!

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Answer
Yes
Jul 10, 2012 12:01AM PDT

Yes, it is gone, and this is why there are a number of browser add-ons to deal with this sort of thing. My favorite so far has been Lazarus, though I don't think it supports IE. Pretty much everything EXCEPT IE, and honestly you shouldn't be using IE for security reasons anyway, but I digress.

If I had to guess, I would say you had multiple tabs open on the same window, and you closed the window instead of the tab.

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re: lost online application form
Jul 10, 2012 5:35AM PDT

Thanks for your help Jimmy. I think I did do exactly as you suggested I had done by closing down the window instead of closing the tab I meant to close. I had tried to save the form before I was done filling it out, but I wasnt able to do it using Google Chrome. So I just worked on it and left it open, until I made the mistake and lost it.

I use Google Chrome. Do you think that there are security risks with something like Google Chrome, too? Can you tell me about browser add-ons.