Be sure to save your recovered file as a Word document (.doc file)!

An AutoRecover file is created or updated each time there are changes that have not been saved at the end of the time period.

If you save the file, Word deletes the AutoRecover one and doesn't make another until the time period is up again (for example, 10 minutes after the save, if it's set to 10 minutes).

If you have it set at 10 minutes, and click Save every 8 minutes, an Autorecovery file will not be generated.

When you opened Word, it should have alerted you that it had recovered a file. I suspect that if it didn't, perhaps it had something to do with Office XP on Windows 7? They are compatible, but perhaps not optimum? Just a guess.