Where did my .rtf file go?

okay.... my friend made his cv on my computer. i ve reinstalled xp recently so i dont have MS OFFICE yet.
he used wordpad as usual and i saved it right where it was downloaded [the temporary file] as he 'opened' the file not 'saved'.
generally when i do this with MS WORD, the file saves itself with the same *[1].* name and even if you dont save it again as a separate copy, it is there in the temporary files....
but i guess wordpad deletes those files by itself; but i m wondering there must be a path where the wordpad downloads the file first and maybe 'keeps' it....
i have tried a bunch of uneraser software but seems the file is totally gone which is perfectly surprising......!
i thought no software is given the authority to do this on its own but one of the most simplest software is here, scaring me!!!
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still i have to ask, is there a way?? or a path where it streams the files? maybe in some other form of data.... or named differently ??? please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hey..... it isnt that i never saved....
what i did is [what i generally do with ms word], i saved it right where it was opened, u get the point?? so when using ms word the file saves itself at the very location where it was opened .... so it should ve been there but wordpad probably eats it.......

still anyone with any clue???

Also known as a foo file, a temporary file is a file created to hold information temporarily while a file is being created. After the program has original file has been close the temporary file should be deleted. Temporary files are used to help recover lost data if the program or computer is abnormally halted.

As you just learned, relying on temporary files is a fools errand. Consider it a learning experience. During the OS updating temporary files are cleared.