I began recording on Audacity and I went on for 90 minutes and then I hit PAUSE. Then I hit PAUSE again and then I hit STOP. I then closed Audacity expecting the pop-up to appear asking me to name the file but instead I got a pop=up from Windows stating that Audacity has “stopped working” and I elected to close Audacity. But now I cannot find the 90 minute Audacity file! Was it stored somewhere or is it gone? Can I hire Drive Savers to lift the Audacity file so I can use it? Thank you for any help.
Please tell us what version of Audacity you are using (all three numbers, please see the pink panel at the top of the page).
Were you trying to save an Audacity project or export to WAV or MP3?
If you did not manage to save an Audacity project and you are using Audacity 1.2.x , it will tell you it has unsaved temporary files next time you start it, and ask if you want to delete the files. Say no, then recover the files manually from whatever directory it says at Edit > Preferences…, Directories tab. Use the 1.2 Recovery Utility to recover. See http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/recovering_crashes_manually.html#1.2_Audacity_Recovery_Utility.
If you are using Audacity 1.3.x or 2.x.x then Audacity should recover your work for you next time you launch Audacity.
If you are not using the latest Audacity 2.1.2 from http://audacityteam.org/download, please update to it.
Gale
I was using Audacity 2.1.2. Gale i have had trouble with you and your hissy fits before. Read the god damned text before posting an answer or don’t post at all! Here it is one more time for Gale, the man with the girl’s name: “I began recording on Audacity and I went on for 90 minutes and then I hit PAUSE. Then I hit PAUSE again and then I hit STOP. I then closed Audacity expecting the pop-up to appear asking me to name the file but instead I got a pop=up from Windows stating that Audacity has “stopped working” and I elected to close Audacity. But now I cannot find the 90 minute Audacity file! Was it stored somewhere or is it gone? Can I hire Drive Savers to lift the Audacity file so I can use it? Thank you for any help.”
Did you read and retain it that time, Gal?
If you want to suspend or ban me from this forum, then FINE! People come here desperate for answers and you post your half - assed “answers” and you waste my time. I’ve contributed to this forum by posting How To posts. Maybe you remember.
I read your text.
You did not give your Audacity version, which was the main problem.
“Name the file” does not tell us for sure whether you were trying to save a project or export. It should mean you were trying to save, but you could have cancelled and tried to export. Audacity 2.1.2 should not - as you appeared to be saying - crash on close without even asking you to “Save changes?”
As I said, restart Audacity and it should try to recover your project. So please say what happens when you restart Audacity. If you want to know where the file is that Audacity is trying to recover from, see http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/audacity_projects.html#autosave.
Gale
I’m trying to understand what you are/were trying to do.
When you say " I hit PAUSE", does that mean that you clicked on the Pause button, or that you pressed the keyboard shortcut key (“P”)?
Why did you do that twice? Did it not pause the first time?
Although closing a program will often produce a prompt for you to save your work, that’s not a good thing to rely on (as you have discovered). If you want to save the Audacity project, use “File menu > Save Project”, or if you want to create a normal audio file, use “File menu > Export Audio”.
The recording ‘may’ still exist as data in Audacity’s temp directory. If it does, then restarting Audacity should ask you if you want to recover the project. If Audacity does not ask you if you want to recover the project, then it’s “gone”.
(and yes you will be banned if you are abusive to staff or other users on this forum, but better if we just try to work together 
).
Exactly, that was what I was getting at with my question about whether you were trying to save or export.
And Steve’s question about whether you were using mouse or keyboard is relevant. If you use mouse to Stop then it may seem convenient to press the [X} button top right (if that is what you did). But it isn’t a good idea. Do the action you want (save or export) and then exit Audacity.
Using the keyboard is often easier once you know the shortcuts. SPACE to stop. CTRL + S to File > Save Project… . CTRL + SHIFT + E to File > Export Audio… . If you were to use the mouse to open the File Menu you can see the shortcuts I mentioned opposite those commands.
If Audacity doesn’t ask if you want to recover, the AUTOSAVE file (temporary AUP file) has gone or is misnamed as a TMP file.
But the data in the Audacity temp folder might still be there, and would be recoverable if what you were recovering was an unedited recording, as it was in your case.
Please assume everyone here wants to help you (even me). Please help us in return by always giving us your Audacity version and being as precise as possible in what you say.
Also remember if someone answers you who has many thousands of posts that person is very experienced in Audacity and the answer is not likely to be “half-assed” or incorrect (though we can all make mistakes). 
Gale