very important Word File Lost :(

hi guys, ive just registered

...actually its urgent. Something very weird happened today with one of my Word file.

*i have Vista premium on a HP Laptop AMD Turion 64x2 *
*ive been using my laptop for 10 months *
*im not used to making system restore or making a recovery disk*

I use this file everyday and store important details and infos to keep an update.
BUt when i went to open my file on Document, it wasnt there ( i couldnt see it).
So i decided to search it and it appeared on the list ( it was in Document). But something was modified and it said
" your file has been changed or moved so this shortcut may not work properly. Do you want to delete this shortcut ?"

then i was like ... shortcut? Its not a shortcut, the main file is in Document and i never made any shortcut for this file.

afterwards, i tried desperately to search for my file and i remember that i havnt moved it or changed its name so...maybe a virus is involved.

Now, i cant even find it on "search". Its not even there anymore. Im starting to worry alot , i think someone hacked in my computer or something.

Can anyone help me or just tell me if something like this happened to any of you ?

I didnt delete this file and its not in my recycle bin. But its not found anywhere else. Its like the file never existed

please help

The Documents folder is a shortcut (it is a vurtual folder).
Look in the real folder to see if you can find it,
click on My computer,
C:/Users/"your user name"/Documents