Desperate Help Needed In Recovering My Work!

I've seached the internet and these forums for answers, with no luck.

GIMP seemed to freeze on me, though Task Manager said it was still running. In an effort to resolve the problem, I closed down all other programs, and-- while closing down all unnecessary GIMP windows (brushes, layers, etc)-- I accidentally closed down GIMP itself!

I am desperate to recover the project I was working on. I have thought about periodically saving the project while working on it, but I'm unsure how this is done, as there is no "Save Project" feature.

1. Is there ANY WAY POSSIBLE to recover my seemingly-lost project? (I mean ANY way, including System Restore, or some other way to "travel back in time" on my computer)

2. How can I avoid such a calamity in the future? Is there a way to save projects in GIMP, so that work may be continued at a later time after GIMP has been closed-down?

Again, I'm willing to try things to recover my work even outside of GIMP's capabilities... I suspect that the info is still stored SOMEWHERE on my hard-drive. I'm open to any and all effective ideas, so please feel free to post-- supporting an already-stated idea or posting your own-- even if someone else has posted a response here.

Thank You for your help...

I am sorry but I do not know how to recover your lost work But I do recommend saving your projects periodically. Here is how to save your image with layers so that when you re-open the project it will have it's layers still there. Just go to Save As, then type in the title of your project and then at the end of it put .xcf This is a format type which will keep a project's layers. An example would be:
Mylostgimpwork.xcf

Once you have finished your project, save it as a .gif image for an animation, .png image for a transparent background or for good picture quality or .jpg which you should already know.

WOW! Thanks for the helpful info, Shadowraith! I'm actually quite mindful of taking precautions against things like this, but I didn't know about "xcf" files. I couldn't find anything similar to "Save Project", and if my GIMP came with help files, then I don't seem to have them anymore.

Thanks also for the tips regarding file-types... I always saved my transparencies as GIFs, but in my recent searches for a solution to my apparently-lost work, I've learned that lots of GIMP-users save transparencies as PNGs. I don't really know why... Perhaps it may be that PNGs may be better picture quality?

Thanks again for your help!

(If anyone else here actually DOES know of a way I can recover my lost work, please share with us your helpful info... Thanks!)