I recently re-installed my entire computer and forgot to save the output styles for EndNoteX1. I had made extensive changes to a style for my PhD thesis and I don’t think I’d be able to re-create all those. 
I have backups of both the .enl library file and the Data folder, plus of course the corresponding word documents. Is there a way to recover my output style from these files?
Generally speaking, reinstalling your computer without saving your output style is unlikely to allow recovering the style. But here are a few possibilities to consider:
If your operating system is post-Windows XP, any modified output style would be kept in a folder in the My Documents section of the computer. If you backed up your My Documents folder prior to reinstalling your computer, the modified output style might still be in a subfolder.
You mention “reinstalling” your computer. If you did so by using a “restore point” (via Windows), it might be possible to restore your computer to a point pre-dating when the EndNote output style was still present on your computer. This assumes, however, that you designated a restore point at a previous point in time. If you opted to recover the hard drive with an image, the output style could still be present providing it was present when the image was made.
Perhaps other forum users may have other suggestions but looks like you may need to recreate the output style.
Thanks for all the help, I really really appreciate getting an answer here! 
Of course, unfortunately neither of those worked for me - I’m running Windows XP and did a complete re-install from scratch, as my hard drive had been fried. BUT: In my mad attempts to rescue my files from said drive, I somehow managed to save the complete endnote folder from the programmes section. Found them in a pile of unlabeled, unsorted files that the recovery programme rescued. You can’t believe how relieved I was when I found my style among those files. Best christmas present ever! \o/
So anyway - thank you soooo much for trying to help!
And to all others out there: BACK UP YOUR OUTPUT STYLES!
@crazygecko wrote:
Generally speaking, reinstalling your computer without saving your output style is unlikely to allow recovering the style. But here are a few possibilities to consider:
- If your operating system is post-Windows XP, any modified output style would be kept in a folder in the My Documents section of the computer. If you backed up your My Documents folder prior to reinstalling your computer, the modified output style might still be in a subfolder.
- You mention “reinstalling” your computer. If you did so by using a “restore point” (via Windows), it might be possible to restore your computer to a point pre-dating when the EndNote output style was still present on your computer. This assumes, however, that you designated a restore point at a previous point in time. If you opted to recover the hard drive with an image, the output style could still be present providing it was present when the image was made.
Perhaps other forum users may have other suggestions about recover word documents, but looks like you may need to recreate the output style.
Yes, these are all useful recovery methods. If the usual approach does not help you recover lost word document, then why would you have to look for some data recovery tools.
@crazygecko wrote:
Generally speaking, reinstalling your computer without saving your output style is unlikely to allow recovering the style. But here are a few possibilities to consider:
- If your operating system is post-Windows XP, any modified output style would be kept in a folder in the My Documents section of the computer. If you backed up your My Documents folder prior to reinstalling your computer, the modified output style might still be in a subfolder.
- You mention “reinstalling” your computer. If you did so by using a “restore point” (via Windows), it might be possible to restore your computer to a point pre-dating when the EndNote output style was still present on your computer. This assumes, however, that you designated a restore point at a previous point in time. If you opted to recover the hard drive with an image, the output style could still be present providing it was present when the image was made.
Perhaps other forum users may have other suggestions but looks like you may need to recreate the output style.
Yes, these are all useful recovery methods. If the usual approach does not help you recover lost word documents, then why would you have to find some data recovery tools.