Thanks for the input guys. It sure helps knowing where the save files are located. I am going to backup more often now.
Interesting though, I have looked in the SH3 folder in my documents, and sure enough there is a career folder that contains the nine files that Tombomsee mentions, but only for my most recent save from last night, which was a totally new career.
Although I had a backup of my instal, I did not have a backup of the SH3 folder in my docs.
