surprised because the windows registry should have the location of both the original and your backup (but not the Turbotax backup which always starts with a ~) Both should be displayed when you open the desktop app. to skirt the issue go to the location on your hard drive where the original is stored (see below). Usually c:\users\user name\documents\turbotax and double click on it. That should create a registry entry and the file should pop up the next time you open Turbotax. there should be two files one without the tilde (~) which is the original file and one with the ~ which is the backup Tubitax creates when opening the file. if there are no such files on your hard drive that would indicate that the original and your backup are only on the flash drive. the Turbotax backup is likely there also.
if all the files are on the thumb drive and you prefer the original to be on your computer's hard drive, you can copy and paste it anywhere on your computer, Then double-click to open it and create a registry entry. once satisfied close Turbotax without saving. It should still be where you put it. Once satisfied that that's the copy you want to work on further delete the copy from the flash drive to avoid confusion over which to use.
