Framemaker file disappeared during TOC creation

An over-active backup system that doesn't allow you to retrieve files from backup is not conceivable. Go back to IT and politely insist on speaking to someone who know what they are talking about. Unless I am misunderstanding. There must be backup files or what purpose is there to having a backup. One major purpose of having files on a network server is to ensure backup. My preferred working setup for for Frame that needs networking services so that multiple users can have access to the same files is to use a check-in/check-out system. You check out the files from the server, work on them locally, then place the file back on the server. With large projects, to much can happen if you are working on remote files---I'm not ready for cloud computing for things that count.

If I can stop ranting, if the TOC is showing content from a given Frame file, then I would think the file still exists. Perhaps there is some reason that it cannot be viewed. What kind of network disk are we talking about? What file system? How are you accessing the network disk. Perhaps someone in IT that knows what they are talking about can see if the file exists, but not visible to you.