So having had all the help from you guys, for which I am very grateful, it looks like:
- I did NOT delete a wallet file (phew)
- I did NOT store this on an online wallet that remains secure.
which leaves:
- I might have stored these on an online wallet which was insecure (or otherwise ripped off).
- I might have sent them to an exchange where they may still be notionally attached to an account I hold.
- I might have sent them to an exchange where they have been ripped off.
- I might have had them stolen from my computer.
If I sent them to an exchange where they're still associated to my account and I have forgotten it - I'll still feel like an idiot. If it is one of the other options, I guess I still feel aggrieved yet I can console myself that there is someone else that deserves to be kicked rather than myself (well I guess I do still deserve to kick myself either way... but I'd prefer company in the deserves to be kicked department).
There is that tiny little (shrinking) hope that these funds will magically appear on my account at one of the exchanges I have accounts at.
I still feel that BTC are important and will keep increasing in value. I keep telling myself I should buy some more - yet this incident has shaken my confidence a little and their value is *so* much more than when I first invested. Arrrg... about to start kicking myself again, must stop, take a breath, and have a cup of tea.