Microsoft Word

I have always used Microsoft Word since I was young for homework, projects and papers.  I know how to effectively use it, changing fonts, headers and footers, spell check, thesaurus, etc.  I really have no problem in using word.  I would, however, like to understand the way in which Microsoft Word recovers files from my computer, in case one is removed and I need to be a able to recover it quickly.  I would also like to learn how to insert pictures into documents without disturbing the flow of the paper, for example having the picture cat a paragraph in half and not having to spend half an hour trying to move it to the bottom of the page.