Dour

I had an important note go empty today; all content gone. It's not in trash, I have no other notebooks, and content is not on Evernote Web. I tried renaming my C:\Users\Dour\Evernote\Databases\ folder and copying an old backup, but now opening the app just shows a blank window and freezes (clicking shows "Not Responding" in the title bar). Fortunately, deleting the new Databases folder and restoring the old one returns my previous notebook, albeit without the important note. After discovering this thread I checked my notes and, sure enough, there was one that had duplicate content. Suggestions for my next step? I have a free account so I suppose Note History will not work. Can a paid account recover old notes? I am not going pay for an account if it'll just delete my notes. Did I restore the Databases folder incorrectly?