Finding files that weren't backed up

Hi,

I'm pretty much computer illiterate...I think I accidentally did a clean
install when upgrading to Vista from XP. Is there a way to retrieve the
files that I didn't back up? I'm mainly concerned with the pictures.

Any suggestions would be great, even if it's a suggestion of where I can go
to have this done.

Thanks

"Kat331" <Kat331@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F8185A84-E6DD-4500-9FB5-879AF987794A@microsoft.com...
> Hi,
>
> I'm pretty much computer illiterate...I think I accidentally did a clean
> install when upgrading to Vista from XP. Is there a way to retrieve the
> files that I didn't back up? I'm mainly concerned with the pictures.
>
> Any suggestions would be great, even if it's a suggestion of where I can
go
> to have this done.
>
> Thanks


If you installed without formatting the drive, there is an old windows
folder left on the drive
and all your stuff is in there.
If you formatted the drive...then all your data are gone...
the only hope would be about $1000 worth of labwork and even then it's
doubtful

Kat331 wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm pretty much computer illiterate...I think I accidentally did a clean
> install when upgrading to Vista from XP. Is there a way to retrieve the
> files that I didn't back up? I'm mainly concerned with the pictures.
>

If you actually performed a true "Clean install," which entails
formatting the hard drive, then no.


> Any suggestions would be great, even if it's a suggestion of where I can go
> to have this done.
>

If you didn't perform a true "Clean Installation," then some of the
files may still be there, within the "Windows.old" folder, where the
Vista installation routine is souuposed to preserve the "unusable"
remnants of the earlier OS.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

I searched for a windows.old folder, and nothing is coming up. I'm taking it
that that's not a good sign, and that I must have formatted the hard drive.
Is this correct?

"Bruce Chambers" wrote:

> Kat331 wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I'm pretty much computer illiterate...I think I accidentally did a clean
> > install when upgrading to Vista from XP. Is there a way to retrieve the
> > files that I didn't back up? I'm mainly concerned with the pictures.
> >
>
> If you actually performed a true "Clean install," which entails
> formatting the hard drive, then no.
>
>
> > Any suggestions would be great, even if it's a suggestion of where I can go
> > to have this done.
> >
>
> If you didn't perform a true "Clean Installation," then some of the
> files may still be there, within the "Windows.old" folder, where the
> Vista installation routine is souuposed to preserve the "unusable"
> remnants of the earlier OS.
>
>
> --
>
> Bruce Chambers
>
> Help us help you:
> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375
>
> They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
> safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin
>
> Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell
>
> The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
> killed a great many philosophers.
> ~ Denis Diderot
>

"Kat331" <Kat331@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8DE5E816-CC53-439F-B4C4-FC58E2F86FC9@microsoft.com...
> I searched for a windows.old folder, and nothing is coming up. I'm taking
it
> that that's not a good sign, and that I must have formatted the hard
drive.
> Is this correct?
>



http://neosmart.net/blog/2006/so-you-overwrote-your-xp/
>

Depends what kind of format Vista performs... I doubt it erases the whole
system partition, though. Try some free undeleters (ex,
http://www.officerecovery.com/freeundelete/) - google for more such
programs. You *might* get lucky and recover a few pics - pending how large
and fragmented your files were etc. Some comercial file recovery programs
have a demo version that you can try and see if files are recoverable -
you'll have to pay for the full working version of the program, though, if
you want to recover the files.
Michael


"Kat331" <Kat331@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F8185A84-E6DD-4500-9FB5-879AF987794A@microsoft.com...
> Hi,
>
> I'm pretty much computer illiterate...I think I accidentally did a clean
> install when upgrading to Vista from XP. Is there a way to retrieve the
> files that I didn't back up? I'm mainly concerned with the pictures.
>
> Any suggestions would be great, even if it's a suggestion of where I can
> go
> to have this done.
>
> Thanks

Double check your hard drive, the partition that Vista is installed on and
any other partition that had your old version of Windows on it. It will be
on the root of the partition. Unless you intentionally went into advanced
settings and formatted your drive you did not reformat

"Kat331" <Kat331@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8DE5E816-CC53-439F-B4C4-FC58E2F86FC9@microsoft.com...
>I searched for a windows.old folder, and nothing is coming up. I'm taking
>it
> that that's not a good sign, and that I must have formatted the hard
> drive.
> Is this correct?
>
> "Bruce Chambers" wrote:
>
>> Kat331 wrote:
>> > Hi,
>> >
>> > I'm pretty much computer illiterate...I think I accidentally did a
>> > clean
>> > install when upgrading to Vista from XP. Is there a way to retrieve
>> > the
>> > files that I didn't back up? I'm mainly concerned with the pictures.
>> >
>>
>> If you actually performed a true "Clean install," which entails
>> formatting the hard drive, then no.
>>
>>
>> > Any suggestions would be great, even if it's a suggestion of where I
>> > can go
>> > to have this done.
>> >
>>
>> If you didn't perform a true "Clean Installation," then some of the
>> files may still be there, within the "Windows.old" folder, where the
>> Vista installation routine is souuposed to preserve the "unusable"
>> remnants of the earlier OS.
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Bruce Chambers
>>
>> Help us help you:
>> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
>>
>> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375
>>
>> They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
>> safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin
>>
>> Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand
>> Russell
>>
>> The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
>> killed a great many philosophers.
>> ~ Denis Diderot
>>

http://www.quetek.com/

The above is a buy program "file scavenger"

Also try PCInspector.
--
Mick Murphy - Qld - Australia


"Kat331" wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I'm pretty much computer illiterate...I think I accidentally did a clean
> install when upgrading to Vista from XP. Is there a way to retrieve the
> files that I didn't back up? I'm mainly concerned with the pictures.
>
> Any suggestions would be great, even if it's a suggestion of where I can go
> to have this done.
>
> Thanks