Lost files after upgrade--please help

I have upgraded from XP to Vista Ultimate--all of my files are gone. I
do not have a C:\Windows.old file nor are any of my files located in
the $INPLACE.~TR or $WINDOWS.~Q files. When I do a search on a file
name it finds a shortcut to the file instead.

Please help.


--
jmartini

Hi jmartini--

What happens when you simply search for some of your files by name in the
search box above the Start button? What do you see in the Vista locations
that correspond to the locations where your files were in XP? What is in
your Vista Documents folder? What comes up when you type the word "files" in
the search box above the Start button?

How by the way is Vista Ultimate working?

CH


"jmartini" <jmartini.2p5lj4@no-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:jmartini.2p5lj4@no-mx.forums.net...
>
> I have upgraded from XP to Vista Ultimate--all of my files are gone. I
> do not have a C:\Windows.old file nor are any of my files located in
> the $INPLACE.~TR or $WINDOWS.~Q files. When I do a search on a file
> name it finds a shortcut to the file instead.
>
> Please help.
>
>
> --
> jmartini

Windows.old is a hidden file. Do you have all file extensions and hidden
files showing in Folder Options?

"jmartini" wrote:

>
> I have upgraded from XP to Vista Ultimate--all of my files are gone. I
> do not have a C:\Windows.old file nor are any of my files located in
> the $INPLACE.~TR or $WINDOWS.~Q files. When I do a search on a file
> name it finds a shortcut to the file instead.
>
> Please help.
>
>
> --
> jmartini
>

I have not done any upgrades from XP to Vista or any other OS to Vista, but
my understanding would be you would not have to show all hidden files to see
almost all of your previous files unless they were hidden by Windows by
default. I don't remember having to show all hidden files or unhide Windows
files to see Windows.old but it can't hurt to maximize your chances when
looking for files.

CH

"jmartini" <jmartini.2p5lj4@no-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:jmartini.2p5lj4@no-mx.forums.net...
>
> I have upgraded from XP to Vista Ultimate--all of my files are gone. I
> do not have a C:\Windows.old file nor are any of my files located in
> the $INPLACE.~TR or $WINDOWS.~Q files. When I do a search on a file
> name it finds a shortcut to the file instead.
>
> Please help.
>
>
> --
> jmartini

jmartini wrote:
> I have upgraded from XP to Vista Ultimate--all of my files are gone. I
> do not have a C:\Windows.old file nor are any of my files located in
> the $INPLACE.~TR or $WINDOWS.~Q files. When I do a search on a file
> name it finds a shortcut to the file instead.

Don't panic. An upgrade should not destroy any previous contents of
your disk unless you did some sort of re-format of the disk during the
upgrade. (And that's not part of the usual upgrade process.)

Do you recall 'formatting' anything? Is the entire disk occupied by
Vista? Are there other partitions on the disk? E.g. if you have a
100GB disk, does Vista show the entire 100GB? If not, the 'missing'
space may be your 'missing' files.

Still no luck--I've ensured that show all files, extensions, and system
files are turned on--nothing; now windows.old file and still nothing in
my users\name file. I am in a real pickle--I did not format anything, I
merely upgraded.

When I do a search for a particular file, I type in the [filename] and
search the C: drive all it brings up are Shortcut files in a folder
called C:\$INPLACE.~TR\Machine\Data\Documents and
Settings\[name]\Application Data\Microsoft Office\Recent. I look at
the path that the shorcut points to and it is folder
C:\Users\[name]\Desktop which is where the file should be. When I
click on the link, it tells me that the document isn't there anymore
and do I want to delete the shortcut.


--
jmartini

If I were you, since we still don't know how you are partitioned, or how
your drive is divided, I would type the drive or drives in the run box like
this: C:\ and explorer every folder looking for files.

As has been said, if you didn't format, your files ***aren't gone--the 2nd
law of Windows Physics as espoused by Bill Gates and Issac Newton guarantees
the ability of a force to change the motion of an object depends on the
object's mass. That's how I know it's harder to change the motion of a
piano than a chair or the space occupied by a 3 GB folder than a 2MB folder.

I also have this suggestion for you to get a different view and this should
expose every last file on every drive.

Download the free DXHogHunt here: (I had to use the cached link since
apparently it's sold; the site is now a different company and everything is
in Dutch so you can download by scrolling to DX Hog Hunt here.

DX Hog Hunt Download

http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:...k&cd=1&gl=u s

This nice little app will show every last folder and its size and you can
click and open them and see every last file and you should be able to
mouseover them and see what is in the folders or files as well. Run it for
any drive or file path you want.

CH


"jmartini" <jmartini.2p6rw9@no-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:jmartini.2p6rw9@no-mx.forums.net...
>
> Still no luck--I've ensured that show all files, extensions, and system
> files are turned on--nothing; now windows.old file and still nothing in
> my users\name file. I am in a real pickle--I did not format anything, I
> merely upgraded.
>
> When I do a search for a particular file, I type in the [filename] and
> search the C: drive all it brings up are Shortcut files in a folder
> called C:\$INPLACE.~TR\Machine\Data\Documents and
> Settings\[name]\Application Data\Microsoft Office\Recent. I look at
> the path that the shorcut points to and it is folder
> C:\Users\[name]\Desktop which is where the file should be. When I
> click on the link, it tells me that the document isn't there anymore
> and do I want to delete the shortcut.
>
>
> --
> jmartini