Pc Novice,how do I get things back?

hazzie123

I`m terrible with computers,I know how to get on the internet and on msn but thats about it really.I have had my pc for about 8 years and still dont understand much about them.

Last week when I turned the Pc on a little error box came up before I even got onto windows.It said something was wrong and it only gave me an ok box to click,so I clicked it! And now I have lost all my downloaded music,all my photo`s,Limewire,skype websites have all dissapeared.All I seem to have left is my MSN? Even all my previous website address have gone missing off the address bar.

A friend told me to go into system restore and go back the the day when I had all these things,which I did but they still never came back?

I had a look in the add/remove thingy and the limewire and skype are there but it only gives me the option to remove them not to bring them back to my desktop.

I have come to the conculsion that I have lost all my downloaded music,but I have all my photo`s still on my camera so not worried about them.

I really want to get my limewire back as I have it for free and now you have to pay for it.

Anyone got any ideas how to get all my stuff back?

browolf

all that stuff that was in my documents should have been in
c:\documents and settings\<your username>

system restore should get it all back. its possible your system restore point was from a time before you had all your stuff.

i'd suggest in future if possible storing all your files not in my documents but on a separate drive. that way if anything happens to windows all your files are still safe somewhere else. its possible to change the location of my documents by right clicking on it > properties and putting the target as somewhere else although thats only useful if you have 2 or more hard drives.
other than that back stuff up to DVD and make system restore points more often.

ABH_3

hazzie123 wrote:

I`m terrible with computers,I know how to get on the internet and on msn but thats about it really.I have had my pc for about 8 years and still dont understand much about them.

Last week when I turned the Pc on a little error box came up before I even got onto windows.It said something was wrong and it only gave me an ok box to click,so I clicked it! And now I have lost all my downloaded music,all my photo`s,Limewire,skype websites have all dissapeared.All I seem to have left is my MSN? Even all my previous website address have gone missing off the address bar.

A friend told me to go into system restore and go back the the day when I had all these things,which I did but they still never came back?

I had a look in the add/remove thingy and the limewire and skype are there but it only gives me the option to remove them not to bring them back to my desktop.

I have come to the conculsion that I have lost all my downloaded music,but I have all my photo`s still on my camera so not worried about them.

I really want to get my limewire back as I have it for free and now you have to pay for it.

Anyone got any ideas how to get all my stuff back?

Picking up from where browolf left off; "system restore should get it all back. its possible your system restore point was from a time before you had all your stuff."

It maybe as simple as going to Start\Programs\Accessories\System Tools\System Restore once again. But this time when it displays the calendar with all the dates in it, selecting one that you recognise you had all your files. Or you could try something like this: http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/UK/welcome.htm and see what it can recover.

HTH

albertross_2

try start, run, chkdsk c: /F/R

then reboot

if that doesn't work..


http://www.officerecovery.com/freeundelete/
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/restoration.html
http://www.free-av.com/antivirclassic/avira_unerase.html
http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/uk/welcome.htm

Is it just your icons that have gone, or the actual programs?

browolf

i didnt realise you could could go forward after going back with system restore. i'd thought that system restore got restored too lol

yellowlawn

And if your still stuck drop me a PM I offer a professional Data Recovery solution.

hazzie123

The icons off the desktop have gone but the programs are still in the add/remove thingy.

Thanks for all your help,I`m gunna have a play about to see if I can get them back then try the links.

I`ll update if I get them back.

Thanks for all your help

MadCowMan

The icon on the desktop is usually just a pointer to the program file , not the file itself.

can you access the programs from the start menu ?

hold down the windows key ( shoudl be between ctrl and alt on the keyboard ) and press F - that should take you to a search box. If you are running windows XP , then you'll have the question "What do you want to search for" on the left hand side.

Click "pictures , music or video" and follow the search through to see if you can locate any of your missing files.

It sounds like XP has created a new user profile for you - but they shouldn't be too hard to recover as it doesn't usually overwrite the old profile.

tawnyowls

browolf wrote:

i'd suggest in future if possible storing all your files not in my documents but on a separate drive. that way if anything happens to windows all your files are still safe somewhere else. its possible to change the location of my documents by right clicking on it > properties and putting the target as somewhere else although thats only useful if you have 2 or more hard drives.
other than that back stuff up to DVD and make system restore points more often.

You can actually just drag the 'My Documents' folder out of the Documents and Settings one and put it on the desktop. Doesn't stop it disappearing if you accidentally remove your user program, but makes it easier to back up

hazzie123

Yay I`ve found my pics in that search,Thanks MadCowMan! But how do I get them back into my documents?

browolf

hazzie123 wrote:

The icons off the desktop have gone but the programs are still in the add/remove thingy.

Thanks for all your help,I`m gunna have a play about to see if I can get them back then try the links.

I`ll update if I get them back.

Thanks for all your help

desktop icons are often in your user profile. any other ones which are still there will be in c:\documents and settings\all users\desktop