Hello, i had to reboot my computer and i lost some my programs and documents. Is there a way to recover them without using a software if they didn't get deleted? Thanks, elly

What exactly do you mean by REBOOT? Usually this just means turning off then on or restarting your computer.

Do you mean you reinstalled XP? If so how did you do it?

Originally Posted by jephree

What exactly do you mean by REBOOT? Usually this just means turning off then on or restarting your computer.

Do you mean you reinstalled XP? If so how did you do it?

Hello, i used compaq restore plus and compaq operating systems CD. reinstalled. Elly

Most likely that returned your drive to factory condition.

All programs that you had added will have to be reinstalled.

If you had valuable data it should have been backed up but that being said it is still possible to get it depending on how valuable it is.

In other words it is not too easy but can be done. If you wish to try this you will need access to another computer and be up to physically transferring hard drives.

If you are interested in this I can dig up some directions but the first direction is STOP using that computer. Everything you do on the computer further buries the old data but all data ever placed on a hard drive is recoverable at some level and some difficulty.

There is a good tutorial here for do it yourself.

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1139

You can also take the computer to a local shop although that will cost quite a bit I'm afraid.