lost my files

[polly5]

hi, wonder if anyone can help? i recently had a nasty virus on my pc and the only way i could get rid of it was to restore my pc to original state. i was told (by my pc) that all settings and documents would be saved in some file called 'old disk structure'. ok, i found that but although other family members files are ok, mine will not let me open it and says that the file is empty? when i look at the properties of my C drive there seems to be the same amount of memory used as before, so is all my videos, pics and stuff still around somewhere? or is it gone forever...

thanks

[Glencraig]

You could start by running a search for any of the file names you can remember, see if they're still there. Failing that, search for 'A Word Or Phrase In The file' if you can remember the content of any word of other text files.
It's possible that the virus has deleted or scrambled your doc's but there may still be hope.
When files are deleted all that is actually erased is the label by which Windows finds the file, leaving the disc space free to be overwritten. A good computer specialist will have recovery software which can find any such files which have not yet been overwritten. No idea what it would cost, but you won't know unless you ask.
Finally, get some anti-virus software and back-up you valuable files.
Good luck

[polly5]

thanks for your help, i have searched for the files but havent had any luck. but did come across the virus again in the old disk structure! i have now saved all family stuff and wiped everything, got an empty hard drive now and got a decent anti-virus.
you win some, you lose some :-(