I have a WD raptor, fast, and good till it started to fail a month after i got it. it failed, i got it to work, with files intact, intended to use warranty, but kept using PC. (stupid). I DID NOT back-up files, or take ANY precautions, assuming the fix would hold for a couple weeks. one day, it ceased booting. SO i put in windows recovery disk, it says i need a floppy. ( i have neither a floppy or floppy HD).
SO i simply say, "install windows". assuming it would replace corrupted files, and so forth.
END RESULT:
pc boots fast, almost like new
everything working
I HAVE NO FILES FROM BEFORE RE_INSTALLATION BESIDES WINDOWS FILES
all i have is the OS, and the things that come with it, (explorter, card games, and so forth) all my stuff,*( games, docs, music) is GONE hard drive says only like 3% of th edrive is full, before it was around 50% full.

is there ANY WAY to recover these files??? ill take any suggestions, answer any hardware specs you want. by the way, its a custom PC, if that matters

Hey Bear,

It happens to the best of us, putting off problems that will only get worse if left unfixed. But in this case, not only was there a problem with the disk but a good portion of that disk has already been overwritten by the new operating system, new files and programmes that have been installed since, making recovery for your old files less likely.

For your games and software, you will need to re-install them from your original setup CD's, as the files and registry settings can only be configured by the installer of those programmes.

For your documents and music, you can use a recovery tool (not provided as part of Windows). The best and most reliable software I've used is called R-Studio, but comes with a price tag: Buy R-Studio Data Recovery Software 4.2

games less important. music, is. i will try this.

No prob's. Marked as Answered.

i managed to recover most of my files, music and docs, and games. BUT now when i run my games, it says either missing some random DLL, or "application configuration incorrect". i know how to get the dll's, and im guessing that if i install my drivers again that the games will work. or am I wrong??

Please verify driver fix

Hey Bear, as I mentioned earlier, you'll need to original your original installation CD's for these, as important dll's and registry settings are configured during the installation. You won't be able to run your games from a copy.