computer help please

[janie1234]

Hello everyone. I desprately need some computer advice. My computer crashed yesterday and I lost my Windows program. All I got was a black screen that said something along the line of I need to find my CD with Windows and reinstall the program. Well I had my Vista CD from my laptop I just purchased and used that not realizing that the Windows version on my desk top was actually the 2003 version. So when I reinstalled everything all my stuff was saved to a file called windowsold. I know Vista is only compatable with the newer version of Microsoft office 2007. If I buy the software and download it will I get all my stuff back? I've lost my outlook contacts, addresses, . . . everything! I almost started crying when I thought I lost all my kids pictures. Sorry this is sorta long but I'm hoping someone can help me out here.

 

[fit fanatic]

Did you ever make any back up disks? Or maybe have an external drive you might have backed your old information up to?

 

[smcat]

Have you tried rebooting in safe mode? When it starts up you'll see an option to start the computer in safe mode, might be F8 or something like that. It should say on the screen. I'm not familiar with Vista, but in help they should be able to tell you how to restore your computer to an earlier date so you can get everything back.

 

[syzygy314]

Janie:

I'm afraid that if you didn't make any backup discs and you reinstalled Windows, your stuff is gone. You should ALWAYS make backup discs of your most important files. Especially if you own a PC! Windows tends to die on a regular basis.

Sorry for the bad news, but it's gone.