need my documents recover

My son reinstalled the "windows" CD (because the computer was requesting it)
and in the process of whatever he did I lost all of "my documents". Can
anyone tell me how I might recover them without paying hundreds of dollars.
It took me years to collect these programs and documents and it is quite
frustrating.

Any help would be very much appreciated.
Yes, I know I should have backed them up, and I did but the disk is nowhere
to be found (2 teenage boys).
Thank you
Lorri

"lthomas" <lthomas@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1A5C4802-DD13-4A78-971C-010A6F62538E@microsoft.com...
> My son reinstalled the "windows" CD (because the computer was requesting
it)
> and in the process of whatever he did I lost all of "my documents". Can
> anyone tell me how I might recover them without paying hundreds of
dollars.
> It took me years to collect these programs and documents and it is quite
> frustrating.
>
> Any help would be very much appreciated.
> Yes, I know I should have backed them up, and I did but the disk is
nowhere
> to be found (2 teenage boys).
> Thank you
> Lorri

Some clarification is needed:
- You posted your question in a hardware group. Do you have
a hardware problem that prevents you from getting at your
files?
- You write "He did I lost all 'my document'". Does Windows
still run on your PC? If not, how far does the loading process
go? If yes, is it just a question of you not beeing able to locate
your files?

By the way, if it took you years to collect your files then it is
about time you spent a small amount of money to secure your
collection. Get a 2.5" hard disk and a matching USB enclosure,
then save your important files ***every week*** and keep
that disk in a safe place!