so baiscally I reinstalled windows due to some problems i was having, Everything was normal, it was like I had a brand new computer again, everything is "fresh and new", except for the fact that my hard-drive, it still has the same amount of space left on, as it did before I even restored(which could be a good thing, because I still have my files...i guess???) however, since it is like "new" again, all my old files, my old documents are reset... so how do I go about accessing my old files and such, they have to be there somewhere, because if they wern't, I would have a full hard-drive correct? thanx

Yeh, everything is like new. Just as it came from the factory if you used the recovery disks that come with the machine and not a generic XP disk. You will have to reinstall all your programs now.

"so how do I go about accessing my old files and such, they have to be there somewhere, because if they wern't, I would have a full hard-drive correct?" Not correct. "however, since it is like "new" again, all my old files, my old documents are reset." That doesn't really make sense. Can you be more specific by what you mean by "reset?" How did you reinstall Windows? Did you use a Reinstallation CD? Did you reformat and reinstall? A little more information would be good. Life's more painless for the brainless.

If you used a recovery disc sometimes *sometimes* your old files are kept in a duplicate folder made in the Documents and Settings folder. However most do not. As Jennifer SUMN said more info please?

Also he may not did the full restore. He may have chose the basic. If you want to delete everything do a Advanced restore.

Would like to ask a related question. I had to do a reinstall. My old Dell was XP Home but an IT guy at former employer put Pro on it. The dell died so I gambled using my original XP Home disk I did a complete restore (I know nothing but am adventurous). Everything is great now except I have no network connection. Went to OP and clicked Network Connection and it is empty. What do I do now???? Ignorant in Indy