Answer

collectorfred,

Thank you for asking your question here.

I believe that you may have intended to run Restore, but ran Recovery instead.

Recovery erases all of your files and basically reinstalls your software.

Restore returns your computer's software settings to a previous point in time without disrupting your files.

It is a good policy to back up all data on a regular basis which Vista can do automatically, but as you describe your problem and the subsequent problem, your data is gone and your machine is returned to its original state.

Office 2003 must have been the original installation and your 2007 Student Office was an upgrade or new installation. The only way to get that back is to reinstall it from disk or download. If you downloaded, you should have received and printed out a registration. You may be able to use that to get a replacement download.

When the information says no files will be affected in a Restore process, it means data files, not programs. The programs are reinstalled or rolled back to a previous state, but the system doesn't search and destroy the documents you've made in them.

The documents you lost were lost because the entire system was rebuilt during the System Recovery process before you did the program recovery.

I'm really sorry I don't have better news for you.

Kate

Expert:	Kate
Pos. Feedback:	100.0 %
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Answered:	12/25/2008

Computer Support Technician

Can build computers from bare bones, setup small netwks, & POS systems. Graphics & software savvy.