i think i did the last mesage somewhat in the wrong way well "sweetride" thanks for the reply one which i did expect but rather hopeing for a better outcome you see after going into the drive which held the files i used HP photosmart and it brought up over 2000 photo files some were shown some were half shown and some were blank all had a cluster and No attached i was hopeing of all hopes that there might be a way to bring these files back When i re-installed win xp it went onto another drive letter now when i start the comp it gives me a choice Microsoft win xp - microsoft recovery console - microsoft win default when i click win xp the comp starts when i click win default i get the same as what i got before i re-installed nothing happening except a re-boot the recovery didn't help either somwhere along the line NTLDR was missing whent through the process of trying to reinstall NTLDR boot.ini etc no joy somehow i didn't persivere enough hence the re-install.Having gone through all that with the files in question showing some signs is there a way to recover i know it could be hope of all hopes but i would give anything a try Thanks