I had a power outage in my neighborhood yesterday which resulted in my computer crashing and failing to restart. The only way I could get to the windows interface was the hit the HP "recovery" button which returned me to the settings when I first bought the computer. Now I have lost ALL my files, pictures, work, etc. etc....does anyone know how I can get my files back? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

ps.I noticed more and more members here are getting into photography. Always make backups. If I can't recover the files, then I have lost thousands of pictures taken over the years.

You should get a UPS! it has saved my life many times!

PS. about the recovery i don't know anything. Sorry

^whats a UPS?

I wonder what the recovery button actually did... seems quite unusual that it was not able to keep your files. There are programs out there that can possibly recover some of your files, just google for "file recovery". If you're going to try one, do not install any other new programs or copy any unnecessary data onto your hard drive as doing so can overwrite the sectors your old files are (possibly) in.

^I found a few programs on the net, some freeware, some not. Does anyone know which one is best?

you don't know what a UPS is? Don't tell me that you don't get those in the US!? Well, it's a piece of hardware. You take the power cables from the case, you connect them with that and then, the ups with that thing on the wall. What the UPS do is always have the right volts (i don't know the exact word) and also has a small battery (15 minutes duration-rechargable) that in case of a power cut, you can finish your work and turn off your pc safely

yea, thats what i'm going to go buy today. i just didn't know what it was called.

You could try Spinrite: - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

You mean one of these?

That looks like a surge protector.
This is what a UPS typically looks like: