Help! Preview uninstall deleted everything!

If this isn't in the right forum, I'm sorry. I didn't know where else to put it.

I installed the 1.9 preview, and put it in its own folder, completely separate from my normal SL folder. I decided I wasn't using it for anything, so I went to delete it, and used the uninstaller. Now, I'd added a folder to the Preview directory (I'd planned on trying this preview cheat there for some reason, and wanted a place to put the original TGA files). So when the window popped up saying if I wanted to delete more files, I clicked yes, figuring the program was just having a problem with that extra folder I'd added.

And I saw all my pictures from my (also added by me) graphics and clothing folder in my regular SL folder scroll by, getting deleted. They're not in my Recycle Bin; I can't find them anywhere. Are they gone forever, or is there a way to retrieve them?

I lost all my original versions of my current merchandise, and a number of things I was working on. Hours and hours of work is gone -- building textures in progress, a skin in progress, three outfits in progress, all my vendor pictures, all my ads, all my photoshoots, all my finished clothing that I'd planned on making different color versions of, all my finished clothing and textures, period. I'm a very slow worker as it is, and my entire store was basically in that folder, and now it's just gone. So I'd really like to get these things back.

This might help:
http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/uk/welcome.htm

It's good practice to store programs and documents separately, BTW.

Ooh! If you've got more than one drive, I'd suggest downloading and installing the prog on the other drive just to be sure.

Thank you very much, AJ.

Unfortunately, a number of my files weren't retrieved and a lot of the others were corrupt -- all my works in progress are still gone -- but I did get some of them back, and that's at least better than nothing.

Lindens? It'd be kind of nice if the uninstaller were more idiot proof. I really didn't expect it to go rooting around in my actual SL directory when I hadn't moved anything from the preview into that directory.

Sorry I didn't get to you sooner, it was probably installing and using SL that wiped most of the files.

Dunno if it'll help at all, but you know about downloading textures from SL, right?

Thank you anyway. I at least recovered some of my textures, and the border I use for my vendor pictures.

There's a way to download them? I know I could always open them up and take high resolution screen shots. Is there something beyond that?

Yup, just open them from your inventory and pick save texture from the file menu.

Okay, thanks.

(Also, woohoo. One of my PSP clothing files survived, layers intact.)

The preview version should install itself into a separate folder automatically, at least it always does on my system.

Baically speaking, should not not store their work in the program files folder. I think the idea these days is that everything you want to keep safe should go in the my documents folder+, in a subfolder of your choice.

I routinely make backup copies of EVERYTHING I work on on my computer. I used to use tape, but decent sized tape has gotten way too expensive so I keep my work mirrored to a second drive, and make periodic archive copies on DVD.

This has saved me numerous times, from disk failures, software failures, and occasionally being a dumbass myself.

Anything that only exists as data on a single hard drive (even a separate drive to your system disk) is something that you could lose tomorrow. I treat it as not existing until it's on a backup.

Everyone out there, check your backups and take this as a warning if you've got anything that's not saved in at least two physically separate pieces of hardware (disk+disk, disk+dvd, disk+friend's-computer, ...).

Mmm... RAID 1.

Or at least it will be as soon as I figure out why the hell the PC's refusing to boot from CD.

No, I don't mean "RAID 1", I mean a manual periodic mirroring, like one would use to mirror a website (for example). RAID only protects you from hardware failure, it doesn't protect you from attacks of software or dumbassness.

Hey, I know you didn't mean RAID. T'was a redundant comment though, shouldn't post when I've just got up.