So Elaine Lucy why didn't he just take your old hdd and daisy chain it up inside your new pc, and then take the files from that to your new hdd? Unless a virus gets inside your pc, it's very rare that files can just 'disappear', they are either destroyed by a virus, or you have perhaps logged on as someone else and therefore the original files are hidden from you as it thinks you are not the proper user. I have a spare hdd inside my curent pc and port stuff across to that to keep it safe. I only use it for data.

Looby