"True Hard drive recovery is expensive and only works if the data on the hard drive has not been over written. This type of procedure is typically used as a last resort for hard drives that have crashed containing original data that can not be replaced or would be expensive to replace, ie original software."
The expensive stuff (like $3000) is for when your HD is physicall damaged. They have some cheaper methods of recovery if you need to recover things you "deleted".
Did that "loading stuff" take a while? If it didn't take too long what most likely happened is that your OS got "repaired" (meaning some system files were reinstalled) and it faked you out and said it "deleted" stuff. Meaning the stuff is still there, but it's not being accessed and waiting to be overridden (If that is the case you can recover the data using software like
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/col...ds/files.html).
Hm, well I've had some goofy experiences with system restore (never good), I suggest never using it again...ever.
If you need Office I can hook you up. I have this cool version that gives you unlimited installs ;-).