I want to recover my files… gah!

So the result of my computer being 'fixed' and running Windows XP is that all my precious irreplaceable files are inaccessible or deleted or worse. I want them back… so I ran a scan of my system, unfortunately pressed the wrong button and would be stuck redoing the process. Then I realize that the program my brother installed to get this to work was a demo version, and not a full version, so I can't even restore my files anyway, so what's the point? They're apparently pretty much lost to me now… as much as I truly want/need them. So frustrating… not to mention the fact that I'm supposed to recover the files to another drive, not the one that I'm currently using to recover these files, yet I don't have another drive to recover them to!

*grumble grumble*

I rather want my ol' files back again. My writing and my photos are pretty irreplaceable to me, and there are a few CKI files I rather want the updated copies of, which were located on my computer. Can anyone help me with this?