DavidR
4
It doesn’t matter who is at fault your problem exists.
Since this happens before boot it can’t send files to the recycle bin, etc. so deletion proper will take place.
I would say the only thing that may save you is a “deleted file recovery tool” a google search for that returns many hits, http://www.google.com/search?q=“deleted+file+recovery+tool”, I have heard of people using Undelete previously. Unfortunately not all deleted files are recoverable, the file technically still exists, just the entry in the file table is deleted.
Your other problem is you will need to find a tool that will work from DOS, etc. as you can’t get into your system.
If you have your Windows CD you could try a repair install (boot with the CD in the drive, you may need to change the drive boot order in the BIOS), this may replace any deleted files, but you would then need to visit windows update to ensure your system is up to date.