Its not if its when

My wife does a very good job of backing up her files, pictures, and etc. Recently I had to reload the operating system because of a nasty virus that I could not remove. I completed the installation and put the back up files back on, now a week later she tells me she can't find the recent photos. I look on the external hard drive where the back ups are stored, not there. She did not back up the recent files folder, they are gone forever. I admit I don't know the files system in the OS of Vista or Windows 7 as I have XP on all of my computers. This is another goofy thing Microsoft has changed in Vista and seven. Please place your files for back up where you can find them, a good place is on or a sub directory of "My Documents". If you use a onboard mail program such as "Thunderbird" or "Outlook Express" export your address book and keep it in My Documents so it can be found easily and backed up. Move files stored in C:/Program Files that are created by programs such as Quicken. a good place to keep these files would be C:/my documents/quicken backup. You must keep your back up files off your computer. Put them on a thumb drive or external hard drive. Yes, you will have to buy one of these devices. Be safe or sorry, its up to you. Here is a little tutorial on understanding your file system on your computer.
http://cit.information.unl.edu/tips/filemgt.htm