Never done this, not once, ever.
My son does it more times than he cleans his room, don't really know why but then he downloads and installs everything.
The PC I'm typing this on has run for 3 years without issue and without re-installing, spring cleaning and only the rare defrag.
Just so I could say I'd done it I run AdAware, even it only found a few tracking cookies including ones from this site, yawn.
Bob.

Just manipulated 200 plus photos for a time sensitive project.
Saved them to a file, as per usual.
Went back to Vegas to add more along with some video and can't retrieve photos after all that work.
Sorry if I seem to be whining.
What I meant to convey was the vigorous gritting of teeth.
I will never do a re-install again.
I will buy a new system first!
I can't tell you how aggrivating this has been.

Feel free to whine (or wine and dine!), I just captured 16 hours of footage only to realise Vegas has resampled all the audio to 32K, sure I can sort of work around this but this is a high profile job, first real chance to edit something for network distribution and I can't reliably get past the first post.
There I feel better already.
So why can't you retrieve your photos, I know Windoz can do some odd things but I've never had a file just vanish.
Bob.

I have 2 USB drives and use Second Copy to back up all important files to both drives every night. I keep everything under My Documents.

When I first get a new computer, as I did a few months ago, I use Acronis to make a disk image of C after loading all programs I ever use and installing Windows updates, and registering all programs (like the Sony ones that need web registration).

When things go wrong I make a final backup of all files (if I can), use Acronis to reload the disk image, then install any new programs since the last disk image, any new Windows updates, etc. Then I make a new disk image of the current setup, reload My Documents and I'm good to go until the next SNAFU.

This way I keep a pretty snappy system running for usually 3 or 4 months or longer until I download some program that's got some incompatiblity that screws up the system.

The whole process of reloading the disc image and creating the new one usually takes just a couple hours total and spares me a lot of agony.

P.S. There are certain files that don't get saved to My Documents, like email and files created under my Web server. I have Second Copy make backups of those every night also.

Hey Bob,
Thanks for being there.
I'm on the window ledge today.
Just a second I'll step back inside,----but only for a moment!
Wife is urging me to jump.
Over insured!
Anyway,----seriously.
I have two instances of Vegas running.
Stills on both timelines.
But I can't open the dam (darn) things.
What little hair I have left is fast disappearing.
When I try to open files,---the project appears on the timeline,---sans pictures.
Nothing there just that checkered thing that appears.
Other times when I try to open these files Vegas tells me it doesn't know where they are,----that window that says stuff is missing
and it gives you the option of searching of going on without the missing stuff.
Just a sec,---gotta grab another valium.
Viva Vegas!
Yeah,---big fan here.

So OK, don't jump!
If the drive on which the files are now on has a different drive letter then Vegas really doesn't know where they are. In the window that says stuff is missing use the option to find them. I think once you tell it where the first one is it'll give you the option to use that location to find the rest of them.
Bob.

That's my guess - It sounds to me like the directory structure has changed in some way and the files are somewhere very similar to the old location - but something somewhere in the directory structure somehow changed to provide you with this problem. If nothing else - I would suggest just telling it to look for them on the HD that you backed them up to. (assuming that you did back them up).

I would also use this moment to suggest (kindly) that you should never, ever,ever,ever,ever.... (you get the idea) do this kind of thing mid project if it can at all be helped.

Dave

Thingis this project is on my "E" drive.
That's where I saved it to earlier today as a veg. file
There it is in the directory.
When I try to open it on the timeline, I get an empty file.
Tried the search thing, but to no avail.
The other projects I have in other files and folders open fine.
Tis is the first project I've saved to "E" drive since doing the Vegas re-install.
Could be a hint.
That any help?

A- Programs like Ghost and True Image will let you save everything on your hard drive, which makes reloading Windows + all your programs easier.

Copying files does not do the same thing as Ghost/True image.

Imaging your hard drive can also back everything up just in case. There's little things like bookmarks and your outlook .pst file which are kind of hidden. For bookmarks, you may want to export them before re-installing your system.
Ghost explorer lets you access files in an image file.

B- I keep an "installs" folder on my computer for all the installers for my programs. This saves a little time.

C- Re-installing your system is still a huge pain in the butt.

The .veg file is only the project, it contains NO media, well apart from Generated Media.
The question is Where Are The Stills?
Vegas and the Vegas project need to know where they are, that's why Vegas is saying they're missing. They're not missing from the project, they're missing from where the project knows to find them.
To get a clear idea of what I'm saying, try looking in Edit Details, Events. There Vegas lists all the events (read media) that's used in the project and where it will try to find it. If the media isn't where those entries point to then of course you'll get blanks in the T/L!

Backin up a Vegas project is a good idea but achieves very little if the media used in the project is AWOL.
Bob.

Forget Vegas for a sec , can you find the pics with Photoshop or whatever ?

I go to E drive, then "Projects" then "Texas" then the veg file, "Tom Photos"
I double click on "Tom Photos" veg file (to bring it to TL.)
Window appears, saying the following file could not be found in the specified location: D:\Michele\Group 1-001.jpg. "D" being the CD Drive.
Window is defaulted to "Search for missing file which I click and window says 0 file(s) found.
Nothing shows in Edit Details.
Maybe this helps?

is the cd in the drive?

if so - the disk might be bad

if not - put it in the drive whenever you need to get the files.

It's looking for the original pictures - if they're not there, then the .veg won't be able to find them - the .veg doesn't contain the photos (that would make huge .veg files), it only contains data that points to the files.

Hope that helps.

Dave