Thanks for your replies.
i was pretty sure that was the case... was kind of just wishing i had overlooked something! :sigh:
I'm scanning the wiped drive with "recover my files" as we speak and looks like i may just have to resore all the pics, docs etc i can, and... appologise? :1angel:
oh, and i've already put xp on the smaller drive. Using another pc to do the scanning and resoring while i work on hers... things are never as simple as they first seem!!!

her pc doesnt have a wireless card or network card either so cant put it on the net to activate and install drivers etc!
hahaha! what a joke! . . . will have to "borrow" a network card from work
Cheers guys! :smile: