Ok here's what I did:

I have this laptop that was buggered to hell with adware/spyware/anything else. So, first of all, so it would be easier to work with (i.e. not have tons of stuff loading on windows start) I went through Add/Remove Programs and uninstalled tons of stuff, including Limewire, which as everyone knows, is another resource hog during start up.

So then I copied the whole 30gig hdd to a bigger empty hdd on my network, so as to have a backup of everything.

Then I reformatted and reinstalled windows (it was XP Home, I installed Pro after the reformat). Then, after installing all the necessary drivers I went about digging around in the now harmless info on the disembodied laptop hdd.

Lo and behold, the decent mass of music once harbored by Limewire is nowhere to be found!

I have searched the entire hdd for every type of music file, and come up with nothing but system or application related files. None of the full mp3s, etc. that were previously on the laptop could be found.

So tell me this... does Limewire delete everything within it's own directory upon uninstallation? Should not these files exist, untouched, in their original location? I am truly at a loss here.

I've read a bit about how some people have instances where their files are moved by WMP, and about how Limewire has problems when uninstalled via Add/Remove Programs, as well as some other problems related to this. I don't know where my problem fits in though.

It seems as though the only other explanation is that the files never made it onto the network hdd before the reformat. And that doesn't seem likely either.

So... any input would be appreciated.