PowerDVD removed my pictures?!?!

This is a problem that I wish never happened as my last backup was a couple of months ago :( . Heres the stats:

- Windows XP Pro SP2 with all the usual updates blah blah blah
- AMD 64 3200 Winny
- 1GB 3200 OCZ
- 120GB Barracuda
- Asus A8V Deluxe with 1014 BIOS.
- 5200 256 overclocked.

Basically I had PowerDVD 4.7 or somthing in the 4.** series. I uninstalled it to install the new 6.0 version - thinking as its all bright and sparkly, might as well get the old stuff off. Uninstall was sucessfull as any other software package...not a single error across the board. I installed the 6.0 version and launched it - all fine.

I scanned for spyware/adware on a daily basis, and used WinASO to remove any registry errors. AVG reported all clear as did the spyware/winaso packages.

I didn't use my pictures unitll about a day later - I went to find a picture of myself to give to someone on MSN. I launched my pictures - to find that every single directory had disapeared. All the pictures out of folders where still present, but the albumns of fmaily photos, events, new year, xmas - th whole lot were gone. I frantically searched recycle bin, temp, used search for various directory names - nothing.

I thought this had to be a freek error until I removed PowerDVD on one of my clients computers. Having taken a backup about an hour before hand, there wasn't anything to worry about. So I went about uninstalling PowerDVD form his machine as it was causing the PC to crash upon launch. I gave it back to him with a different DVD package on there, and had him phone up about 30mins later to say all his pictures had disapeared.

This is not some freak accident anymore - I think there is obviously some kind of regestry fix form PowerDVD in the My pictures directory on folders of that nature. Can anyone help out at all? I dare not use my main rig due to wiping over the area the pictures were stored. I have yet to try a DOS prompt to find them, and slaving the hardrive to another XP machine shows the pictures as non-existant.

Someone help me!!