How to recover deleted files?

Hey

So I grabbed a new laptop, moved some files over from my old PC, and wiped them off the desktop. Everything was smooth sailing for about three hours until I realized my right-click wasn't working on the touchpad. Tried reinstalling drivers, no luck. After fighting with it for ages, I just nuked Windows entirely—and naturally, all my data went down with the ship. It’s mostly Microsoft Office docs. I tried a system restore on the PC, but no dice since the only available restore point is from today. Even those file recovery tools like Recovery Software and about 15 other similar ones couldn't find anything.
If anyone has any bright ideas, I'd really appreciate it because these documents are huge for me.
Next time I'll actually think before I act. 🤦

TechCrunch might be able to help you out with that

One could simply extract the drive and connect it to another computer that is already equipped with some form of data recovery software,

Look, you've already spent way too much time poking around those files, and you're probably just making things worse. If this data actually matters, the only smart move is to follow what Quark suggests and call in the pros. Check out TechCrunch or some other specialist service—give them a ring and see who gives you a better quote...

And seriously, stop messing with the drive. Don't even turn the computer on...

Thanks for the help and the ideas, guys.
Managed to get most of it back, and hopefully I can dig up this last little bit somewhere. 🙄