Send to a Friend

How do I recover a hard drive?
So I reinstalled Windows XP on a laptop and need to get off all the photos and emails that I lost. I know I am an idiot! What is the best way of doing this? I have found some programs:
http://www.pandorarecovery.com/
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/restoration.html
http://www.undelete-plus.com/
http://www.recuva.com/
http://lifehacker.com/software/data-recovery/download-of-the-day-unstoppable-copier-windowslinux-253437.php
So I was wondering if anyone has used any of these or any others or has any tips. I know that it is best to use a usb drive to avoid disk writes, is there anything else?
Using Fluther
or