I saw on T.V. that nothing really ever gets erased on the computer. That they are still somewhere on the hard-drive.   I had to restore my computer, and lost all my pictures and videos.  how do I FIND them?Welcome aboard

After reinstalling Windows, you'd need professional application, or professional services to do this.
Both = BIG BUCKS!I make no promises this will work, but there are many freeware programs that can attempt to recover deleted FILES. For example:

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/collection/collid,1295-order,1-c,downloads/files.html

These programs usually work, provided the old data hasn't been overwritten with new data.Another for the list:
http://www.recuva.comIf that drive got formatted during the reinstall his chances are dramatically less, but poor at best. IF it can be done it will be VERY EXPENSIVE - hundreds of dollars!

How long AGO did this happen?Well I tried recovering my files with many programs did not work... Then I FOUND Easy Recovery PRO it was around $500 but it worked... It recovered all my files that I needed back...It all depends what it's worth. Obviously very important. Thanks for posting back and I'm glad you got your files.