Accidently put my Start UP Folder in the trash!!!

Hi, I was busy clearing up some space on my trusty old Powerbook (G4 Titanium) HD today when I spotted an old system folder, I think they’re called "previous system folder" or something like that. I was just in the middle of trashing it when someone at work distracted me and instead I dragged my current "systems folder" over the trash. I didn’t notice this until the split second I released the mouse button! NNNOOOOO!
As soon as I'd done this the little coloured spinning wheel replaced my mouse arrow and I couldn’t get my Mac to do anything! Obviously when I tried to restart, after the usual grey screen I get a black one with lots written on it and ending with something about "panic"!!!
First I tried my OSX 10.38 upgrade install disc but once I select the HD to install on it says "You can not install MacOSX on this volume. An earlier version of Mac OSX is not installed".
So then I tried my original OSX 10.2 install disc that I got with the lap top, but once I select the HD to install on it says "newer versions of some software already installed, this software doesn’t allow older versions to be installed over newer versions". When I click on OPTIONS the "ARCHIVE & INSTALL" option is greyed out and not available, only the ERASE & INSTALL is.
Although I’ve backed up most work stuff etc there’s nearly 1000 irreplaceable family photos on it in IPHOTO that I would be absolutely gutted to lose! I would really be grateful if someone could tell me how to save them. If I could somehow save my other stuff it would be a big bonus also! Is there anyway I can either get the START UP FOLDER put back where it needs to be or do an ARCHIVE & INSTALL?
Any help will be MOST appreciated!
Thank you for reading.
Gary.

Boot the computer from an external drive. You can then move the folder from the Trash back to where it belongs. Not really sure how you did this since the OS will not let you delete the System folder without authorization unless you are logged in as root.
If you don't have a backup on an external drive (and why not?) but can access another Mac, then you can connect the two via Firewire cable, boot your computer into Target Disk Mode. Then boot the other computer normally. After startup your hard drive will appear on the Desktop of the other computer. You can then move the System folder out of the Trash back to where it belongs.
Remember backups are your friend.
Basic Backup
Get an external Firewire drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
1. Retrospect Desktop (Commercial - not yet universal binary)
2. Synchronize! Pro X (Commercial)
3. Synk (Backup, Standard, or Pro)
4. Deja Vu (Shareware)
5. Carbon Copy Cloner (Donationware)
6. SuperDuper! (Commercial)
7. Intego Personal Backup (Commercial)
8. Data Backup (Commercial)
The following utilities can also be used for backup, but cannot create bootable clones:
1. Backup (requires a .Mac account with Apple both to get the software and to use it.)
2. Toast
3. Impression
4. arRSync
Apple's Backup is a full backup tool capable of also backing up across multiple media such as CD/DVD. However, it cannot create bootable backups. It is primarily an "archiving" utility as are the other two.
Impression and Toast are disk image based backups, only. Particularly useful if you need to backup to CD/DVD across multiple media.
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQs on maintenance, optimization, virus protection, and backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.
Although you can buy a complete FireWire drive system, you can also put one together if you are so inclined. It's relatively easy and only requires a Phillips head screwdriver (typically.) You can purchase hard drives separately. This gives you an opportunity to shop for the best prices on a hard drive of your choice. Reliable brands include Seagate, Hitachi, Western Digital, Toshiba, and Fujitsu. You can find reviews and benchmarks on many drives at Storage Review.
Enclosures for FireWire and USB are readily available. You can find only FireWire enclosures, only USB enclosures, and enclosures that feature multiple ports. I would stress getting enclosures that use the Oxford chipsets (911, 921, 922, for example.) You can find enclosures at places such as;
Cool Drives
OWC
WiebeTech
Firewire Direct
California Drives
NewEgg
All you need do is remove a case cover, mount the hard drive in the enclosure and connect the cables, then re-attach the case cover. Usually the only tool required is a small or medium Phillips screwdriver.

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