Desktop files are gone

My brother is working on a powerbook g4 and the problem is all of the desktop files are gone. They are not in the trash. They have just disappeared. It reminds me of when a profile gets corrupt in Windows. Does anyone have any tips on recovering the files? He has tried techtools pro be it locks up on recovering the Documents folder.
Thanks in Advance
Thom

Check this out:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107854

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All in the map documents; aliases on the desktop
The desktop was rebuild too, not the same anymore and all aliases gone.

I suspect you didn't back up your data before the update - that would have been your first insurance. At the least, you could have saved your most important documents. I realize you probably don't want to hear that, but it's a good way to avoid problems.
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1. What did you update? Was it a software update, a firmware update, or something else?
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Hey sunnyday7!
Here is an article that can help you address this issue:
OS X: How to quit an unresponsive application using Force Quit
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3411
Additional Information
OS X automatically relaunches the Finder when it is quit. If the Finder is unresponsive, use Force Quit to relaunch it. Select Finder in the Force Quit Window or Dock, then click Relaunch.
Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities. Have a good one!
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