Help! Can I recover Disk Utility erased files?

Hi guys,
Yesterday I was trying to install Leopard because I had software problem that made my ibook get stuck on the loading screen.
Anyway, I was on my last step before it started to install when I got a message saying that I didn't have enough disk space to install the CD. I had just 2.7 GB available and the system required 11 GB. After trying to figure out what to do, I saw the Installer Menu Bar, clicked Open *Disk Utility*, clicked on Erase window, then clicked on one of the drives I saw on the left window. I didn't choose the 27.9 GB TOSHIBA disk, but the one under.
Then from the Volume Format drop-down menu, I selected Mac OS Extended, and selected security option: "Don't Erase Data". Finally, on the right pane of the Disk Utility window, I clicked the Erase tab., and suddenly I had 27 GB available
I thought that this “Erase” option just deleted previous deleted files, but not my whole hard disk.
Then I went back to the install window, and clicked “Install"...knowing that I maybe lost all my data.
I have tried to find my pictures and documents, but they are no where to find.
Have I lost all my data? Is it possible to get it recovered?
Please help me!
Thanks in advance!

sorry, but you are too far into this in order to be able to recover much. Data Rescue II or File Salvage are 2 decent utilities but you then installed software on top of your drive. This is assuring that a huge chunk of that drive is gone forever.
what disk utility meant was that it wouldn't securly delete the data - that is write stuff on top of it. you did just a basic delete / format which deletes the info containing pointers to the files, not the actual files themselves.
but installing OS X after that is going to permanatley delete 11GBs or so of data.
you will need an external drive to even begin this process & there's no garuntee it will work. you can try data rescue for free to see if it finds anything, as file salvage does too.
at this point, it's a shot in the dark.
ALWAYS keep backups & NEVER erase a drive with such important info.
http://subrosasoft.com/OSXSoftware/index.php?mainpage=product_info&productsid=1
http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php
Message was edited by: kmac1036

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BDAqua: I tried responding to your reply to my original posting but I get an error message that I was not authorized to reply. I logged out. I can't find the original posting in my Activity so I approached from the link in my e-mail saying you had replied. Now it says the area is restricted. What's up with that?
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Here's what I tried to say in my response that I wasn't authorize to make:
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