Home directory file loss unresolved

I have made that apparently commonplace and disastrous error of trying to rename my home directory on the finder bar, and when I rebooted found that I had lost all documents and user settings. However, all the advice and suggestions on the topic I have found have not worked. I cannot locate any of the original documents or settings under any folders in my users folder, so when I rename these to the original name and login again, I am still not getting anything back. It feels as though all the docs have really gone. It has been automatically creating new folders, so now there are several. Only one has all the different folder categories (music, movies etc., the rest just have a "desktop" folder and a "library" folder. But even on the one with all the folder categories, those subfolders are empty (no sign of their original contents).
I may have complicated the situation after it first occurred (before I read anything) by creating a new user account with a different name, which I then deleted. I am now back to my original username, short name, home directory etc etc., but just no documents or settings. Do I need to do some kind of drastic recovery?
I am in panic-land. Maybe someone can set me straight.
thanks,
Barnaby

Hi Barnaby, and a warm welcome to the forums!
No idea what you rea or tried, but renaming them again & deleting ones is not good news at all.
Return to default desktop, apparent "loss" of home directory...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107854
ChangeShortName...
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/23494
Don't use the HD or boot from it until you get another bootable drive to install to and boot from for your best chances of recovery. Or another Mac with this one in Target Mode. Sometimes even if it doesn't mount, the following can possibly help.
For the fullest recovery, quit using the Mac at all, get an external FW drive to intall the OS to, then Boot from that drive & get Data Rescue II...
http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php
(Has a Free Demo to see if it could or not, but you'll need another drive to recover to).
Or FileSalvage...
http://www.subrosasoft.com/OSXSoftware/index.php?%20mainpage=product_info&productsid=1
to recover what you can.

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Message was edited by: Link Dupont
Message was edited by: Link Dupont

Link Dupont wrote:
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