OOPS-Had to Re-install now how do i RESTORE what i LOST ???

Question

I did 'save & archive'
i think its a matter of exchanging USER files or LIBRARY
but i don't want to make things worse.
i was at 10.2.8 but had to install from !0.2
im hopinf for a way that everything will spring back to 'the way we were'
is that possible ?
when i tried to DRAG previuos sys file w/ USER to new USER it won't except it.
any ideas ????????
thnks
-dave

Answer 1

so much for 'elegance' brody........sometimes i feel like taking this piece if hitek crap and throwing thru Steve Jobs office. I see so much room for im provement.
This is the second time in 2 days where my main HD doesn't get recognized after i reboot to OS9.22.....the icon isn't there and i get a prompt to 'initialize' which i assume means erace disc !!!!!
This all started while in 10.2.8.
I have internal HD 120g and under 5g free. My ext HD 200g has now 25g free, in fact thats wht i was doing, some spring cleaning, i have duplicate files all over......thats one things they could have some app to help keep trak but not lose. So what happened was i filled my TRASH up to only 7-8 g's i figure and BOOM....it wouldn't EMPTY !!!!!
So i assume its putting too much load on the main HD which i down under 2g so i tried to transfer some of the big ones back to HD 200......BUT al that does is create MORE data.
The HD was down to 225MB.....and i COULD NOT empty trash.....whay do i do ?
So i think if i open up in other OS it might deal w/it better.......BUT NO.....i get that BS about my main drive is not recognized.......BUT when i do a FW transfer thinking i might be able to outsmart this devil......i see the ICON for my main HD appear.......so it is there.
Bottom line, when i tried startup disc to get back to main HD via OS 10.2.8.......i get a frozen screen. If i boot and hold 'option' i get a blue screen and a choice to open HD 1 OR HD 2.......and HD 1 starts up but freezes.
So im gonna be forced to re-install again...**** it.
why can't our fancy MACS simply tell us.....what needs to be done, what an error code is, or warn us if we are causing the problem which im sure im doing.
I downloaded that 'superduper' file.......so any ideas on how i should handle this so it reverts back 100% ??? and what is going on w/that drive......i ran some outdated tool from my old applecare and got FAIL reports.
is there a utility that came w/my d-1.2.5 MMD G4 that wil fix this......or what i should try ? It will obviously keep happening if i don't fix.
sorry for the long email, had to vent a little, but thanks, your help will be vital.
-dave