I've just emptied my recycle bin only to find out that i've not backed up my files. Can i still recover them?

Try Recuva. Its made by the creators of Ccleaner , is free and fully functional. Many of the other free softwares will show you your files but will only recover them for a fee.

One software I have used on many HDD to recover data is

Getmydataback it is the easiest to use and works like no other. (have tried many others) download it free here and see if it can get your files then you dont have to pay unless you can see your data.

http://www.runtime.org/gdb.htm

Dont let the simple name fool you this is one awsome software.

jock

yes boss u can recover those things mostly. there are sftwares like tuneup which provide u this facility. u can get this stuff easily on net. u can try system recovery option.

start>all programs>accessories>system tools>System restore

u can restore the pc to any time u like before