What to restore?

[abakadabra]

I have had to do a destructive reinstall of the Vista Business operating system because my other one was corrupt. Prior to doing so I did a complete Retrospect backup of the C: drive. I do not want to overwrite the new operating system but I do want most of my documents and settings and programs restored. I have done the latter by reinstalling the programs, but now I do not know how much of what was backed up I can put back on without corrupting the operating system. I assume I cannot do a complete restoration but must select and use the files and folders option. But which files and folders? I also note that the new operating system does not have a folder called Documents and Settings whereas I believe it was there on the old one but does not show up in the backup. Talk about confused...I note in the backup a plethora .txt files but with no folder. Are these my documents? Should I simply check their boxes and restore them? Is there a tutorial I can go to to get help with this or will some soul out there be kind enough to help guide me through my novice ignorance?