I had to reinstall windows after a crash and saved the savegame files to an external drive. Now I can't seem to get them back on the computer. There are no savegame files in C:/programfiles/virtualvillagers for me to replace. I tried putting my saved games in that folder anyway to see what would happen but the game just starts up like it's never been played before. Is there any other place I can look for them ?

The game's folder name/location depends upon where you purchased VV1. If you bought it directly from LDW (www.ldw.com or www.virtualvillagers.com), you can refer to this answer in our Support FAQ for the names and locations of the savegame files (which will allow you to search your computer for the presence of any VV1 savegame files). If the files have become damaged or corrupted during the backup or restore process, the game will not be able to load them and will behave as if no savegame files are present.

I bought the game from Bigfish. A search on the computer for VV1 save game files using Isola*.ldw brings up the save game files for The Lost Children, nothing for VV1. They have to be on there somewhere though because if I open up the game, I go right into the new game I just started. I just can't figure out where it is stored to get my old game on there too.

VV1 stores its savegame files in the game's application directory (in Program files on a Windows computer). With most Windows computers, you have to take specific action to display files that are in system folders.

I just unhid all files in all folders and did another search for Isola*.ldw. Still nothing but Lost Children save game files come up. I just don't get it. They have to be there somewhere. Why can't I find them ?

Have you tried searching for virtualvillagers.exe? The savegame files should be in the same folder where the application file is located.