I cannot save anything from 2008 to 2015

[Schmoops]

I had Autocad 2008 on an old lap top that was dying.  I downloaded a trial of 2015 on my new desk top and from exterior hard drive, continued my drawing.  Everything I have done on 2015 is not there!  I see all the new work in the little icon screen when autoCAD opens up but when I actually open the file none of it is there.  Help!

[rkmcswain]

The preview window icon is just a snapshot of the drawing when it was last saved. It's not a good indicator of what you might see when you open the drawing due to possible missing references,etc.

Can you share one of the bad drawings here, or via Autodesk 360 so someone can take a look?

[pendean]

Did you remember to save?
Was there an error message you decided to ignore?
Did you remember to save down to R2008 format before opening the file in 2008?
Did you unload the XREFs and forget?
Do you just need to ZOOM EXTENTS to see "everything'?
If you start SELECT command, then type ALL followed by <enter> does AutoCAD say it picked up anything?
Do you need to get out of paperspace and get back into modelspace?
Do you actually have the file you worked on open?

Your post lacks details and it shows you've done nothing so far to try and investigate. We can only rely on your ability to observe and test and report. Do so please.