Original title: Windows Live Calendar vanished

I just upgraded from Windows 7 (BEST THING EVER DEVELOPED) to, sadly, Windows 8.1.  Under 7 I had been using Windows Live Mail and the terrific calendar on my PC.  After upgrading to 8.1, all mail and all calendar content (doctor appointments, everything!) vanished.  There is no Windows Live apparently.  After googling for ages, I suspect the unreadable content is in 'windows.old' files.  Is there a way I can restore/retrieve this data?  Can I install WINDOWS LIVE (or is it WINDOWS ESSENTIALS) onto my now Windows 8.1 machine?  Thanks for any information/education.

Chrissy