I have one of those 'could have been a millionaire but lost the hard drive stories'. Basically was pretty into mining during 2013 I think, but after upgrading the PC I wiped the old hard drive with 20 BTC+ of coins (at the time it was worth around 10 dollars each). I remember being so pissed at losing 200 bucks at the I ended up getting a cheaper ram kit (lower speeds I think), and then came back after a couple years and got even more pissed...
I love your story not because I pity you but because this is a common poignant story with many other people. At the time when Bitcoin was not yet into thousands, people were not very, very careful with the hoard of coins they got. In your case, you could have focused more attention to make sure that your digital asset was safe before doing the upgrade of the PC. it would have been a different story if Bitcoin was already into say $3000 because you would do everything not to lost them. Anyway, all are like the waters under the bridge now. All we can do is sigh and maybe learn some big lessons here. At today's running rate of $9000, that 20 BTC can be costing you $180,000 and that can already be a lot of money especially if you are based in a developing country like where I am now. Maybe you can make a good post on this story of yours.
I also remember the very day I learned about Bitcoin. At that time, i was interested to get hold of one because I was about to be a part of a revshare program (which eventually became a scam, anyway). Just getting Bitcoin was enough for me, it was just alter that I realized that Bitcoin is representing more than a currency it is a big power right in our very hands. I eventually lost my Bitcoin but because there are some ways to get one without buying it, I then slowly recovered what I lost.