OT: Help! Windows 10 Update ate my files
Last year after upgrading to Windows 10, an update caused my OS to crash resulting in my Dell Vostro laptop being unable to start Windows. After much research, I was able to use a recovery program burned onto CD, which succesfully stored my existing files up to that point into a Windows.old file folder and replaced the corrupted OS with a new uncorrupted version of Windows 10, which has worked fine since then.
Fast forward to last Friday. I had been avoiding the most recent Windows 10 update, which noted it will take a long time due to many enhancements and new features, by clicking on "remind me later" button. I was just too busy and had not backed up my files since last year's debacle. While away from my computer on Friday, Windows forced the update, which took a few hours. When my computer finally restarted for the final time, my Windows.old file folder and the hundreds of files and documents therein were no longer to be found. When I clicked on the recently opened documents in MS Word, I got a message that the file directory does not exist.
I have researched the issue and tried contacting tech support at Microsoft, but after hours of getting nowhere, I tried to undo the update by reverting back to the previous build of Windows 10, thinking that would undo whatever was done to hide or delete my files. The previous build works fine, but did not produce the missing files.
Yesterday I had an hour long session with a MS tech who speaks very broken English (after an hour on hold and getting disconnected). The tech tried to tell me that Windows.old files are temporary files only and automatically disappear after a few weeks. I kindly informed the tech that I have been accessing the hundreds of documents in that file folder since around June of last year, so he was mistaken or uninformed. When he tried to argue with me, I asked him to escalate my call to the next level. He eventually put me on hold and came back after talking with a manager and tried to search for hidden files in my computer with remote access but was unsuccessful and claimed there was nothing that could be done. He also insisted that Windows updates do not delete files but could not explain what happened to them.
I asked again for him to escalate my call to the next level because someone from MS should be able to explain what happened to my files and why. He agreed to have someone call me today, but so far I have not heard from anyone. I previously searched the MS community forums, but the missing file topics discussed there seem to center around a temporary user account being created, which is not relevant to my situation.
So, I am turning to my brilliiant MGoBlog community to see if anyone has experienced anything like this and has any suggestions for how I can recover my missing files. Your thoughts are greatly appreciated!
UPDATE: A big thank you to all of you who responded and especially those of you with constructive suggestions. I downloaded the EaseUS recovery program as suggested by a few of you, which located the missing files after a few hours of scanning my system. I have yet to actually preview or save them due to having other work to do first (on a deadline). So, I will have to wait until tomorrow to see the fruits of my labor and your recommendations.
I knew reaching out to this amazing community for your input was the way to go... thanks again and Go Blue!
February 13th, 2018 at 1:02 PM ^
Or onedrive 1TB free with office subsription
Or dropbox
Or a backup harddrive
Or literally any other online option
If your files are valuable, you back them up on either a seperate device or on the cloud.
February 13th, 2018 at 1:41 PM ^
Hard drives die and so do cloud providers, often unexpectedly. After a similar situation to the OP years ago, I learned the most important computing words to live by - You should never have only one backup of anything important enough to keep. You need both a local backup and one off-site.
I wish the OP had asked for advice before he had to go thru the worst case scenario.
February 13th, 2018 at 12:50 PM ^
A bit of quick reading and it looks lke Windows will delete your windows.old directory or replace it with a new windows.old.The tech support was incorrect.
http://techgenix.com/windows-old/
Like others said, windows.old was not meant to be a storate place for files. They should have been moved. I know that doesn't help now though.
I second the EaseUS suggestion above. Hopefully the files are not overwritten yet. The free trial should show what you can get before paying for it.
February 13th, 2018 at 12:53 PM ^
For your immediate issue I recommend contacting a data recovery service and seeing if they can help. Sometimes deleted files can be recovered from the hard drive. It's not free but it may be your only chance.
Moving forward I think you should store your documents, pictures, videos etc in a separate drive from Windows. That way you can re-install Windows whenever you want and your documents are unaffected. Personally I have a small solid state drive that only has Windows installed on it, that's my C drive. My D drive is a larger hard drive with all my documents. After I re-install windows I just change the location of "My Documents", "My Pictures", "My Downloads" etc to their real location on the D:/ and all my files are there. You could also do this with a single drive by partitioning it into 2 smaller drives. I believe Windows only needs ~30 gb at most.
In addition you should look into a backup solution- I really like backblaze but it's cloud-based so you need a decent upload limit on your internet service. Otherwise there are other programs that can help you with backing up to your own drives.
February 13th, 2018 at 12:52 PM ^
what's in the files? I'll bet it's porn. Maybe homemade. Hence the stressing about losing it.
External hard drive backup, locked in a safe, in the attic, for the win!
February 13th, 2018 at 12:57 PM ^
Funny Hatter, lol. They are primarily Word documents, forms, etc. for my business. Some of which, I can recreate from e-mailed copies. But many of them are orginals without copies anywhere that would have to recreate. So just trying to save myself time.
February 13th, 2018 at 1:03 PM ^
I learned the back up everything, preferably in two places, lesson back in 2008 or so. I lost like a 3-year period of my life.
I hope it works out for you. If it was me, I'd probably just bite the bullet and hire a data recovery firm. But they're not cheap.
February 13th, 2018 at 1:25 PM ^
Was that a drunken/cocaine infused binge or something?
February 13th, 2018 at 12:57 PM ^
I think that Windows 10 has the Previous Versions feature on by default. You can try right-clicking on the Windows.old folder and choosing "Restore Previous Versions". If there are any previous versions they will be listed; you can browse the folder without actually restoring anything. I'd recommend restoring to a different location though.
February 13th, 2018 at 1:02 PM ^
There is no windows.old folder there anymore. It be gone....
February 13th, 2018 at 1:31 PM ^
You can just create the folder again and still check for previous versions. Windows just needs to know the name and location of the folder to check for previous versions.
February 13th, 2018 at 1:10 PM ^
Its been mentioned earlier, but, unfortunately, the best (and probably only) way to get your files back at this point is a 3rd party restore tool. You can try the ones available as a download, but if you're not savvy about it, they can be intimidating. If you can afford the cost, take it to a computer repair shop and let them handle it. They can remove the drive, connect it to a different machine (with all of the fancy (read: professional) recovery tools), and access it as a raw device to get at everything still on it. It can be costly, but that only depends on how important the files are to you.
Also, as previously stated, if that part of the drive has had new data written to it, you will not get what used to be there. So be prepared for a partial recovery, if you're able to get anything at all.
Good luck...
Edit: Please don't consider the Geek Squad a 'computer repair shop' for these purposes...
February 13th, 2018 at 1:18 PM ^
But back in the day, a "deleted" file wasn't really deleted. Instead, the last character of the file name was changed to a question mark (?) and then the OS would ignore any files named this way.
You used to be able to go to the CMD (DOS) window, and manually find those things with names ending in (?) and then change that (?) to anything else and VOILA! Back in business.
I have no idea if this approach still works in Win 10, but I know the CMD window is still there, so it wouldn't shock me if it does.
February 13th, 2018 at 1:23 PM ^
Download and try Easeus' Data Recovery program, as others have suggested. It's worked for me a couple times with a bad hard drive and a corrupted SD card.
It may take hours to do its deep scan for files, just let it run and see what it comes up with.
IF your files were in the normal user folders (My Documents, etc) and the Windows 10 File History was enabled and you had an external HD attached, you would have copies of your files. Something to do once you're past this crisis.
There's another backup program I've found easy to use called Crashplan that's free to use if you back up to an external hard drive, another computer in your house or to a friend's computer. They charge for backing up to their servers.
Good luck. Data loss sucks.
February 13th, 2018 at 1:37 PM ^
I get that it is OT season but robotic dogs (twice), Polish holocaust, and Windows help? Meanwhile posts that might have SOME level of interest among visitors to this blog get pushed off into oblivion.
February 13th, 2018 at 2:02 PM ^
Your post was response number 55 (in the dubious MGoBlog numbering scheme, if one exists) in this post that has no interest from visitors, which apparently includes you.
I will never understand why people whine about posts they don't like when they are under no obligation whatsoever to click on, or post to, them. Whatever. Whiners gonna whine.
February 13th, 2018 at 2:41 PM ^
then you don't understand the internets. The polish holocaust thread referenced had over 100 comments before it was nuked. That doesn't mean it belongs here.
Also I made a reasonable case for why it matters - that the format of the board pushes olderposts into oblivion, whether the newly posted threads are good or not. Also protip: this link might be a better place to look for computer help:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12435/windows-10-upgrade-faq
February 13th, 2018 at 6:57 PM ^
February 13th, 2018 at 2:45 PM ^
to get a disk recovery program ASAP before you use the computer at all and look for it that way.
When a computer deletes files, it doesn't actually delete the content, just the pointer to it in the system and then that portion of the disk is thereafter available to be written/stored on. The longer you wait/more you use your pc, the more likely it will be overwritten by new stuff in that disk space.
You don't sound highly technical, so I would suggest you go to a reputable repair shop and ask them to search/recover for you, or perhaps get a geeky friend to help you out.
It isn't rocket science to accomplish, research for a well-reviewed recovery program, some are free (some can contain syware/malware, be careful). If I remember correctly, Recuva is pretty good, but here is a list.
https://www.lifewire.com/free-data-recovery-software-tools-2622893
1. Install/Run the software
2. Let it scan the disk for deleted/lost files
3. Look through scan results for the .old folder or any known files that are missing
4. Select to recover them and have the program them to a new directory named RECOVERY or something like that.
5. go through the recovered flder and/or files and see what is stioll good/not corrupted.
6. Start creating restore points on your PC and set it up to do so regularly (instructions for this everywhere) and then get an external hard disk and backup all the files on your computer on a regular basis.
Good luck :)
February 13th, 2018 at 3:36 PM ^
Disable Windows Update Service and manually update only when you are good and ready. That's the first thing I did when I realized Windows 10 was automatically updating and restarting without my permission. It is a pretty garbage OS. I had a Dell XPS with XP that lasted about 8 years, Windows 10 is a nightmare compared to that. Hell, I'd go back to Windows NT if I could.
February 13th, 2018 at 8:11 PM ^
Windows NT was the bomb. Best OS they've done.
February 13th, 2018 at 4:22 PM ^
If you have very important files, you want multiple backups:
1) network attached storage or external hard drive at home (detach HD from computer when done)
2) external hard drive kept offsite, in case of disaster at home
3) cloud.
February 13th, 2018 at 5:23 PM ^
As many other posters have said, Windows.old is a temporary folder that is created when Windows updates, allowing you to revert to the last version if the update doesn't go well. So when your system did another update recently, anything that used to be Windows.old most likely got blown away and replaced with a new Windows.old representing your most recent Windows directory. Windows.old was never intended to be used as a directory for working out of or for storing anything important, or even not important. As soon as another major update is started, that directory is lost. I don't know if anyone else will have a magic solution for you, but from my knowledge of how Windows does updates, I suspect you aren't going to find one. Sorry, I know that sucks.
If these files are life and death, a professional file recovery service could *possibly* get some of them back, but it probably won't be cheap, and it may cost a lot of money just to find out that it isn't possible.
February 13th, 2018 at 6:11 PM ^
I've heard that it is a lot easier to pirate software on a mac. Mac pirate sites don't embed virus and spyware and jack your browser like PC sites. Also, Mac resale value is very good. I've never failed to get less than a $1000 when I've resold my Macbook Pro's after 4 years of use.
February 13th, 2018 at 10:16 PM ^
Not stealing would be a better way to avoid any of those problems.
February 14th, 2018 at 2:06 AM ^
I guess when you spend all your money on a Mac you don't have much left for legit software.