Windows Update wiped my laptop

NaNaNa1

So I'm in a bit of a panic right now.
Laptop installed Window's updates lastnight and I thought nothing of it. Turned on my laptop this morn only to find that all my setting have been changed.... Thought that was a little odd but then the real fun started. All my content's been wiped. I've been super busy lately with college stuff and while I've backed up most stuff, research I badly need is gone along with photos and music I haven't gotten a chance to put on my external hard drive.

Is there anything I can do?

Overheal

If you badly need it you can try to run Recuva. Bearing in mind if its not too much lost, it might take less time to reproduce it than to use this method. http://www.piriform.com/recuva - this process can take incredibly long to complete, depending on the drive size.

In the future, save all of your files to your SkyDrive. Windows 8.1 has it pretty well baked in, but you can download the software for Windows 7; in either case SkyDrive shows up as another folder on your PC thats tied to an online account, it's what a "Briefcase" folder was always meant to be and Windows 8 actually removed the feature as its now effectively redundant but can be restored with a registry tweak.

You get 7GB of free cloudspace and about 20+GB if you have an active Office subscription (eg. 365 University). Advantage: your files are always synced to all of your devices and wiping a machine won't affect them. I haven't used an external in about 2 years now, since SkyDrive first became readily available. However the best external method I have, which I bought recently just for a bit of fun and work research was a WD Live drive, but just about any modern router with a USB port will let you map a network hard drive to your PC and then set it up as your file backup. Windows 8 saves file versions, much like Apple Time Machine, when you configure it in this way. You just map the drive location than configure it in the PC Settings 'App'.

NaNaNa1

Thanks! I have Skydrive but just never used it. I'll have to ensure I do in the future!

Torqay

Sure it's all wiped and not just a matter of a temporary user profile?

Overheal

for that matter it could be in a window.old folder

allthedoyles

could you reset your laptop to a previous good configuration F8

Mustard1972

I updated to windows 8.1 and laptop was wiped too. Very annoying to say the least.

kierank01

what version of windows are you using?

are you getting any errors when you login?

if you boot into safe mode, you should be able to a system restore to before the issue occurred.

I would think it is highly unusual to lose data after a windows update, if as has been suggested that you might be logging into a temporary profile, go to c:\documents and settings or c:\users, depending on which version of windows you have, and you should see your original profile folder there

Overheal

Mustard1972 wrote: »

I updated to windows 8.1 and laptop was wiped too. Very annoying to say the least.

check for c:\windows.old

Mustard1972

Overheal wrote: »

check for c:\windows.old

Nope.
Just like a clean PC after the update.
Wont let me restore either. All I did was the bog standard update from the windows app store.
Luckily I have everything I need backed up as i was in the process of building my new PC anyway and needed a lot of my files for that.
Also was planning relegating that laptop to be my home security server anyway. It just brought that idea forward a bit
No big deal, though I did lose some software I was writing which pisses me off. Should have backed that up.

Cuddlesworth

Mustard1972 wrote: »

Nope.
Just like a clean PC after the update.
Wont let me restore either. All I did was the bog standard update from the windows app store.
Luckily I have everything I need backed up as i was in the process of building my new PC anyway and needed a lot of my files for that.
Also was planning relegating that laptop to be my home security server anyway. It just brought that idea forward a bit
No big deal, though I did lose some software I was writing which pisses me off. Should have backed that up.

Your info is sitting in c:\users\"username". You have been logged into a temp profile. Windows updates cannot wipe your info.

Mustard1972

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

Your info is sitting in c:\users\"username". You have been logged into a temp profile. Windows updates cannot wipe your info.

No its not. Im doing windows updates all the time and this is the first time one has ever wiped anything on me. I got an error message a couple of times when i did the update first and retried a couple of times and then the update went through. I should have known something was amiss.

sarumite

I have had a similar problem with my laptop going to a black screen after bios. I have been in contact with Windows support and apparently it may be a problem connected with intel graphics cards causing issues with the boot manager. I had to do a restore to factory settings myself as the computer went to a black screen and wouldn't move beyond the bios. I will be sticking with stock windows 8 for a while longer. The most annoying things is having to reinstall everything (and losing my games saves) as everything else is more or less backed up.

Cuddlesworth

Mustard1972 wrote: »

No its not. Im doing windows updates all the time and this is the first time one has ever wiped anything on me. I got an error message a couple of times when i did the update first and retried a couple of times and then the update went through. I should have known something was amiss.

It is. Windows update has no ability to format your drive, reinstall a OS or delete your data. It will either work, or break windows. None of what you describe. Its either a temp profile or somebody in your house initiated a factory restore.

What you describe is a corruption of your user profile, you have been logged into a temp profile which is essentially a blank slate. There are two version of this, the first is a permanent profile under users call Temp, the second is a actual temp profile that wipes all data on it upon reboot. Your old profile is there you just need to fix it.

NaNaNa1

Everything appeared gone. All used settings changed and looked as it did when I got it a few months ago. System restored and everything reappeared. I'm saved!

quaidox

i tried the windows 8.1 update from the app store and it failed both times at the reboot stage. think i will leave well enough alone based on this thread!!

Overheal

quaidox wrote: »

i tried the windows 8.1 update from the app store and it failed both times at the reboot stage. think i will leave well enough alone based on this thread!!

try factory resetting your device, having backed up your files, and go again.

alternatively do the factory reset and choose the option to keep your files in place.

vibe666

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

It is. Windows update has no ability to format your drive, reinstall a OS or delete your data. It will either work, or break windows. None of what you describe. Its either a temp profile or somebody in your house initiated a factory restore.

What you describe is a corruption of your user profile, you have been logged into a temp profile which is essentially a blank slate. There are two version of this, the first is a permanent profile under users call Temp, the second is a actual temp profile that wipes all data on it upon reboot. Your old profile is there you just need to fix it.

Just to second what cuddlesworth had said, Windows doesn't "wipe" user data like that. Just because you can't see it, it doesn't mean it's not still there.

10 different people could be using the same PC, all logging in with their own profile, all seeing only their own files.

What has happened is that for some reason Windows has decided that your old profile was either damaged or just that you are a new user and created a new profile for you in error, but it doesn't mean that all your data is gone, just that you aren't in the same user profile so it looks like it's all gone.

Any half decent computer nerd will be able to fix it for you.

Mustard1972

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

It is. Windows update has no ability to format your drive, reinstall a OS or delete your data. It will either work, or break windows. None of what you describe. Its either a temp profile or somebody in your house initiated a factory restore.

What you describe is a corruption of your user profile, you have been logged into a temp profile which is essentially a blank slate. There are two version of this, the first is a permanent profile under users call Temp, the second is a actual temp profile that wipes all data on it upon reboot. Your old profile is there you just need to fix it.

I know what im talking about here. Im not some IT virgin. I know windows and I know how windows is supposed to work. Im not asking for help here, i already know probably more about computers and OSs than most people on boards. I am just relaying my experience with the update. They are GONE. i know how to tell when they are gone. I know how to get them back if they are in any way still around and they are not. Luckily I have most of my stuff backed up though.

vibe666

Mustard1972 wrote: »

I know what im talking about here. Im not some IT virgin. I know windows and I know how windows is supposed to work. Im not asking for help here, i already know probably more about computers and OSs than most people on boards. I am just relaying my experience with the update. They are GONE. i know how to tell when they are gone. I know how to get them back if they are in any way still around and they are not. Luckily I have most of my stuff backed up though.

sounds like you don't need our help then, good luck.

kierank01

vibe666 wrote: »

Just to second what cuddlesworth had said, Windows doesn't "wipe" user data like that. Just because you can't see it, it doesn't mean it's not still there.

10 different people could be using the same PC, all logging in with their own profile, all seeing only their own files.

What has happened is that for some reason Windows has decided that your old profile was either damaged or just that you are a new user and created a new profile for you in error, but it doesn't mean that all your data is gone, just that you aren't in the same user profile so it looks like it's all gone.

Any half decent computer nerd will be able to fix it for you.

unless a factory restore has been initiated, and the original partition has been overwritten by the recovery

vibe666

kierank01 wrote: »

unless a factory restore has been initiated, and the original partition has been overwritten by the recovery

which isn't going to happen after a Windows update.

kierank01

vibe666 wrote: »

which isn't going to happen after a Windows update.

correct, but if the windows update has corrupted the os, someone may have initiated a factory reset, and be blaming the update

vibe666

kierank01 wrote: »

correct, but if the windows update has corrupted the os, someone may have initiated a factory reset, and be blaming the update

Well, if we're going to have to account for people lying about the cause of their problems, we might as well not bother at all.

quaidox

seems the update doesn't like running on encrypted drives either....

Mustard1972

vibe666 wrote: »

sounds like you don't need our help then, good luck.

I dont.

Cuddlesworth

Mustard1972 wrote: »

I know what im talking about here. Im not some IT virgin. I know windows and I know how windows is supposed to work. Im not asking for help here, i already know probably more about computers and OSs than most people on boards. I am just relaying my experience with the update. They are GONE. i know how to tell when they are gone. I know how to get them back if they are in any way still around and they are not. Luckily I have most of my stuff backed up though.

Sounds great, let me know when you catch those magic leprechauns that deleted your files. I hear Microsoft gives a pot o gold for each one.

In the meantime I'll head back to my high paid IT engineer job and if I need any help, I'll PM you for advise.

biko

NaNaNa1 wrote: »

System restored and everything reappeared. I'm saved!

Sweet, I hope I'm typing this in vain but did you back everything up now?

Torqay

NaNaNa1 wrote: »

System restored and everything reappeared. I'm saved!

This again makes me think that it has never "disappeared" in the first place as Windows System Restore does not restore user data only system files and settings.

vibe666

Torqay wrote: »

This again makes me think that it has never "disappeared" in the first place as Windows System Restore does not restore user data only system files and settings.

yup, exactly.

Bog Standard User

lol windows 8.1 update bricked their own surface RT & surface pro tablets. ms had to pull the update