Windows 10 October Update is Losing User Data

AlphaAtlas

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The Windows 10 October 2018 Update is deleting user data, according to some scattered reports. Users claim that documents, images, and programs in user directories were wiped out after the update, and that their backups weren't found in the "Windows.old" folder the OS usually puts them in. That means rolling back the update won't restore the files either. Thanks to Monkey34 for the tip.

I have just updated my windows using the October update (10, version 1809). It deleted all my files of 23 years in amount of 220GB. This is unbelievable, I have been using Microsoft products since 1995 and nothing like that ever happened to me," he wrote on Microsoft's user forum. "Files were located at C:/Users/rober/Documents/. This location is still present, with no files. All files deleted.
 
Must be the NSA/ FBI "virus" cleaner tagging old program crackers and nuking the entire folder just in case...

I just updated and all my files and programs are the same.
 
Blah I shouldn't even need to comment further but people like that drive me nuts. What was your contingency plan if the hard drive crashed? If someone stole the computer? If you screwed up and accidentally deleted all your data?

People like that are just looking for someone to blame for their own short-sightedness.
 
.... Who's dumb enough to store everything on a single HDD especially the C drive. Incompetent people I guess

Isn't Windows the choice of people that aren't good with tech? Why should they bother? "Well, the folder says Documents, I guess that's what goes there?"

You guys can't stop shrugging off corporations' mistakes, always opting to blame the user that, in this case, *paid* for the damn software, right?

Blah I shouldn't even need to comment further but people like that drive me nuts. What was your contingency plan if the hard drive crashed? If someone stole the computer? If you screwed up and accidentally deleted all your data?

People like that are just looking for someone to blame for their own short-sightedness.

Are you serious?

Do you really think it's par for the course for an *update* to break the whole thing like that?
 
Isn't Windows the choice of people that aren't good with tech? Why should they bother? "Well, the folder says Documents, I guess that's what goes there?"

You guys can't stop shrugging off corporations' mistakes, always opting to blame the user that, in this case, *paid* for the damn software, right?

Are you serious?

Do you really think it's par for the course for an *update* to break the whole thing like that?

I wouldn't say it would par for the course. But I can't say I'm surprised.
 
something, something, something, backup your data?
Something something whether or not I have backups (I do) is irrelevant, because I shouldn't have to be constantly looking over my shoulder to figure out WTF Microsoft's latest useless update deleted in the first place? How is this even a debate?

The illogical apologism for MS's bullshit continues to baffle.
 
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MSFT wants everyone on Win 10, but taskmon breaking, incorrect sensor reading, user data being wiped and so forth.
absolutely pathetic, they want to do what 2 times per year update FOR SURE?

yet little things get fubared...pathetic....they will not do so, but, they should maybe look back at Win 7 and figure out why it seems to work WAY better with less of that level of crap that has happened since day 1 of Win 10 launch till now.

they are "smart" this crap should not happen, no anything is "perfect" but a multi-billion $ company with countless hundreds of mllions of OS out there, you figure at least their quality control would be WAY better than much smaller companies, sadly it seems IMHO it is polar opposite to this, make the sales, make stupid apologies for issues that those purchasers face because of ineptitude, rinse and repeat...
 
1. How the fuck does this get past QA
2. Back your shit up holy cow how do you not protect your 2 decades of important data
 
MSFT wants everyone on Win 10, but taskmon breaking, incorrect sensor reading, user data being wiped and so forth.
absolutely pathetic, they want to do what 2 times per year update FOR SURE?

yet little things get fubared...pathetic....they will not do so, but, they should maybe look back at Win 7 and figure out why it seems to work WAY better with less of that level of crap that has happened since day 1 of Win 10 launch till now.

they are "smart" this crap should not happen, no anything is "perfect" but a multi-billion $ company with countless hundreds of mllions of OS out there, you figure at least their quality control would be WAY better than much smaller companies, sadly it seems IMHO it is polar opposite to this, make the sales, make stupid apologies for issues that those purchasers face because of ineptitude, rinse and repeat...

It's not windows 10, you started rolling the dice with windows 7 towards the tail end. It's when they moved to "agile" development and deployment of updates and affected all of the OS products once they switched.
 
2. Back your shit up holy cow how do you not protect your 2 decades of important data
Right. And if someone punches you, it's your fault for not moving out of the way. That's the logic of this victim blaming.

How about MS not release continuous buggy updates until they're bulletproof and won't lose installed programs, data and settings.
 
Backing up your system being a good idea aside, $10 says the data is/was still sitting in the C:\users\user directory and they didn't notice they were in a separate profile folder after the update.

Source: Have had this happen before with 1603.
 
Which is the majority of people using computers. The cheap $300 Dells and such people buy normally only have 1 drive.
Even worse, with many of the garbage computers sold today, you can't even add a second drive. I was going to put an SSD in my wife's new Dell and use the 1TB drive for all of her data files.

So I open it up and the power supply has only two wires. One going to the motherboard and one that splits in two for the hard drive and DVD drive. The motherboard has 4 SATA ports, but, there's no way to get power for any additional drives.

So I figured that I would disconnect the DVD drive, she never uses it anyway, and use that to power the SSD. I couldn't believe what I found. Both the hard drive and DVD drive have some sort of weird, non-standard power connector that's completely different from any drive I've ever seen.

WTF.. WTF. WTF. WTF.
 
Right. And if someone punches you, it's your fault for not moving out of the way. That's the logic of this victim blaming.

How about MS not release continuous buggy updates until they're bulletproof and won't lose installed programs, data and settings.

Yes, Microsoft screwed up. But, it's not an either-or situation. It's possible for both sides to be wrong. If you don't back up data that you consider "important" then you are also at fault. That's not "victim blaming". You need to take responsiblity for your own life and not just try to blame someone else for everything.

Many years ago, when I didn't know very much about computers, it occurred to me that I should make backup copies of all my important stuff. It just seemed like basic common sense.

And yes, if someone punches you and you make no effort to duck, you are partially responsible.
 
Awesome, another Windows 10 update to avoid for a few months. I still haven't put v1803 on most family members' PCs and clients' PCs (except for a few where I did clean installs with v1803), now we gotta hold off on 1809 too. I want Microsoft to go back to just one update a year so there's less bullshit and testing I gotta deal with. Usually these updates fuck at least few things up. Every time I update a Win10 PC, I have to run through the same checklist I made for fresh installs just to make sure nothing got changed or fucked or whatever. Never pays to jump on a Win10 update immediately. Gotta give it a few months (by which time the next Win10 update will be around the corner). As for protecting your data, there is no excuse to not have backups of your data. Off-computer backups, and if you can, off-site backups too. Backup your shit often. You never know what can happen to your PC and your storage drives. Life is unpredictable as all fuck. You need a duplicate of your data, multiple duplicates if possible. Keep them on separate drives in separate locations. Should be standard operating procedure for anyone who uses a PC.
 
Microsoft admits that their updating system on Windows 10 will delete 3rd party software if they deam them not compatible without hesitation or user interaction.
This is nothing new
 
My mom recently lost about 4 years worth of data, because the backup stopped working and she never told me. When the ssd died, she asked how long it would take to copy her data off it, her heart really sank when I explained that wouldn't be happening, it's dead. Two things:
1) I do agree backups should be made, and regularly. While that may be a lesson to take away for the individual, it isn't what we should take away from this article.
2) We've come too far for this to even be possible. I think the updates need to be more staggered, and we should probably go a good two to three years with NO UPDATES while they fill the testing channel with new versions. Any version of Windows 10 pushed to the public should now have no less than 2 years of rigorous testing. To hell with agile, yes it means new features will take years to deploy, but we absolutely have to prevent things like this in the future.
 
Just worked on a laptop and 1809 broke is so thoroughly I had to reinstall. Reset wouldn't even work.

So many questions.
Its a 1 year old lenovo so dunno
 
Like with every major update OpenCL.dll gets deleted on my system and Folding@Home wont work. I have to reinstall video drivers to fix it.
 
I got prompted with a browser window last night asking if I wanted to do the upgrade and I told it no, turned the computer off, unplugged it, and then farted on it to show my displeasure at even being asked.
 
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My mom recently lost about 4 years worth of data, because the backup stopped working and she never told me. When the ssd died, she asked how long it would take to copy her data off it, her heart really sank when I explained that wouldn't be happening, it's dead. Two things:
1) I do agree backups should be made, and regularly. While that may be a lesson to take away for the individual, it isn't what we should take away from this article.
2) We've come too far for this to even be possible. I think the updates need to be more staggered, and we should probably go a good two to three years with NO UPDATES while they fill the testing channel with new versions. Any version of Windows 10 pushed to the public should now have no less than 2 years of rigorous testing. To hell with agile, yes it means new features will take years to deploy, but we absolutely have to prevent things like this in the future.

You might be able to bring the drive to a professional recovery service, I've seen most data extracted from dead drives. No idea what they do to get the data
 
You might be able to bring the drive to a professional recovery service, I've seen most data extracted from dead drives. No idea what they do to get the data
Yeah, not entertaining the cost for that, nothing really critical that we can justify spending the 4+ figures it would cost.
 
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