windows 10 (October 2018 update) (version 1809) deleted all my files

So some more bewildering feedback for MSFT -- although something tells me their silence is a key indicator they are conveniently ignoring and hoping this mess quickly becomes yesterday's news...

As I reported earlier, wiht my folder redirection in play a non-profile (special) folder called "Desktop" had all its contents deleted after upgrading to 1809.  Yes, I had a backup, so a quick copy from my imaged drive had me running for almost a week on 1809 in all it's spendor :-|

Low and behold, I just discovered my SIP softphone (off of my Corporate Genesys platform) no longer functions on v1809 (there are .NET dependencies so guessing that's broken (again) wiht this new build -- similar to the Fall Creator build of 2017.  Build 1803 had this working fine so after some testing in the lab, sure enough, 1809 fails, but roll an upgraded PC back to 1803 and all is well with the SIP softphone.

Here's where it gets interesting...  When I upgraded, I lost all files in my C:\users\rcurtis\desktop folder -- again, not my 'real' desktop and not profile based, nor is it a 'special folder', just a folder I created and called it "Desktop".  After I rolled back to 1803, low and behold, what was there under 1809 is, again, gone.  Understandable since there was no such files in windows.old, but again, why is MSFT touching personal files -- shame on you MS!!

Bewildering indeed, can you clarify exactly what happened though?  I want to see if I'm understanding the process correctly.

First, you updated to 1809, and it deleted your files, but you restored from a backup and all was as it should be.  I'm assuming all files were placed back into their original location in your custom "Desktop" folder.

Second, you discovered that 1809 was incompatible with your SIP softphone, and rolled back to 1803 to restore that functionality.  You're saying that the restoration repeated the deletion, and the same files you'd restored after the original 1809 update were gone again?

One thing I don't understand though.. you say your "C:\users\rcurtis\desktop" folder is not your "real" desktop, and not profile based.  But isn't that the default location for the profile-based desktop?  I understand if you're changing specific names for privacy reasons, but it makes your situation hard to understand.

What I'm really curious about though is what would happen if you had not specifically named that folder "Desktop," or if you had kept that name, but placed it elsewhere on the hard drive, say nested in a program folder.  I'm curious how deeply whatever action is targeting personal files for deletion is digging, and whether it would go after any folder named "Desktop," regardless of where it was stored.

The fact that the same specific deletion action occurred both on the installation and reversal though is baffling, and makes me wonder if a step has been added to any update/restore actions that automatically attempts to do a disk cleanup.

You are correct on all counts, Chronocidal Guy, and all the details are in my original post on p10. of this forum.  I, too, wonder if (1) I used a different name other than "Desktop" and (2) if I created it outside the C:\users\rcurtis folder -- even though all my 'special folders' are off the root.  All moot and I had all my data on a spare drive, but still perplexing how MSFT can tinker with personal files.  On some level, I feel MSFT now has brontobytes of storage out there and collecting all personal data :)

But all seems to be explained out on the blog: 

https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2018/10/09/updated-version-of-windows-10-october-2018-update-released-to-windows-insiders/#yRlroHtaQVHofZu3.97

It's apparently an issue of Known Folder Redirection (KFR) and MSFT is not necessarily queuing off of “special folders”.  In my case, my ‘special folder’ of Desktop is redirected.  But I went in and created a C:\users\rcurtis\desktop folder (that is not redirected – it’s not a ‘special folder’, but it is the name of one of the "known" folders.  After redirection (no matter to where), if something was left behind (or subsequently added to the same named folder – like I do) the known folder (i.e., the original location) - it got deleted by the 1809 update.  I had a backup, so no biggie.

Thanks, PCR -- yes, you are correct with the 'Oops...' message, and good to know that workaround.

I did also see that Blog post with KFR I guess MS, in their infinite wisdom doesn't really clue in on special folders being redirected, rather just looks at the same named/locatoin folder.  In my case, yes, my deskotp (proper) is redirected, but my c:\users\rcurtis\desktop folder was my de facto working directory that I happened to name 'desktop'.  And yes, becuase that special folder ("Desktop") was in a differnet locaiton and a same named folder was redirected (reg change - seem my original post), c:\users\desktop invoked some confusion and when files were present (as they were), 1809 wiped them.  I'm happy there's a logical explanation, but again, MS should not be touching any personal files -- and if they feel compelled to , s simple prompting will have avoided this whole mess for a lot of other unfortunate folks that did not have backups.,  Thanks!

(1) I went back to review your posts & noticed you edited into the 10/6 post to me. We aren't informed of edits. So, I never saw that. But I know you also posted the following. It was in my Mail, but not in this thread...

"

"

So I think you tried to answer, but got "Oops, something went wrong", then did the edit. What I do in that case is copy out the text (Ctrl+A, then Ctrl+C) & replace it with "placeholder". That posts because it's short, I think. Then that can be edited with the copied out text. Like I did just now.

(2) Well, did you see the official MSFT explanation neilpzz posted...?...

https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2018/10/09/updated-version-of-windows-10-october-2018-update-released-to-windows-insiders/#yRlroHtaQVHofZu3.97

Updated version of Windows 10 October 2018 Update released to Windows Insiders

It's an issue of Known Folder Redirection (KFR). C**:\users\rcurtis\desktop** is one of the "known" folders. After redirection (no matter to where), if something was left behind (or subsequently added to) the known folder (i.e., the original location) - it got deleted by the 1809 update. That's the sad story. Excellent that you had backups. I was spared because my redirections left nothing behind. Size had nothing to do with it.

I upvoted you. I'd hate to wipe my 1.29 GB worth some day. That should at least have a "View files" button to click just to be sure what would be deleted. (Greg: It isn't preselected by default.)

Thanks Sophie.

 If you want to report this to Microsoft use the Feedback Hub app in Start Menu where developers are tasked to process consumer feedback. They will not even see it here. This is a tech forums staffed mostly by volunteers trying to help others with your problems.

If you want to post back a Share link from your Feedback here others who see this thread can vote it up and add to it. I will also track the issue for you.

 

For what it is worth, I submitted the issue to the Feedback Hub; this is the link:

https://aka.ms/AA2s9fy