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

PCR Just PCR,

Actually, no - OneDrive is disabled for this computer, so there is no OneDrive Recycle bin.

I store all files locally, and backup locally with portable drives or thumb-drives.

I prefer my data not be spread all over the internet, for security concerns.

I did just enable it, to see what would come up, but I don't expect that to resolve my lost files. 

I didn't think of that. And I see the upgrade didn't turn OneDrive back on for you. I'm glad the mishap of deleted files didn't happen on all of your computers. I wonder, did your Documents folder have more than 5 GB in it on the computer that failed? What about the others?

Do you already know...?...

https://www.seagate.com/support/software/dashboard/

Dashboard Support

It's supposed to be so simple to recovery files, a few clicks... 

http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/006148en?language=en_US&key=ka030000000irsvAAA&kb=n&wwwlocale=en-us

Seagate Dashboard - Installation, Backup, Verify, Restore, and Features

"

Restore Process

1. Make sure that the drive is detected by your computer.
2. Launch the Seagate Dashboard software by double-clicking the Seagate Dashboard icon.
3. From the Home screen select Restore
4. Select Search for backups

Note: This may take a while depending on the size of the backup but you will want to let it run until complete so all the backup dates will be available. 5. Next you will be asked to Select File - Select the date you wish to restore from and then select the data you are wanting to restore. 6. Next you will be asked to select where you want to restore the data.

Note: The original location is only suggested if the computer has the same system and user name as the original backup. If either of those are different, you would want to restore the data to the desktop or alternate location, then copy the data to the new/correct location.

"

I really don't know what it means by "system name", but did you try restoring to an alternate location? Did it give you an error message? Here is an article with a few of them...

http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/006139en?language=en_US&key=ka03A000000aujXQAQ&kb=n&wwwlocale=en-us

Seagate Dashboard - Troubleshooting

But nothing really good in there.

Similar thing happened to me:  lost my Outlook.pst file.  1 gig file located in C:\users\shawn\Documents folder.  Folder is intact.  Contacts gone.  Search of *.pst and *.bak yielded no relative findings.  Fortunately I do backup every month so I was able to pull the 9/1 backup of the .pst file and replace the missing files from Outlook.com.   (I hadn't done October backup yet!).  Thought I was losing my mind.

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.

Files were located at C:/Users/rober/Documents/

This location is still present, with no files. All of files deleted.

I am extremely upset. Not sure what to do….please let me know.

Robert

Maybe in C:\Windows.old\Users\Freddie\Documents

In addition, I doubt MS would boink their software, just to get folks to buy more Cloud, although the thought did enter my mind.

I think it's really a poorly quality checked software that was rolled out, before a thorough going over. Not that Microsoft has ever done that before, huh? It's just that it's never been this bad, as best I recall, that it physically wiped out My Documents files. That's just inexcusable.

I get a bit annoyed to have to reinstall, roll-back, or whatever, but I'd take that any day over having my files physically deleted. That's the heartbeat of why we even use computers, and that is an areas that should not be tampered with, EVER.

Thanks for the suggestion of trying to use recovery software; I think I'm too far into trying to recover from my backups and other computers, at this point. This should never have happened, and is probably the lowest I've seen Microsoft go, in the years I've been with them. I've been using Windows since before there were mice; since Basic, COBAL, Fortran, etc. I beta -tested for them way back, along with Norton and Quicken, back when they were feisty little upstarts. It just still boggles my mind that they would allow this sacred piece of the pie go away.

Maybe... but it ain't gonna happen. I'm not storing files in the cloud that could impact security, or provide a back-door into my rig.

In fact, I'm giving Apple a strong consideration. Already at the bottom, with all my files washed, so maybe it's time to rethink this game.... nothing from nothing leaves nothing....