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

In my case, there was no Windows.old directory. I've searched the entire C: drive for the missing directories and files using both the Windows Explorer search and Recuva, and I've checked OneDrive, all to no avail. MS claims to have the tools to help us recover and urges us to contact them (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4464619/windows-10-update-history) which I did on 10/6. I was given a case # and an appointment time for MS to call me back on 10/7. I received an email about this appointment, yet no one called and there has been no contact since then. How long am I supposed to "minimize use of the affected device"? I have important time-sensitive work that needs to get done!

I have the same issue and the data in the two user accounts on my PC has been deleted.  No Recycle Bin, No Windows.OLD. Nowhere to be found.  And not on OneDrive as I do not synchronise this directory.  I have even tried file recovery software but as it took a coupe of days before I noticed that was too late (I tried Recuva as it was recommended by a trusted source and had worked for him, but no luck for me.)

Microsoft confirmed when I was on the phone to their support department that this is a KNOWN ISSUE, yet they allow the deployment roll-out to continue.

I have lost18yrs of data, including my Outlook.OST file which I keep under my Documents directory.  Fortunately I had a 2 month old backup, however have no way to recover what was lost in the two months in between.

I am lost for words, it's challenging enough to have to worry about hardware failure, malicious attacks and so forth, but to have the one company you trust in the IT world - Microsoft, delete your data is in comprehensible..

MS - Please fix this, stop the roll-out and come to your affected customers with a solution to recover data - I feel that it needs forensic recovery applications.

Are you quite sure your regrettable data loss has nothing to do with your own failure to ensure safe and backup on thumb drive, USB-drive, NAS, whatever?

Just wondering.

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

Whilst losing files is terrible, the original poster should (especially after 23 years of using Windows) have backed up his data. A 1tb external drive is amazingly cheap and would easily hold all of his 23 years worth of files and more.

Not only that, the files are not missing, but are all in the Windows.old folder after upgrading.

Just because there have never been problems before, there is no excuse for not backing up all of your important files, folders, images or whatever. Windows 10 has File History, Storage Spaces and Backup and Restore built in that you can use to back up data. I recommend Acronis True Image and getting an external hard drive (if you don't already have one) and backing up your data as often as you like, but at least once a month.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but in this day and age of ransomware and advanced malware, you really need to backup. Hard drives can still fail and corruptions can still happen, whether you have a platter HD or a Solid State HD. You need to backup. If you lose files, there really is no excuse.

As you point out the files 'should' be in Windows.old.  In my case everything other than the directory 'Documents' was under the Windowls.Old\User\Username Directory so it is not true to say they are in windows.old, although I agree they should be.   I tried many other ways to find or undelete the deleted files - no success.  Personally I did have a 2mth old backup and agree with you that it is important to backup, but MS should not delete/touch any personal data and this is inexcusable regardless of your personal backup policy.

I have the same issue and the data in the two user accounts on my PC has been deleted.  No Recycle Bin, No Windows.OLD. Nowhere to be found.  And not on OneDrive as I do not synchronise this directory.  I have even tried file recovery software but as it took a coupe of days before I noticed that was too late (I tried Recuva as it was recommended by a trusted source and had worked for him, but no luck for me.)

Microsoft confirmed when I was on the phone to their support department that this is a KNOWN ISSUE, yet they allow the deployment roll-out to continue.

I have lost18yrs of data, including my Outlook.OST file which I keep under my Documents directory.  Fortunately I had a 2 month old backup, however have no way to recover what was lost in the two months in between.

I am lost for words, it's challenging enough to have to worry about hardware failure, malicious attacks and so forth, but to have the one company you trust in the IT world - Microsoft, delete your data is in comprehensible..

MS - Please fix this, stop the roll-out and come to your affected customers with a solution to recover data - I feel that it needs forensic recovery applications.

Обновил из Центра обновлений поверх версии 1803 и в папке "Документы" всё на своих местах!Ищите проблему у себя!

Я не думаю, что у многих людей есть много проблем, которые могут быть связаны с ошибкой пользователя. MSFT признал проблему, реальные вопросы:

  - При каких обстоятельствах это происходит?

  - Почему MSFT касается личных файлов?

  - Несмотря на то, что они (очевидно) касаются файлов, почему они не помещают их в Windows.old, чтобы облегчить восстановление?