Windows 10 1809 update deleted all files from Documents!

Anonymous
2018-10-04T19:09:32+00:00

Last night I updated to 1809, and it all went smoothly, but then I find that all my files in Documents are DELETED. Gone. Poof. This included many crucial documents and financial info. Yes, I have a backup (I think - using Windows Backup to a NAS). But this is pretty bad. Did no one in the first two rings run into this yet?

I understand (from the news) that this happens to all files in Documents that aren't synced to OneDrive. Further, the Documents folder is really an agglomeration of "Documents" from several different paths - not sure how that works, and it may or may not relate.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Windows update

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

163 answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2018-10-08T17:23:04+00:00

    It's all backed out but it was just the shock of seeing the files empty. Fine now, thank you.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2018-10-08T18:49:35+00:00

    I doubt it's a ploy to move to OneDrive, we had a user lose all of her OneDrive files and they are no longer in the cloud, recycle bin or 2nd stage recycle bin. This is mind boggling!

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2018-10-08T19:41:50+00:00

    I doubt it's a ploy to move to OneDrive, we had a user lose all of her OneDrive files and they are no longer in the cloud, recycle bin or 2nd stage recycle bin. This is mind boggling!

    Backup strategies aside (none of which are completely ideal for this situation), I've since moved - lock stock and barrel - my "My Pictures," "My Music," and "My Videos" folders to my Dropbox and synced them across all my PCs, and moved all my links/documents that I would normally keep on my various desktops (I use Dexpot for multiple virtual desktops) to my secondary hard drive; I'm working on moving my documents OUT OF "My Documents" and into a Documents folder on the secondary drive, which will then be moved and synced to Dropbox as well on all machines... Windows at least doesn't have any permissions in place to hose THOSE locations anymore.

    Since I apparently can't trust my OS provider to not try to actively sabotage my computers, I have to be proactive about changing organizational habits developed over 20 years of using Windows.

    Was this answer helpful?

    3 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2018-10-08T21:32:06+00:00

    For what it's worth, I did call Microsoft support, was assigned a case number, and they called me back and setup an appointment for me to bring in my desktop to the nearest Microsoft Store, which I will do tomorrow (about an hour's drive away).

    I don't hold out much hope for them being able to do much - there has been a lot of disk activity since the disaster - I tried a backup restore, which brought in thousands of files, only to discover that the newest one is eight months old! But I'll be able to be face to face with at least one real person...

    Another issue is of course Microsoft's "backup" failing. It was (and still is) enabled for hourly backups of a few dozen folders, including the usual suspects - like "Documents", "Pictures", etc. I'll be sure to ask them why it didn't run.

    So - I'm trying to figure out the best way to restore my financial data - I do have a great pile of paper receipts and statements. Sigh...

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2018-10-08T21:57:45+00:00

    I allowed the automatic 1809 update to go through on Oct 3 afternoon. When I did the restart I noticed all my missing data. I have a ticket with MS Level 3 but they have never contacted me. Level 1 continues to insist that allowing my computer to run will not overlay files but I doubt their thinking. I went to Geek Squad and I downloaded Active@ and we ran File Recovery. We could get some files but not those with unusual extensions such as .T17 (HR Block tax data) or .mny (MS Money). At this moment running the Last Chance option to see if it can find more data. Im in shock.

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments