Windows 10 Update Problem and Question

[ComputerGuy123454321]

My computer (ACER) has windows 10. Mid-last week, overnight, the windows updated by itself. The entire format of my computer change and my documents were all moved around. I generally keep most of my documents on the desktop, which was now moved into another separate folder that I had to find. I found that folder and moved all the files back into my desktop.

Overnight, the update "reversed" itself somehow, and the version was back to what it was the previous day when the update had not happened. Now, all my documents were deleted, as they were no longer showing in my desktop. I assume that because I moved them from whatever folder the initial update had kept them in, this got screwed over. I could not find the files anymore, and I suddenly had over 150gb of free space. I used recuva to recover some files, but many are now not reoverable/usable/openable. What just happened? It's extremely frustrating, as the auto update and auto "reverse" update just did that by itself.

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

Did your computer come with W10 pre-loaded from the factory on it? Or did you upgrade from an earlier version of windows such as W7/W8x. If so, and your computer could be as old as 6 years old (W7 came out in 2009), you could be suffering from what we call "coincidental hardware failure". Updates will often do the type of squirrely stuff you mention, when suffering from a faulty RAM stick or a faulty hard drive or other component (MOBO, GPU card, CPU chip).

Hopefully, you have all your personal data (Library files) backed up to external media prior to this event happening. If you haven't we recommend in the future that you use a quality image backup program that's been testing on W10 such as:
1.) Macrium reflect
2.) Acronis TrueImage
3.) EASETodo

With all the issues surrounding the recent AU and subsequent updates on the pre-AU W10, we are seeing lots of this. Updates from Microsoft often exacerbate marginal or older hardware. If your computer is less than 1 year old, you might consider returning it to your place of purchase for repair/refund/exchange.

Best of luck,
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>

 

[ComputerGuy123454321]

Thank you guys for replying! I took it to a the technician for Microsoft and they couldn't figure out exactly what happened. I'm not exactly sure how to check the event log and forgot to ask them - though they did a lot of stuff to try to attempt to find the files. I do back up my computer every 2-3 months, unfortunately the last time I did it was Early June.

My computer (purchased it new 4 years ago) originally came with Windows 7.

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

Hi ComputerGuy,
Thanks for that reply. Did the Microsoft tech perform hardware testing of your RAM sticks and Hard Drive? If not, it's likely that is the cause of your problem with the failed AU update. You need to rule that out. Microsoft techs at Microsoft stores generally do not perform hardware testing; you need to take it to a chain store tech depot such as Best Buy Geek Squad or Staples TechTeam and pay them to do it. Or you can do it yourself and save some money. Here's how: Windows 10 - Unclickable Task Bar
Start reading my article at POST #6 under my username: BIGBEARJEDI. If you've never done hardware testing before, I suggest you print out all the instructions on a different working computer than the one you are trying to fix from the failed update. It's 6-8 pages.

It sounds like you did a pre-August 2nd update to your W7 machine and it failed. Possibly due to hard drive failure; as hard drives only last about 3 years in desktop PCs and only 2 years in laptops!!

When you installed the W7-->W10 upgrade, did you remember to run the W10 COMPATIBILITY TEST to check for incompatible or outdated hardware, apps, and drivers?? If not, your W10 upgrade may not have been done correctly, or you had some component fail as I mentioned above, RAM or HDD coincidentally. I see a lot of W7 machines in my repair shop with failed W10 upgrades, and the tell-tale sign is when a new weekly or monthly update comes in from Microsoft and scrambles the Customer's PC; leaving them with quite a nasty Data Recovery journey to take (and possibly very expensive). If you didn't run this, you are not alone as about 90% of my Customers don't run it or even know about it!
Here's the link on instructions on how to run it: Get Windows 10 app - Check Compatibility Report for Windows 10

What I would recommend to you is to pull that drive out of your PC and replace it with another brand new drive. You can do a Clean Install of W10 now that your upgrade has been recorded by Microsoft's Activation Servers using the MCT install tool here: Windows 10
That will allow you use of your PC in a couple of days or so.

As far as Data Recovery goes, you'll need to take that to a local licensed repair Tech at a reputable repair shop or a licensed independent Tech to attempt to get as much of your data back as possible. This will cost you about $35-$125 US or so. 2-3 times that outside of US. Fooling around with it yourself you'll be lucky to get back 15-20% of your stuff. Professionals can get 50-75% or so. If your drive has completely failed mechanically, such as it stops spinning when power is applied to it will require very very expensive Data Recovery and it must be sent out for that. Last one I did in May this year cost me $550. They were able to retrieve around 97% of the data from that broken drive.

Based on what you've said, you do not have your personal data (Library folders) backed up elsewhere?? Such as on external media or the Cloud online? If that's the case, you definitely don't want to proceed with attempting more aggressive data recovery and use programs you are not familiar with. Recuva is ok; but it won't get all your stuff back. That's gonna cost you some money sorry to tell you.

Lastly, it would be helpful to know which version of W10 you are running; use the Start--> <winlogo-key> + <winver> command to determine the exact version you have AND POST THAT RESULT BACK HERE. I seriously doubt you have the AU (Anniversary Update) version as it will not install through an update automatically. At this time it can only be installed by wiping your drive and doing a Clean Install from MCT media. Based on what you've told us, I also don't think you have a borked AU attempt either. We've only seen 2 of these since Aug. 2nd release of the AU update.

Sorry again your system got scrambled by the Update. I'm hoping you had some of your stuff backed up elsewhere. If you didn't I strongly urge you to look into buying some external media such as an external USB drive or Flash drive or Cloud drive account online, or using free Image Backup software in the future such as Macrium Reflectk, Acronis TrueImage, or EASETodo.

Let us know how it goes.
Best,
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>

 

[Neemobeer]

Can you dump the Windows Update log and post it? You need to run a powershell command to get it in Windows 10, it does not need an elevated prompt.

• Open powershell and type Get-WindowsUpdateLog -LogPath $env:\userprofile\desktop\wu.txt
• That should dump it to your desktop

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

If your looking for lost files try installing Agent Ransack a search engine that's far better then the one in Widows, then scan for any files that may be missing drive by drive.

If they are there Agent Ransack will find them, I've used it for years, I couldn't get along without it.

Agent Ransack - Download

You can search using any parameters that you want, so if you know part of a file name and the extension try that.

Example, I just searched for...

*.mp3

The * tells it to search for any file name with that extension.

And it found 1,389 file in less then 50 seconds.

Mike