Windows 10 - booted pc and all settings gone

[nismodrifter]

So I turned on my pc this morning

Looks like an update happened last time I shut it down

It took a very long time to power to windows

After typing my password in it then said "Preparing windows" and sat at that screen for like 2-3 minutes.

After logging in to windows all of my desktop icons are gone (except for google chrome and adobe light room....which were never on my desktop...weird)

I open up google chrome, all of my bookmarks are gone. All saved PW are gone.

My taskbar items are all gone (just IE there which I never use)


WTF happened?

Any insight would be appreciated. Especially retrieving my bookmarks!

[Seth1968]

Try System Restore.

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/4588-system-restore-windows-10-a.html

[Mitsu3000gt]

Possibly the anniversary update or whatever the last huge update they did - it reset a ton of my settings too.

[Seth1968]

^ Every other tech I know turns off auto updates, and none run an antivirus for that matter.

Both are equally useless, and are just prone to creating problems.

[firebane]

Originally posted by Seth1968
^ Every other tech I know turns off auto updates, and none run an antivirus for that matter.

Both are equally useless, and are just prone to creating problems.

You can't disable updates in windows 10. You can postpone them but eventually it just does them.

[Seth1968]

^ Right.

I forgot about the "no choice" W10 updates when I posted.

[Thaco]

it probably logged you on with a temporary profile because your main got corrupted.

[Mitsu3000gt]

I did postpone them thats why I got mine so late too. But you don't have any choice eventually.

[Seth1968]

I'm not running W10, but many people who do, also run Defender. Disabling the whole update service may work, but chances are, Defender won't be able to update.

https://www.cnet.com/forums/discussions/how-to-disable-windows-10-automatic-updates/

[nismodrifter]

Originally posted by Thaco
it probably logged you on with a temporary profile because your main got corrupted.

This is exactly what happened. Copied all the stuff over from my original profile and was back and running as usual within a few minutes.

Initial freakout this morning wasn't fun though haha, literally jaw dropped once I saw all my shit was missing.

Thanks for posting.

[nismodrifter]

Alright, so this has happened again. But this time my files appear to be GONE (300+ gigs worth)

wtf. previously, as mentioned above, windows made a temp profile, and all of my stuff was in there (desktop files etc)

this time, my desktop has cleared itself of all icons again, my windows settings remain intact, my bookmarks are still present, I can see the folders of the files on the "Quickaccess" bar in win explorer. But I can't open the folders ("the location is unavailable"

can't find them anywhere. I do have most of the stuff backed up on dropbox but what a pain in the ass this is.

I'll try a system restore :dunno:

signs of a bad hd?

[Thaco]

Originally posted by nismodrifter
Alright, so this has happened again. But this time my files appear to be GONE (300+ gigs worth)

wtf. previously, as mentioned above, windows made a temp profile, and all of my stuff was in there (desktop files etc)

this time, my desktop has cleared itself of all icons again, my windows settings remain intact, my bookmarks are still present, I can see the folders of the files on the "Quickaccess" bar in win explorer. But I can't open the folders ("the location is unavailable"

can't find them anywhere. I do have most of the stuff backed up on dropbox but what a pain in the ass this is.

I'll try a system restore :dunno:

signs of a bad hd?

system restore wont help restore files, do you have a secondary hard drive? (possibly your user profile is stored there for whatever reason and that drive has failed) does the free space on your drive line up with "missing" files or that the files are still there somewhere? I really cant see your stuff vanishing for no reason, unless you have some sort of virus or malware or exploit allowing someone else access to your machine.

Are your files in c:/users/(yourname) ??

[revelations]

Originally posted by nismodrifter
signs of a bad hd?

Possible, but a bug or two is probably more likely.

[Seth1968]

Have you tried an actual search for the files? If not, search "This PC", and not just the C drive.

The whole point of my original suggestion to run system restore was to repair the registry and your user account / profile. I'm suspecting a failed update that messed up the registry.

[carson blocks]

Corrupt user profile? Find and back up your data and recreate the profile? Just an idea.

[Seth1968]

Originally posted by nismodrifter


this time, my desktop has cleared itself of all icons again, my windows settings remain intact, my bookmarks are still present, I can see the folders of the files on the "Quickaccess" bar in win explorer. But I can't open the folders ("the location is unavailable"


The file shortcuts won't open the files as Windows created a new profile due to a damaged registry / file system.

A system restore should clear that up.