Question Back-up issues

[bistrita]

I had made a full back-up of my system (documents, files, etc) from SSD on an external HDD (via USB3). The important files and folders, I have checked the original folder against the back-up folder to have the same size, the number of bits, files, etc.

Before the back-up, I had used for a while Windows OneDrive for cloud computing but was disabled for a while before the bak-up. All files and folders saved on an SSD during the OneDrive being disabled.

After deleting the partitions on the SSD, I have clean installed Windows 10 on the SSD, and upon login in the Windows OneDrive reactivated and changed the destination of saving files from the local SSD on to One Drive.

I have reconnected the external HDD to restore the files and folder. However, a number of files and folders are missing from the back-up without any explanation. The period in question is about 3 months, during which 1/3 or files are missing in no particular order of files being created and saved, title, or format - mainly word, pdf and jpeg. Files created on the same day, some are found some are missing.

What can cause the loss of files? Cand they be recovered from the external HDD (USB3) - no further files were written on the HDD.

Any suggestion is welcomed.

 

[Lutfij]

Ideally it's advised to manually select the folders for backup onto an external drive without the aid of a backup utility since it can often go awry. I could advise you to run Recuva but your mileage can and will vary.

 

[bistrita]

Hi.

The back up was done manually, I have selected all folders in MyDocuments, then each important folder was selected and checked to have equal values both on C drive and on the back-up.
I have used Recuva on the external drive to check for lost files, but very inconclusive and not reliable.