Lost all data after os upgrade

[mariogamer9]

I got windows 8.1 to upgrade my windows 8 laptop and I noticed after the upgrade all my files were gone, including word,pdf,office and alot of software that cost around 100$. How do I get my files back?

 

[smorizio]

did you boot from the disk and tell it to install it fresh.?? if the upgrade is done right all your files should be there and your programs. look on your hard drive for wind.ol or wind.bak folder that would be your old files. you should be able to do a system restore and roll back if the update was done right. if the disk wipe your partion out or you did then all of your old data is gone.

 

[USAFRet]

Win 8 to Win 8.1 is a free upgrade through the MS Store. It should not have wiped out any files or applications.
But, as always, you should prepare for it things go sideways.

How did you do this upgrade from 8 to 8.1?

 

[mariogamer9]

So if your a student, with the windows insider program you can get lots of software free and thats how I got windows 8.1

 

[ss202sl]

Here's the official upgrade instructions - from Microsoft. Even though they say that the upgrade should not wipe any data, the first step in part 2 has you prepare your system by backing up all your data - because sometimes all your data gets wiped.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/update-from-windows-8-tutorial