[SOLVED] Lost all personal files after updating to windows 11

[mitchellbrianfox]

I lost. All personal files after updating to windows 11. Theocracy health check said I met the requirements for windows 11. Everything else seems fine in windows 11 functioning, but all files in my documents music and pictures were lost. It appears like I am logged in as me, so not using temp profile as far as I know. I signed out, shut down, logged in with no change. Any ideas how I can recover those files on the pc? Ithanks.

 

[punkncat]

Look in C drive for Windows.old.
Your files may be located in there under user.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

is there any *.old folder located in the OS root directory?

 

[COLGeek]

What is "Theocracy health check "? Do you mean PC health check?

What are the specs for this rig?

Are your previous applications installed and functioning?

 

[USAFRet]

Sigh....

Before ANY major change on your system, backup backup backup.
Hardware, software, whatever.

The sig pic below is relevant here.

 

[USAFRet]

How, specifically, did you do this upgrade to Win11?
Step by step, please.

 

[mitchellbrianfox]

summarizing answers to all the rplies:

1. I did the windows insider preview health check after downloading the health check application for 64 bit

Windows Insider Preview PC Health Check Application (microsoft.com)

1. After it said my machine was eligible, I downloaded the windows 11 installation assistant

Download Windows 11 (microsoft.com) and then did the download and ran the installation file


3. Yes, it looks like all my previous applications are still here

4. there is a windows.old in my windows directory. it doesn't have any files in it.

Thanks to all

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

there is a windows.old in my windows directory. it doesn't have any files in it.

right-click on the folder and check the properties for size.

 

[mitchellbrianfox]

proerties of windows.old says 33,3 gb 447,114 Files, 153,174 Folders but i don't see anything in the folder

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

proerties of windows.old says 33,3 gb 447,114 Files, 153,174 Folders but i don't see anything in the folder

so your files are there but some type of authorization is not allowing you to view or access them.

make sure hidden files are shown, make sure you have ownership of these folders, etc...

 

[mitchellbrianfox]

but when i look in the windows.old folder, in the propertie of the users/Mitch (my name) there are no files and 0 gb

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

properties of windows.old says 33,3 gb 447,114 Files, 153,174 Folders but i don't see anything in the folder...

when i look in the windows.old folder, in the properties of the users/Mitch (my name) there are no files and 0 gb

so you can access the files/folders in Windows.old location but the User folders are empty?

check deeper into the Windows 11 User folder(C:\Users) for somewhere else your files may have been relocated to.

if you still cannot locate them take it up with Microsoft support.
it's possible this is a known issue and they have some simple solution for where the files have been located.

if you updated through one of MS' upgrade tools and you still have the option to restore your previous 10 installation from inside Windows 11's Recovery options,
just do that and wait to upgrade after you have properly backed up your data.

 

[Endre]

I lost. All personal files after updating to windows 11. Theocracy health check said I met the requirements for windows 11. Everything else seems fine in windows 11 functioning, but all files in my documents music and pictures were lost. It appears like I am logged in as me, so not using temp profile as far as I know. I signed out, shut down, logged in with no change. Any ideas how I can recover those files on the pc? Ithanks.

Hello!

There are ways to recover your files.
Programs like Wondershare Recoverit can scan your PC & let you recover your lost files.
But it’s not free!

<My advice>
Please create 2 separate partitions: one for the OS, and one for your personal files, so you won’t lose those files at future Windows reinstalls.

<Advice #2>
Please backup your personal files on a different storage space too (an external HDD, DVDs, or cloud service).

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

Wondershare Recoverit

is for recovering files off of a damaged disk or deleted partitions.
not for finding and accessing files that already exist on your drive but may have been misplaced.

and if an OS or other files have been written over the location where the previous files were located you cannot recover that data.

 

[Endre]

is for recovering files off of a damaged disk or deleted partitions.
not for finding and accessing files that already exist on your drive but may have been misplaced.

and if an OS or other files have been written over the location where the previous files were located you cannot recover that data.

By “lost files” I understand files that the user has no access to anymore.

Recoverit will scan the PC and will post on the screen what it found.
If the user is satisfied with those findings, then he/she will pay to recover those files.
If Recoverit did not find anything worth paying for, then the user won’t have to pay anything.

I’d give it a try anyway.

 

[mitchellbrianfox]

Thanks to all. I downgraded back to windows 10 successfullly and the files were not there. So they must have “disappeared“ at some point previously. So I updated again to windows 11. I will try to find the files on one of my old hard drives. But hopefully I have learned my lesson. Can anyone recommend inexpensive or free software windows 11 compatible that I can configur to regularly back up selected files or folder?

 

[USAFRet]

Can anyone recommend inexpensive or free software windows 11 compatible that I can configur to regularly back up selected files or folder?

I use Macrium Reflect.
The free version works just fine.

What is your backup situation at home?

What is your backup situation at home? And if you don't do that, why not? Every single day, I read multiple threads here of "How do I get my stuff back?" or "That drive had 5 years of photos of my kids!!" Be it a dead drive, dropped phone, virus, accidental deletion, formatting the wrong...

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