A problem that can occur (now I don't know how often) after a computer update to Windows 10 is the disappearance of some personal files which, in theory, should never have been moved. If important files disappear, this could panic less prudent and less experienced people, especially if they persevere in the terrible and guilty mistake of not making a backup of these files on an external disk.
Be that as it may, if there are missing or missing files or that appear to have been deleted after installing Windows 10, let's see here how to recover them .
1) First of all, do a search for the disappeared files using Windows search or better yet using special program to search for files on Windows .
2) Look at the Windows.old folder to recover files after reinstalling Windows .
As already written in another article, in Windows 7, Windows 8 and even after upgrading to Windows 10, no files are deleted from the installation procedure and even if everything seems to be back as on a new PC, the personal files that seem gone should have been saved in a special folder called Windows.old .
Personal files such as documents, photos, music, videos and desktops can easily be found in the Windows.old \ Users \% Username% folder.
These files can then be moved where you want, maybe even in the current document folders that are empty.
If you do not see the Windows.old folder and its contents, activate deactivate the option for hidden folders.
From the menu at the top of the folder, click on View and activate the " Hidden items " option.
3) Make sure you are logged in with your profile and not with a temporary account or another account.
In fact, every user of a Windows PC only displays his own personal files, unless he is an administrator.
4) Check if the files are locked in some disabled administrator account
Perhaps, after upgrading to Windows 10, the files were moved to an administrator account which may have been disabled later.
To verify this anomaly, open Computer Management (finding it with a search from the system tray or from the Start menu), then go to System Tools -> Local Users and Groups -> Users .
Check if there is any unrecognized account or an account with Administrator name and the down arrow indicating that the account has been disabled.
Double click on it, open the Properties and uncheck the Account disabled option.
Press Apply / OK, exit, restart the computer and log in with this account to see if the files appear.
Repeat the same procedure for other disabled accounts that may be present.
NOTE: Deleting a user account from the computer management screen will delete all the personal files saved by that account, so better not to do it unless you are really sure.
5) check every possible folder where the files may have been moved after installing the new operating system.
If these four folders exist, see if there are any lost files inside them
% SYSTEMDRIVE% \ $ INPLACE. ~ TR \
% SYSTEMDRIVE% \ $ INPLACE. ~ TR \ Machine \ Data \ Documents and Settings \\
% SYSTEMDRIVE% \ $ WINDOWS. ~ Q \
% SYSTEMDRIVE% \ $ WINDOWS. ~ Q \ Data \ Documents and Settings \\
Instead of username, put the name of your account as seen from the C: \ Users folder.
To first verify the existence of these folders and view their contents, press the windows-R keys together, then in the Run window paste the various paths one by one.
This is applicable in the event that the update was unsuccessful or in the event of incomplete data migration.
Obviously these are hidden and system elements that must be made visible in the folder -> View options .
6) In the event that you are unable to locate your personal files, right-click on the flag of the Windows 10 Start menu and use the command prompt from the administrator to perform a check on the entire disk and search for the files missing data .
For example, to search for all images, type the following commands one after the other:
CD\
dir * .jpg / a / s>% userprofile% \ desktop \ files-jpg.txt
Once it has completed, open the files-jpg.txt file located on the desktop and check the list of all image files found on drive C:
If you can find the location where the files were copied, recover them and put them in an easier to access folder.
7) Ultimately, try one of the programs to recover deleted files and see what is found.
