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Need some help... lost files.
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Jul 21, 2018 08:26:47   #
DIRTY HARRY Loc: Hartland, Michigan
 
This morning I came down and opened my computer and to my horror I found that all my files, documents, and photos in my "Download", "Documents", and "Photos" files were completely gone. No programs were bothered nor anything on my external hard drives, thumb drives, or SD cards that I was working with. An extensive search and use of recovery programs indicates that they are completely gone.. as though I never had anything there in the first place. I guess the only help you can offer is the July and August editions of the Challenge Calendar. Thanks

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Jul 21, 2018 08:30:10   #
AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!
 
Oh how awful? Did you have a backup of your hard drive? Would they be there?

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Jul 21, 2018 08:33:19   #
jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY
 
DIRTY HARRY wrote:
This morning I came down and opened my computer and to my horror I found that all my files, documents, and photos in my "Download", "Documents", and "Photos" files were completely gone. No programs were bothered nor anything on my external hard drives, thumb drives, or SD cards that I was working with. An extensive search and use of recovery programs indicates that they are completely gone.. as though I never had anything there in the first place. I guess the only help you can offer is the July and August editions of the Challenge Calendar. Thanks
This morning I came down and opened my computer an... (show quote)


Is your home built over a cemetery? : )

I can't imagine how that could happen on its own.

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Jul 21, 2018 08:36:58   #
Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States
 
Did you look in the recycle bin?

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Jul 21, 2018 08:41:07   #
jmizera Loc: Austin Texas
 
Is it possible that your computer is logged in as a different user account? If so, they would still be under C:\users\[username] More than one folder here would be a clue. If they were deleted, they should have been in the recycle bin, unless is was dumped since.

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Jul 21, 2018 08:42:05   #
DIRTY HARRY Loc: Hartland, Michigan
 
Yes.. My son is some kid of computer jock and he could find no (zero) indication that they were ever there or anywhere on my computer. I think I had a Windows update during the night... who knows what that did to me



Longshadow wrote:
Did you look in the recycle bin?

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Jul 21, 2018 08:43:10   #
DIRTY HARRY Loc: Hartland, Michigan
 
I'm the only user...
jmizera wrote:
Is it possible that your computer is logged in as a different user account? If so, they would still be under C:\users\[username] More than one folder here would be a clue. If they were deleted, they should have been in the recycle bin, unless is was dumped since.

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Jul 21, 2018 08:44:40   #
markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ
 
Harry,
Sorry to hear that. I agree with Jerry. It's hard to imagine that happening. I assume you did reboot. Don't give up! There must be some explanation and solution.
Mark
DIRTY HARRY wrote:
This morning I came down and opened my computer and to my horror I found that all my files, documents, and photos in my "Download", "Documents", and "Photos" files were completely gone. No programs were bothered nor anything on my external hard drives, thumb drives, or SD cards that I was working with. An extensive search and use of recovery programs indicates that they are completely gone.. as though I never had anything there in the first place. I guess the only help you can offer is the July and August editions of the Challenge Calendar. Thanks
This morning I came down and opened my computer an... (show quote)

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Jul 21, 2018 09:02:49   #
jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY
 
DIRTY HARRY wrote:
I think I had a Windows update during the night... who knows what that did to me


A Win10 update a few months ago damaged the Win10 on an older machine. My only alternative was to buy a new copy of Windows. Now the computer sits gathering dust.

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Jul 21, 2018 09:11:18   #
anotherview Loc: California
 
Try System Restore. This program restores your computer system to a previous status.

Supposedly, however, SR does not touch documents, pictures, and data.

I offer this suggestion anyhow because maybe, just maybe, some kind of system fluke occurred which affected your files.

Good luck.
DIRTY HARRY wrote:
This morning I came down and opened my computer and to my horror I found that all my files, documents, and photos in my "Download", "Documents", and "Photos" files were completely gone. No programs were bothered nor anything on my external hard drives, thumb drives, or SD cards that I was working with. An extensive search and use of recovery programs indicates that they are completely gone.. as though I never had anything there in the first place. I guess the only help you can offer is the July and August editions of the Challenge Calendar. Thanks
This morning I came down and opened my computer an... (show quote)

Reply
Jul 21, 2018 09:11:25   #
Zack_W Loc: Urbana, Illinois
 
I would suggest removing the hard drive and looking at it as a secondary drive on another computer. That will not do any additional damage unless it was a virus that did it. There are programs of varying costs and capabilities that can look for files that are "deleted." Nothing is ever completely deleted. In the old days, files that were "erased" were simply renamed with a ? replacing the very first character in the file name. Not sure how later versions of Windows do it, but they have to be there even if Windows is designed not to recognize them.


DIRTY HARRY wrote:
This morning I came down and opened my computer and to my horror I found that all my files, documents, and photos in my "Download", "Documents", and "Photos" files were completely gone. No programs were bothered nor anything on my external hard drives, thumb drives, or SD cards that I was working with. An extensive search and use of recovery programs indicates that they are completely gone.. as though I never had anything there in the first place. I guess the only help you can offer is the July and August editions of the Challenge Calendar. Thanks
This morning I came down and opened my computer an... (show quote)

Reply
 
 
Jul 21, 2018 09:12:16   #
jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY
 
Zack_W wrote:
I would suggest removing the hard drive and looking at it as a secondary drive on another computer. That will not do any additional damage unless it was a virus that did it. There are programs of varying costs and capabilities that can look for files that are "deleted." Nothing is ever completely deleted. In the old days, files that were "erased" were simply renamed with a ? replacing the very first character in the file name. Not sure how later versions of Windows do it, but they have to be there even if Windows is designed not to recognize them.
I would suggest removing the hard drive and lookin... (show quote)

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Jul 21, 2018 09:17:29   #
jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY
 
Zack_W wrote:
I would suggest removing the hard drive and looking at it as a secondary drive on another computer. That will not do any additional damage unless it was a virus that did it. There are programs of varying costs and capabilities that can look for files that are "deleted." Nothing is ever completely deleted. In the old days, files that were "erased" were simply renamed with a ? replacing the very first character in the file name. Not sure how later versions of Windows do it, but they have to be there even if Windows is designed not to recognize them.
I would suggest removing the hard drive and lookin... (show quote)


My computers have a C drive for OS and programs and a D drive for all data. Still, if something was going to eliminate all data, it probably doesn't matter where it's stored. I hope this mystery gets solved. If it were my drive, I would copy it and replace it and find a way to solve this mystery.

Norton - now Symantec - made his fortune by discovering that the Greek letter sigma was substituted for the first letter of a filename when the file was deleted. He developed a program that would search for sigma and suggest other letters to recreate the filename.

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Jul 21, 2018 09:24:07   #
DIRTY HARRY Loc: Hartland, Michigan
 
We check all files on the computer and only found a black screen and this message "No supported files in the selected folder". I had a couple of photos stored on my desk top and those are gone as well.

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Jul 21, 2018 09:28:42   #
jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY
 
DIRTY HARRY wrote:
We check all files on the computer and only found a black screen and this message "No supported files in the selected folder". I had a couple of photos stored on my desk top and those are gone as well.


I don't recall seeing "supported" in that situation. When I click on an empty folder, I get, "This folder is empty." Have you tried to see hidden files?

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/14201/windows-show-hidden-files
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4028316/windows-view-hidden-files-and-folders-in-windows-10

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