Win 10 Oct update deletes files in user folder- should we panic?

[Mushy Mushy]

A colleague at work infected me with the flu two weeks ago and then last week I was discussing the imminent 1809 update which he promptly installed. Anyway it has now screwed his PC up

That’s payback!

[Kr3eM]

Issues don't just happen to pop up out of nowhere, even though it may sometimes appear that they are.

True, and neither does users emotional outrage response. Just saying.

[chk071]

Issues don't just happen to pop up out of nowhere, even though it may sometimes appear that they are.

True, and neither does users emotional outrage response. Just saying.

I can understand people are annoyed with losing their files, BUT... software is a complex thing, and, as the issue slipped past testers and insiders (i think it was reported before, but, not high on the agenda, because obviously it happened so rarely), you can imagine how widespread it is.

[MFXxx]

I must say this is why I dont like any apps fully integrated with my desktop and likewise phones (so wont be using the send text from your desktop addition). It's just opening up a whole for security breaches and errors. Whilst I use google-drive syncing with phone, it seems far less prone to these type of issues than with an app like one drive forced on users, inviting data loss. But that said, encryption options and any in the data realm is volatile.
Losing gigabtyts of data people have reportedly posted, I can not help but be concerned how people dont take prcautions or know how to when handling such quantities of data, that also have worth/value.

On a music production side, has anyone noticed issues with audio drop
ping out/issues with samplerates. Just curious

[chk071]

OneDrive is as forced to as Google Drive on your Android. You don't have to use it. You don have to set up a Microsoft account to use Windows 10 either.

You can also prevent the OneDrive app from auto-starting (it's in the settings of the app), and you don't have to use your cloud space at all. Regarding the "error prone": I haven't had a single situation where files vanished from either OneDrive or Google Drive, and, didn't have any issues where servers didn't respond either. Not trying to sell it to you, just stating my experiences with it.

I never used to be much of a cloud user either, it's just so damn comfortable. I use it to send files to my other computers, to upload pictures from my smartphone, to edit them on PC, to upload files so i can share them with friends etc. Also wouldn't want to live with browser favorites, settings, and tab sync anymore.

[robotmonkey]

Issues don't just happen to pop up out of nowhere, even though it may sometimes appear that they are.

True, and neither does users emotional outrage response. Just saying.

I can understand people are annoyed with losing their files, BUT... software is a complex thing, and, as the issue slipped past testers and insiders (i think it was reported before, but, not high on the agenda, because obviously it happened so rarely), you can imagine how widespread it is.

Actually, the consensus among the IT crowd seems to indicate that the issues is both serious and widespread. I'm quite well informed what goes on in enterprise IT and the reports come in all over the place from clients to colleagues to news channels.

That it was not fixed indicates only that the Windows 10 feedback hub is just a place where bug reports go to die, not that the issues was not serious. It seems that there were actually many reports regarding this but it seems that these reports were just ignored.

Also, on Windows, even couple of percent of users affected would mean millions of users.

[metamorphosis]

Issues don't just happen to pop up out of nowhere, even though it may sometimes appear that they are.

True, and neither does users emotional outrage response. Just saying.

I can understand people are annoyed with losing their files, BUT... software is a complex thing, and, as the issue slipped past testers and insiders (i think it was reported before, but, not high on the agenda, because obviously it happened so rarely), you can imagine how widespread it is.

No. This is a serious issue that should've been caught in internal beta, and there are no excuses.

[chk071]

No. This is a serious issue that should've been caught in internal beta, and there are no excuses.

No, it shouldn't. Yet it did. Another indicator of how "widespread" this is. You'd think that if it happened on at least 1 out of 9 computers, it would have become apparent. They pulled the update after very few days though, so it shouldn't have affected too many people. Additionally to the obvious fact that it only happens on certain configurations. As i mentioned above, there are indications that it has to do with the OneDrive app configuration, or the folder protection of Windows 10.

BTW, i'm not sure where you get it from that i try to "excuse" it. I'm not Microsoft, so, why would i excuse anything? Just trying to put things into perspective, where they are blown up.

[Kr3eM]

You'd think that if it happened on at least 1 out of 9 computers, it would have become apparent.

Sure, one would likely think so...

https://www.extremetech.com/computing/2 ... -that-word

Why are so many of these bugs slipping through the cracks? Microsoft doesn’t recommend testing Insider Previews on your daily driver (for good reason). But this means the majority of testing actually takes place within virtual machines (VMs). Most VMs don’t concern themselves with supporting USB peripherals, at least not beyond the minimal level required to interface with a device. Testing virtualization within an already-virtualized OS might make for interesting Inception layers (if you’re a really geeky person, anyway), but how many people practically test software in this fashion? If the patterns we’ve seen are any indication, not many. And since Microsoft fired a significant percentage of the QA team that used to be responsible for finding and fixing these bugs, it’s not catching them internally the way it used to.

[DarkStar]

They pulled the update after very few days though, so it shouldn't have affected too many people.

But how about all those users who did not / cannot defer Windows Updates?

[BertKoor]

Having a backup of your important personal files is the key. Preferably not somewhere in the cloud, but on a portable drive. Disaster can happen any time. Your main drive can malfunction, or you can get hit by ransomware, or the OS update borks up. You never know what's going to happen

[chk071]

They pulled the update after very few days though, so it shouldn't have affected too many people.

But how about all those users who did not / cannot defer Windows Updates?

The rollout happens batchwise. Unless you manually bumped the update, or updated with a USB stick, it is unlikely you get the update in the very first days. That's also my experience, that i usually got the update 5 or 6 days after the launch.

[Kr3eM]

Backup arguments and so put aside, it's still no excuse for poor management and quality control.

And for the argument you never know when sh*t goes south, my response is that while it's true, there are things we know of for a fact that have potential to f*ck up and that we actually have the means and skills to minimize and even prevent. As an example, take the time things actually need to be done properly.

There's no excuses when a pattern emerges and it becomes a standard or accepted norm. That said, there's a lot of possible causes, like lack of skills, dedication, recklessness and many more.

Personally I know it's humanly possible to do better and I would like to believe that a company like MS with all resources have the potential to do so. Anyone defending MS at this point is not doing anyone a favor. Now if the main problem is a matter of incompetence or due to (anti consumer) priorities is a whole other question.


https://twitter.com/WithinRafael/status ... 917363713/

Link only available for members of Windows Insider Program.
https://insider.windows.com/en-us/fb/?c ... b-redirect

[Kr3eM]

Not sure how likely this is to work (a little late and seems to be basic public damage control, but I digress). Posted for those who might be in need.

https://www.engadget.com/2018/10/08/mic ... files-fix/

Microsoft has pledged to rescue those all-important personal files that its most recent Windows 10 update contrived to consume. The company was forced to halt the rollout of its October 2018 upgrades when users started complaining that their documents, music and images were disappearing.

According to Dona Sarkar, who runs the Windows Insider Program, users who have been affected by the crisis need stop using their machine, and contact Microsoft directly. In a tweet, Sarkar said that technical support teams "have the tools to get you back to a good state."

[robotmonkey]

Not sure how likely this is to work (a little late and seems to be basic public damage control, but I digress). Posted for those who might be in need.

https://www.engadget.com/2018/10/08/mic ... files-fix/

Microsoft has pledged to rescue those all-important personal files that its most recent Windows 10 update contrived to consume. The company was forced to halt the rollout of its October 2018 upgrades when users started complaining that their documents, music and images were disappearing.

According to Dona Sarkar, who runs the Windows Insider Program, users who have been affected by the crisis need stop using their machine, and contact Microsoft directly. In a tweet, Sarkar said that technical support teams "have the tools to get you back to a good state."

Microsoft first level support has no idea what those tools are. They are also giving out very dubious advice that's bordering on incompetence. The first thing they recommend you to do is to run System Restore and restore to previous state. This is a very bad idea and shows that the lower level tech support has absolutely no idea what's going on. System Restore does not even touch user's files and doing a system restore will only exaggerate the problem because it will overwrite more of the disk space.

The first thing one should do is to run a file recovery software.