Restarted After Refresh, all data gone

Neji

New Member
Messages
2
I've tried searching for similar cases but couldn't seem to find any. I decided to do a Windows refresh to fix a resolution issue on my second monitor and fix an issue where the PC could not communicate with the other monitor. After completing the refresh, I used the PC just fine for a few hours. I restarted because a program wasn't responding and upon restart, windows 8 decided to go through an "undoing changes" screen on boot for about 15-20 minutes.

After that, the PC was back to it's pre refresh state with all my programs installed, but none of them functioning because all program files, documents, and pretty much anything except for windows disappeared. Would there be any way of undoing this and getting the data back? It's a pretty hefty amount, close to 500 GB I believe and I had a lot of my video game saves.. a couple of hundred hours of work saved to this hard drive. If anyone has any more information I would be extremely grateful. Thank you.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
That's what "Refresh" means, it WIPES all of your Desktop apps and Data. What you needed to do was an In-Place install. Sorry, it's all gone.

You CAN use Mini-XP in Hiren's Boot CD plus "Recuva" and MAYBE you can restore some important files, but you cannot restore any apps using that. Not to mention, deep-scanning a 500 GB drive with "Recuva" WILL take the most part of a day, or longer. Once you get it populated, you can restore maybe 1 file or one folder, and then you will have to scan the drive for another 24 hours. Really don't know what to tell you about that, but if there is irrecoverable data on the drive, you will have to run Recuva several times. Don't bother with your saved games, those are way gone.

1) "Refresh" - Keeps your Metro apps, wipes all other data
1) "Restore" - Wipes ALL of it.

IN either case, you don't wanna run either of those unless you don't care about what's on the drive.

Always ask before you do a destructive operation on a system, we could have helped you fix trhe problem and not lose any Data or Programs.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
no according to what it says in , charms bar/ settings/ ,pc settings,/general , if you computer isn't working right you can refresh your pc without affecting you files,with out loosing data pics music ,videos ,ect ect ,i think maybe if you files aren't stored in the default location you will loose them haven't used it yet myself
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win8.1.1 enterprise
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Hinze57
    CPU
    AMD FX 6100 6core 3.30gHz
    Motherboard
    gigibyte ga-78lmy-s2p
    Memory
    4gig ddr3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radon hd5000 Series
    Sound Card
    onboard realtek hd
    Monitor(s) Displays
    19" viewsonic/ 22"Samsung
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    128gig ssd Kingston
    80gig WD 10000 rpm spinner
    Case
    micro
    Keyboard
    microsoft curve 200
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless M215
    Internet Speed
    high speed 20
    Browser
    ie 11
    Antivirus
    windows defender
    Other Info
    updated enterprise apr 2/14
That's what "Refresh" means, it WIPES all of your Desktop apps and Data. What you needed to do was an In-Place install. Sorry, it's all gone.

You CAN use Mini-XP in Hiren's Boot CD plus "Recuva" and MAYBE you can restore some important files, but you cannot restore any apps using that. Not to mention, deep-scanning a 500 GB drive with "Recuva" WILL take the most part of a day, or longer. Once you get it populated, you can restore maybe 1 file or one folder, and then you will have to scan the drive for another 24 hours. Really don't know what to tell you about that, but if there is irrecoverable data on the drive, you will have to run Recuva several times. Don't bother with your saved games, those are way gone.

1) "Refresh" - Keeps your Metro apps, wipes all other data
1) "Restore" - Wipes ALL of it.

IN either case, you don't wanna run either of those unless you don't care about what's on the drive.

Always ask before you do a destructive operation on a system, we could have helped you fix trhe problem and not lose any Data or Programs.

Hi, not trying to come off as rude or anything but I do work in a PC Support department and I've done refreshes many times, I know exactly what it does.

What a refresh should do is reinstall windows, but migrates all user data and program files into a Windows.Old folder in the C Drive which can easily be moved back, and that is exactly what it did initially. The refresh solved all issues and I had all my data back and moved back into their appropriate locations. What happened next is what perplexes me.

I restarted one more time after a few hours of use after the successful refresh and windows decided to go through an "Undoing changes" phase for no reason that I know of since I did not give it any so commands. When it rebooted once again, it actually re instilled all of my applications and programs, but in turn removed all the data. I would have been fine with reinstalling all my apps and redoing the settings after refresh but after the second restart, the windows.old folder did not exist and my C Drive says I have 850 GB free whereas I should have about 400GB or so.

I just have no idea where nearly 400 GB of data could have gone. Most of it was installed games and I could just redownload, although it will take ages. The more important thing (to me) is a couple of save files of the games I play, one in particular which I have about 130 hours of play time. If I can't find a way to undo this, I may look into doing a recuva for at least the save file(s)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
The refresh solved all issues and I had all my data back and moved back into their appropriate locations. What happened next is what perplexes me.

I restarted one more time after a few hours of use after the successful refresh and windows decided to go through an "Undoing changes" phase for no reason that I know of since I did not give it any so commands. When it rebooted once again, it actually re instilled all of my applications and programs, but in turn removed all the data.

I feel your pain. This is happening to me too.

At first glance, the "Refresh" did what I wanted. I got a working Windows 8 installation, and my old broken installation was in the "Windows.old" directory. So far so good.

Then after a reboot, I get an "Undoing changes" screen and I'm back to my pre-Refresh brokenness. The "Windows.old" folder is gone. And there's no evidence that the refresh ever happened.

I'll agree this behavior is perplexing. My research had me suspecting I was the only one suffering with these symptoms. This is the only thread I've found describing the same problem as myself. I have no fix for this brokenness. I just felt inclined to register and reply that you are not alone. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    Laptop
I dunno, this is pretty clear on the MS website:

How to restore, refresh, or reset your PC - Microsoft Windows Help

Warning


  • [FONT=WOL_Reg]The apps that came with your PC or you installed from [/FONT][FONT=WOL_Reg]Windows[/FONT][FONT=WOL_Reg] Store will be reinstalled, but any apps you installed from other websites and DVDs will be removed. [/FONT][FONT=WOL_Reg]Windows[/FONT][FONT=WOL_Reg] puts a list of the removed apps on your desktop after refreshing your PC.[/FONT]
  • Do you have a list of removed apps?

    But I seem to be wrong, only in that it claims to not delete your personal files. My other assessment, that it removes all of your desktop apps, would agree with what it says here. This is the primary reason why I've veered away from ever doing a "refresh", and that an In-Place Install would have been a better solution for your original problem. Make sure you are not in some kind of "Temporary Profile" - Open your Explorer to Users and look for a "user" named "Temp", and then look for your original user name. See if your personal files are in there.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
Ok, I understand your problem now, I think I see what happened:

I restarted one more time after a few hours of use after the successful refresh and windows decided to go through an "Undoing changes" phase for no reason that I know of since I did not give it any so commands. When it rebooted once again, it actually re instilled all of my applications and programs, but in turn removed all the data. I would have been fine with reinstalling all my apps and redoing the settings after refresh but after the second restart, the windows.old folder did not exist and my C Drive says I have 850 GB free whereas I should have about 400GB or so.

Did your system have any recovery partitions?

The Original Refresh would not have re-installed all of your apps. But if your system booted that second time to a recovery partition rather than your actual Windows 8 partition, then THAT process would have eradicated all of your personal files, this is why I delete recovery partitions at sight. I've been the victim of this kind of roll back myself, before I understood that the system was booting to recovery instead of the OS I had just installed, it wiped the OS I had just upgraded, and reinstalled Vista. Because the recovery partition was being seen as Drive C instead of the real OS. I've seen it happen on Windows 7 machines as well.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
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