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

[Kr3eM]

www.windowscentral.com

Microsoft has pulled the Windows 10 October 2018 Update from Windows Update and its media creation website as it investigates issues with the update deleting users files upon install. Users first started reporting that their documents folder had gone missing after an upgrade to the October 2018 Update a few days ago, and Microsoft has since confirmed that it is looking into the issue.

For now, until the issue is fixed, the October 2018 Update has been pulled. It is no longer available for download officially, and there is no word on when it will be made available again. This is the second time Microsoft has had a major issue with a new feature update for Windows 10, the first of which happened earlier this year with the April 2018 Update, which resulted in a three week delay.

[Kr3eM]

I can confirm, my documents and images have disappeared from one of my computers.

Do you by any chance have the Storage Sense turned on and set to let Windows 10 automatically manage space? Or do anyone who has not got any missing files after update have this enabled?

Asking because one of the new "features" of the update was

Storage Sense can now switch files to "online-only" if they haven't been accessed after a certain number of days, saving space on your local disk

[sprnva]

No issues on my Windows machine. This isn't my DAW but my "everything else" PC.

[Aloysius]

On Windows 10, enabling Storage Sense is a straightforward process:

Open Settings.
Click on System.
Click on Storage.
Turn on the Storage sense toggle switch.

Bloomin'eck. I turned it off.

[Kr3eM]

Is there official Microsoft statement about it? Please, post if you see it. Thanks.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/hel ... te-history

[Mushy Mushy]

I know I'm asking for trouble with this question but these documents aren't lost are they? They've just been moved to OneDrive. So you can copy them back?

[mcbpete]

I think I've just worked out why I can't update ..... *If* it's duplicating the user folder into some sort of backup folder (windows.old\users) in order to be able to restore it later, and my user folder is >100gb (my Ableton user library is stored in there) then I'm gonna need at least 200gb space to update! (I've only about 120gb free)

This was *exactly* the problem ...

So Ableton users (or any other folks with a *lot* of stuff stored in their user profile!) - When you update to 1809 it duplicates the users directory into a backup (Windows.old\users) folder so it can restore it during the update. That means you'll need to make sure you have both enough space for the update process itself (I'd say 50gb to be safe) PLUS the size of your size of your existing users folder.

I just moved the Ableton user folder into a temp directory outside the user profile so it didn't duplicate it and that was enough space for the update to work correctly. Nothing vanished from User folder either so yay.

[Kr3eM]

I know I'm asking for trouble with this question but these documents aren't lost are they? They've just been moved to OneDrive. So you can copy them back?

From what I've read that's not always possible and probably why Microsoft pulled the update. It could very well be this service/function that are the root of the whole problem.

It only takes a simple misstake for such a thing to happen, all automatic and so called Ai services/functions are subjects for this kind of thing, what I mean by that is that when some parameter is missbehaving (report incorrect data, fail to check certain paramameters and so on) it can have huge consequenses when other programs are using that information to decide what action to take...or the other way around, it doesn't check a certain parameter.

[BMoore]

Maybe it deletes warez.

In the Documents?

Yes. It’s a download folder for many users there. Keep up.

[Mushy Mushy]

I know I'm asking for trouble with this question but these documents aren't lost are they? They've just been moved to OneDrive. So you can copy them back?

From what I've read that's not always possible and probably why Microsoft pulled the update. It could very well be this service/function that are the root of the whole problem.

It only takes a simple misstake for such a thing to happen, all automatic and so called Ai services/functions are subjects for this kind of thing, what I mean by that is that when some parameter is missbehaving (report incorrect data, fail to check certain paramameters and so on) it can have huge consequenses when other programs are using that information to decide what action to take...or the other way around, it doesn't check a certain parameter.

Thanks for the clarification. I have taken all necessary precautions to be safe

[Kr3eM]

Thanks for the clarification. I have taken all necessary precautions to be safe

No problem. Personally I do my best not to run anything with automated execution no matter if it is backups, cleanups or scheduled tasks that can have anything to do with my personal data/files/projects that has the authorization to delete files...or even move them for that matter.

The whole automated cloud service is out of the users control and if some bug decides to keep the files in the cloud only and deleting from disk then next, because of the bug, it could synchronize the now empty folders to the cloud as well and then the files are actually really gone forever.

[chk071]

Maybe it deletes warez.

In the Documents?

Yes. It’s a download folder for many users there. Keep up.

For people who don't know about the Download folder, maybe. Every browser you install points per default to the Downloads folder. Keep up, brother.

[ENV1]

I haven't lost anything major...

Right. Just privacy, security, and control of what is yours.
Everything on your computer
is now the property of various microsoft employees.
Trustworthy or otherwise. You are utterly powerless
to limit what they do with it.

Did you ever read what good men have died for?

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated"

Exactly. Yet a lot of people today couldnt care less about any of that. They seem to be so well indoctrinated that they go along with virtually ANYTHING, even though it is so obvious that doing so will only help to perpetuate the status quo and the general direction in which everything is currently going. You think they have tightened the screws now? Commandeered the computer you own and payed for to such a degree that you cant even be sure that it will still operate the next day and/or that your data are still where you left them? Just wait and see how things will look in 10 years if you continue to accept and/or acquiesce in everything they throw at you. Prediction: It will not get better for the users.

But this crap has to end. It just has to. I mean, seriously, an Operating System that is basically an eternal construction site? Where anything can change at any time in any unforeseeable way? Where 'updates' (read changes) are being forced upon you whether you like it or not? Where you are at constant risk of failure because something might go wrong? Where you have to keep fixing things for who knows how long every time such an update screws up the computer? Where not even your data are safe anymore and might just go poof? Like oops, sorry pal, little glitch there but im sure the stuff has to be somewhere? GOOD LORD! Thats the precise antithesis, diametrically opposed, to what an OS should really be, namely a stable and therefore reliable piece of software to operate your computer and use your applications with. IMO this crap alone is reason enough to tell MS to get lost until they come up with a better plan, but of course the crap doesnt end there. (Theres always more, isnt there.)

Like peoples private computers compulsorily sending all sorts of private data to who knows whom so they can use it any way they want and even make profit from it? Are you kidding me? And its not just homecomputers either. 10 years ago such violation of privacy would have been grounds for a lawsuit. And today people have no choice but to consent to this? Agree or get lost? Nothing gunpointy about that method eh? Its downright surreal, virtually unbelievable, yet many people actually accept this, or at least acquiesce in it, in other words go along with it. Gotta have that latest and greatest OS and software right? Who cares that you are basically inviting them to come up with even more crap of this sort in the process? Or does anyone seriously believe that MS and others who are on a similar course right now see any reason to change anything about the way they are going when all goes so perfectly well for them? I sure hope not, because from a probability point of view it is infinitely more likely that they will keep pushing and pushing, little by little, always as much as they can get away with at the time, until full godmode is achieved and the only privilege that you as the user have anymore is to pay for the hardware and the 'service' called OS which you have little or no control over anymore because it will turn your computer into little more than a console, you know, like a PlayStation or an X-Box, while at the same time it will serve as a great data collection device for all parties interested.

Think about it. They have you marked for exploitation. All of you. Because data has become the oil of the 21st century, and they sure want to tap those rigs. (No pun intended.) Ergo they want as much control over them as they can get away with. The only way out of this mess it to tell them to get lost unless they accept and honor the fact that your computer is your computer and that you insist on having full control over it and also that your private data are (literally) none of their damn business. And this means doing no further business with them until they get off the godmode trip. No sales, no income, no company. Change or die. The power is with the people so you might as well use it. Unlike the guys back then you wont even need to wear a uniform...

[toonertik]

The only way out of this mess it to tell them to get lost unless they accept and honor the fact that your computer is your computer and that you insist on having full control over it and also that your private data are (literally) none of their damn business. And this means doing no further business with them until they get off the godmode trip. No sales, no income, no company. Change or die. The power is with the people so you might as well use it. Unlike the guys back then you wont even need to wear a uniform...

Unfortunately I don't hold up much hope...
Life has shown me how many sheep masquerade as humans...
bhaaa bhaaa>> to the slaughter house!

[chk071]

Funny how easily you can trigger the usual suspect to go offtopic with a thread like this.