tonight i hopped on my computer and every file i had put on it since october of 2021 (when i built it and transferred all my files from the previous PC to this one) have been wiped completely. the specific drive that was wiped was the SSD on my motherboard, which has my current Windows 10 installation on it.
i don’t even know if there’s a fix for this. but i can’t find a single other source online talking about this, so i just need to know if i can even restore my files.
the computer is currently in the exact state it was back on the night that i built it, with the exact same programs i had installed at the time reinstalled with their exact settings restored as well.
i just lost two years worth of art. please, if there is any way to fix this i need to know.
Windows updates do not wipe entire drives.
Look for a windows.old folder. Search by file names in the ssd drive.
Anyway, for future reference, do not store important data and documents in the windows hard drive. You must always save your work and files to other hard drives, internal or external, doesn’t matter. But do not store your files in same drive as windows. EVER.
Now, back to your files. f you don’t find them anywhere, and there is no windows.old folder, you could install a program for file recovery but… it will need to be installed in the computer. Being installed in windows ssd will likely reduce the chance of any file recovery. If you can install some recovery software in another drive, it would be great.
Then, make a search for deleted files and try to recover them. AVOID changing, editing, creating and moving files in that disk for now, while you don’t find your files.