If you got hit by the 1809 upgrade file deleting feature…

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and you’ve tried using Recuva to get the files back… Contact Microsoft directly: https://twitter.com/donasarkar/status/1048612272287834112 “They hav
[See the full post at: If you got hit by the 1809 upgrade file deleting feature…]

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Elly, lurks about, Fred, abbodi86, Great Lake Bunyip, ch100, GreatAndPowerfulTech, PhotM

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File recovery isn’t some obscure magic, so I doubt they will be able to recover data more successfully than the numerous third party tools and services. Maybe the good state they are referring to is only a roll-back to a more mature build like 1803?

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Rollback is easy. Getting the data reinstated isn’t.

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Great Lake Bunyip

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I’m wondering if the junction was deleted for the Documents folder that shows in the Navigation bar, and under Libraries. That would make it “appear” that the files have been deleted there, but they actually exist on the hard drive.

I was able to create that scenario by intentionally deleting the junction to Documents on my system.

One way to find out is to navigate to the path C:\Users\<Your User Name>\Documents in Windows Explorer.

If it’s the junction, you will see the files in the path.

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anonymous wrote:

I’m wondering if the junction was deleted for the Documents folder that shows in the Navigation bar, and under Libraries. That would make it “appear” that the files have been deleted there, but they actually exist on the hard drive. I was able to create that scenario by intentionally deleting the junction to Documents on my system. One way to find out is to navigate to the path C:\Users\<Your User Name>\Documents in Windows Explorer. If it’s the junction, you will see the files in the path.

The directories are deleted, but only for users who have at one point redirected their user folders (documents, pictures, downloads and so on.) to different folders or have had an older versions of OneDrive do so, with the caveat that the contents of the old folders weren’t moved to the new location.

The latter can be intentional by the end user (I can’t think of any reason why one should answer “no” to the question if one wants to move the contents of the old folder to the new folder after changing the folder location but apparently some users have done so.) or it can be because an older version of OneDrive with the autosave function turned on didn’t move the data to the new folder location in the past.

https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2018/10/09/updated-version-of-windows-10-october-2018-update-released-to-windows-insiders/

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#windowsinsiders…? So Microsoft admits now that the rolled out version still wasn’t ready for the general public??? So why did they roll it out then to everyone in the first place?

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Hmm…Perhaps Nadella should not have fired Microsoft’s Windows Update Quality Control Team after Nadella became Microsoft’s new CEO. This was an incredibly and delusionally stupid move in my opinion, given the plethora of botched Windows Updates since 2014 and across the board and for all Windows OS versions.

MS claims to have tools to recover your files? Well and if so, this will absolutely depend on whether or not you subsequently tried to do anything, on your own, to try to resolve the 1809 issue. I say so since a computer hard drive is a hard drive, and since SSD hard drives are entirely different from physical disk platter hard drives. Moreover, automatic defrag, if it has run, may ruin your chances of any MS tools to be successful.

Perhaps MS’s tools will rely on previous versions of files which would be stored in System Restore points? I don’t know. Nobody knows at the present moment.

I might suggest, for those affected, that they DO NOT reboot their computers for the time being.

For all of you who have been affected by the loss of your files and documents via the 1809 upgrade, I wish you the very best of luck in terms of having Microsoft get back your files. Recovery of files may depend on whether or not you use OneDrive.

The upshot is that Microsoft still has yet to disclose the details of what caused this issue, let alone what (if any) requirements are for either the user or Microsoft to resolve this issue.

 

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lurks about, Nibbled To Death By Ducks, Great Lake Bunyip, MikeFromMarkham, Karlston, WildBill, GreatAndPowerfulTech

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I might suggest, for those affected, that they DO NOT reboot their computers for the time being.

And may I add, suspend it until further information and recovery methods come out. If you leave Windows on it’s own, it will start doing all kinds of it’s black magic and thrashing on your drive, and that’s the #1 no-no for data recovery.

You might as well just induce your computer into a cryogenic sleep and wish for a better hypothetical future…

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Just to stir the pot…

Perhaps”the tools” to restore missing files are the actual files themselves… uploaded to Microsoft servers via the “telemetry” info they collect?

Or is that just a little too conspiratory?

😝

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Great Lake Bunyip, Fred, Seattle27, BobbyB

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I’ll have a different word for it, if they charge for the service. Demand for payment would move it from oops to extortion. I’m hoping it remains oops. An apology would also be nice. In a surprisingly unprecedented way.

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Seattle27

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Microsoft has been “botching” Windows Updates for a lot longer than four years.

Doesn’t anyone remember the Vista SP1 fiasco where a prerequisite for installing SP1 would cause endless reboots, and MS had to pull that update?

Or how about the endless reboot problem after installing XP SP3?

Or how about the May 2012 .NET updates that would be offered and installed, over and over again….

And that’s without getting into the whole “in-place upgrade” fiasco with upgrading from .NET 4.0 -> 4.5, which broke a whole bunch of .NET apps because they’d taken dependencies on behaviours that Microsoft changed in the name of fixing bugs.

On the plus side…. other than the file deletion issue with the October 2018 Update, it surely hasn’t had any many distinct problems as the infamous KB2919355 for Windows 8.1, which was indeed four years ago now.

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Great Lake Bunyip, woody

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In fairness to Microsoft, the XP SP3 reboot issue wasn’t their fault. Rather, it was OEMs creating images on Intel systems and deploying them to AMD systems without disabling Intel’s SpeedStep driver (intelppm.sys). This driver should never have been loaded on an AMD system.

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There was a deal of wondering about how it would finally happen… but what a classless, arrogant, undignified way for Microsoft to exit the viable market for local/personal computing for those who need to produce work rather than just consume media on their devices.

Enterprise/Education/Cloud  .. different story I acknowledge.

I always hoped that someone, somewhere senior enough in Microsoft would have the self awareness … the…oh, I don’t know… the personal integrity… to do this differently, if only to give a nod for the uber billions over the years… but no.

Not a problem with Microsoft strategy in the sense that it is up to them to run their business as they see fit but…..

What would have been so difficult about – ” we’re leaving this market, this is the timescale and this is how we’re going to do it. Please start making your plans now, these are some ways we can help”.

But no… we get this…. just shameful.

UKBrianC

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lurks about, Fred, RamRod, Nibbled To Death By Ducks, Great Lake Bunyip, Karlston, lanceboil, Cybertooth

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Their current take on Windows Home and Pro does seem to mirror how Windows Mobile was treated. They kept stating that they supported it ,while they let it slowly die off from mismanagement.

GreatAndPowerfulTech

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lurks about, RamRod, lanceboil, WildBill

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Why Windows 10 Pro- not sure what you mean.

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Only Windows Enterprise customers now get full Microsoft’s attention, while paying for it in the form of higher prices or subscriptions to Microsoft 365 and the upcoming DAAS. Windows Home and Windows Pro customers are now treated very much alike.

GreatAndPowerfulTech

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rontpxz81

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What would have been so difficult about – ” we’re leaving this market, this is the timescale and this is how we’re going to do it. Please start making your plans now, these are some ways we can help”.

Acknowledging they have pressed the Eject! button would be bad for their stocks. According to MS’ behavior patterns, they will only do it, as usual, way way too late for us, when they start losing corporate adoption irreversibly and only after they have sucked the Windows 10 and stock market shares’ dry.

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I am not suggesting that it was bad for their share price  per se and I fully understand that they follow corporate reporting rules – I am commenting on the fact that they could have strategically moved on from a market segment that effectively allowed them to aspire to their desired future in a different way.  The cost of “doing right” by a user group that was absolutely key to the financial might that allowed Microsoft to be what it is today would “be pennies” in the context of today’s Microsoft.  Times change,  no worries -” bit of class, bit of transparency, bit of engagement” would have been a sweet adieu and thanks for all the memories (and groundbreaking  OS).

UKBrianC

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I am in full agreement that what we’re seeing is part of an exit strategy.  Why MS chose not to take the classier route you suggest, though, is (IMO) because that would not allow them to liquidate the desktop OS monopoly they’ve spent so much time and effort building.  If they let people think Windows is still going to be viable for the years to come, they’re more likely to stay with Windows rather than begin looking for alternatives, and that allows the Windows users to be monetized in the shorter term.

Eventually, the continued monetization and other painful bits of the WaaS experience will push customers to start looking for greener pastures, but it will take years.  Until then, they can be mercilessly monetized, and that’s how the value of that Windows monopoly is made liquid.

In short, they don’t want to let the cat out of the bag too early.  If MS tells the users that Windows is going to be discontinued, Windows users will be mentally halfway out the door already, and the amount of monetization they will tolerate before they begin migration will be very little.  MS would want customers to think that because of all of the reorganization of Windows and the transformation to a service, it means that Windows is more profitable and vital than ever, so that the endless litany of painful gaffes and bugs can be written off as growing pains.  The idea is to delay the “I give up on Windows” moment in people’s minds as much as possible, because there’s monetization to be done first.

In addition, people still think of MS as “the Windows company.”  If it were to be announced now that Windows was going to be discontinued, people would think that means MS is in trouble, even though Windows is just a fraction of their revenue and profit.  Even PHBs (pointy-haired bosses, a term popular on The Reg in reference to Dilbert) who use Microsoft cloud services are likely to misinterpret a statement that MS is cutting off Windows as a sign that MS is not doing well, and that maybe he ought to be considering someone else’s cloud services instead.

If the move away from Windows is more “organic,” so to speak, it can more easily be managed, while gradually demonstrating to customers that MS is not the Windows company anymore.  MS can promote that idea for years while maintaining the illusion that Windows still has a long-term future.  By not making anything official, MS keeps the power and flexibility they would not have if they were to lay the cards on the table.  If, at some point in the future, they decide that it really is a bad idea to scuttle Windows, they can change course and not have to tell the public anything, since they’d already been telling us that Windows is here to stay.  I don’t think they have any intention of doing this, but no one knows what the future holds, and MS of the future may change its mind.

 

 

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RamRod

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But I don’t think “Windows” is going aywhere. Only the tiny subset of users who want to use a Windows OS for productivity and maintain local control of the OS  and their data is being left to wither away. The bandwagon of Enterprise/Education/fully integrated cloud service and the tens (hundreds?) of millions of users who are happy to let Microsoft control their device just rolls on… monetization and all. They could have managed our little subset out of the door in a more structured (and classier) way – that is all I was meaning

UKBrianC

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RamRod

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I think there are 2 very different markets for a general purpose OS: enterprise and home/small company. Enterprise customers often have inhouse software and have an internal staff to administer the network. They are happy to pay a ‘subscription’ for services as the bean counters often like subscriptions over outright purchases. Home users tend to use ‘commercial’ software (meaning they did not write it). Some of the software may be OS version specific (think machine control) often they use generic enough software that there are many possible replacements for what they use. Home users generally prefer outright purchase and may keep an aged version around because it does what they need.

Of the 2 markets, enterprise is likely to remain profitable for a long time as it is mostly subscription today. The home market is likely to marginally profitable or unprofitable, if is not already, as users are not inclined to spend money on shiny new toys. The new toys are only a marginal improvement over the current ones. The home market is displaying the typical features of a mature market with most of the sales being replacement of older hardware or software. It is not driven much by new features that are being touted but hardware and software (not OS) lifecycles. A good comparison is the automobile market.

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I think Microsoft should just leave Windows 10. Instead they should release an Office version for Linux, for example Ubuntu to start with. Then, based on virtualization, they should build a software environment that can run all legacy software under Linux. They even could bring out an ‘out of the box’-distro with those features. That way, they can stop focussing on maintaining an obviously more and more unmanagable (and largely unscalable) beast of an operating system, for as well developers as users. By doing so, they can still earn money on their workhorse software while at the same time releasing users from the update- and upgrade mess. Last but not least it will lead to a stable and easy to maintain platform for users of all kinds and levels. It will break with all the shortcomings of the past.

And no, I am not a Linux advocate. But since Windows 10, I just see a growing problem in keeping alive a dinosaur of an os. It’s time for a brave and radical decision imho. I think the virtualization-trick can even be done in such a way that as a user you will not even notice anything when you start a legacy Windows program. Personally, I don’t want to be dependant on the unpredictable chaos that became Windows 10. It’s too risky and not worth the invested time anymore. :-/

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There are efforts to bring Windows programs to Linux, using “flatpacks” (containers that are pre-configured with Wine and all the Windows components necessary to run the program).

Winepak Is A Flatpak Repository For Windows (Wine) Games And Applications

The great thing about Flatpacks/Winepaks is that they can run on any Linux distribution that supports Flatpacks (most do now, or can be easily configured to do so), and they can be updated via the distro repositories.  It’s early, so only a few applications, but this is very promising.

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We are deleting the deal. Pray we don’t delete it any further…

My respect to all Microsoft’s (new(est)) victims.

But this is the kind of unacceptable behavior from M$ that affects the masses and might become such an unmanageable flop that induces the tipping point needed for M$ to effectively evolve or die.

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I’ll tell you what unacceptable behaviour looks like – not having taken a full system backup before the 1809 update.  There is simply no excuse for it.

Not withstanding the issues some people are having since the update, I think the mantra of backup making should be shouted from the rooftops.

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MXMasterNL, johnf, Great Lake Bunyip, woody

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Home users don’t get a chance for that, they just get an update pushed through their throats. They trust their operating system. Don’t forget that most people don’t know the difference beteen an upgrade and an update. They just browse the internet, play a game, do some work from home and store their precious photos. All in the belief that those are safe on THEIR harddisk in THEIR computer running ‘THEIR’ Windows. Microsoft crossed a line this time. Don’t blame people that are not IT-savvy. This should have never ever happened, whatever the reason is. Never.

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johnf, RamRod, Barry, lanceboil, Ascaris, Great Lake Bunyip

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“All in the belief that those are safe on THEIR harddisk in THEIR computer running ‘THEIR’ Windows”

I don’t want to act sarcastic but, really?!

“I am a home user so I have never heard our thought of ransomware, harddrive failures, physical theft of my pc and disasters like flooding and fire. Those dangers have never crossed my mind, nor have I ever heard about them.”

There are literally tons of online backup solutions out there which will backup home user files for pennies. Or at least get those files in the Cloud where there is some data retention. But please, pretty please, don’t play the ignorant card.

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I hear what you’re saying, but if that’s the case, why doesn’t the installer attempt a full backup – or at least prompt the user, and help them run it?

That’s what Windows.old was supposed to be. But never was.

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Great Lake Bunyip, RamRod, lurks about

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“I hear what you’re saying, but if that’s the case, why doesn’t the installer attempt a full backup – or at least prompt the user, and help them run it?”

I agree some sort of warning should be nice. On the other hand I find it hard to believe anyone who in 2018 states that they have never heard backing up their files is important, be it a home or an enterprise user.

“That’s what Windows.old was supposed to be. But never was.”

That folder is just for reverting to the older version of the OS. It was never meant for backing up user folder data, nor would that have been the way to achieve it. (For instance: How do you back-up 800 GB of user data on a 1000GB OS drive filled for 85% to a C:\Windows.old folder on the very same harddrive?)

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Backups should be standard practice. But the vendor should not assume the customer is an expert at using their product correctly; true for any product not just an OS. MS should realize the average home user might not know how to do a backup or worse understand they should have backups. I recently set up a Mac for friend and Apple during the initial set up strongly recommended set upping back ups with a regular backup (which was done).  The wizard was easy to use and in a couple of minutes backups were set up. This small touch is why many swear by Apple, it shows an understanding the users are not IT gurus nor should they be expected to be.

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I agree with the concept, the OS should assist the user in a seamless experience once permission is requested and granted. But the historical fact is that Microsoft has always had a target on its back that Apple avoids in some way.

As soon as Microsoft bundles in a foolproof backup assistant, screams and lawsuits begin over the behemoth robbing market share from competing business. Apple can have proprietary software while Microsoft has to dodge litigation. It is the price of (former) greatness.

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MXMasterNL

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I keep wondering when that big class action lawsuit is gonna hit….but it never seems to happen ?????

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Windows 10 EULA has a class action waiver in section 10.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/Useterms/OEM/Windows/10/Useterms_OEM_Windows_10_English.htm

via

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/useterms

 

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Really!!?!?!

This mean they can insert something in their EULA sort of If we mess up major time you can’t put us in court of law even if you have the legal and the moral right to, and that can legally be enforced?

This means Windows has no warranty whatsoever. Debian has not, to the legal extent of the law, but that is the 1st thing that pops up once you login as root in a terminal, not buried under under tons of legalese on a EULA…

Yikes, can they alter the deal even further than this?

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RamRod

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It calls into question whether x-thousand-word-long EULAs are enforceable.

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Great Lake Bunyip, RamRod, Ascaris

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The EULA may be unenforceable but Linux distros use GPL or similar licenses that are published online. Also these licenses are much shorter and not written in dense shyster.

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lurks about wrote:

The EULA may be unenforceable but Linux distros use GPL or similar licenses that are published online. Also these licenses are much shorter and not written in dense shyster.

GNU GPL (5,215 words) is actually longer than the Windows 10 license (4,838 words).

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MXMasterNL, abbodi86, RamRod

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It is not the length of the agreement in total. The test is whether a clause has firm footing in recognized precedent. I have not done the legwork to know whether the cited clause has been tested in a meaningful way.

It is a version of the argument style where the first assertion is correct until proven wrong.

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If Microsoft does have a secret tool or two in their hip pockets, I’d sure like to hear about it/them.

Aren’t tools like that available in Microsoft Windows The Store under System Tools?

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BobbyB

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I’m on Win 7-but I really feel the W10 user’s pain.  After all they’ve been put through, MS ought to be class-action sued. This is the last straw.

In the UK (and maybe all of Western  Europe) they have something called the “Fit for Use” statute.  W10 is definitely (IMHO) not fit for use.  Maybe our Euro counterparts can start something.

Win7 Pro SP1 64-bit, Dell Latitude E6330, Intel CORE i5 "Ivy Bridge", 12GB RAM, Group "0Patch", Multiple Air-Gapped backup drives in different locations. Linux Mint Greenhorn
--
"The more kinks you put in the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the pipes." -Scotty

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Can I offer a piece of advice — gleaned from my own experience with my first computer which I bought back in the 1990’s.

I partitioned the hdd to give me a “D” drive for all my personal files. The hard drive rolled over and died one day with a “clanking” noise and took all my files with it. I kept that drive for years hoping that one day I may be able to recover some of the files which i really did not want to lose. It never happened !!!!!!.

Since that episode I have always built my own computers and softwared them up myself. The OS goes on its own drive, and then a good quality drive is used for a “D”  drive where all my files are stored. I do not save anything to my OS drive. The “D” drive is then backed up to an external drive in a portable caddy which can be taken off site if necessary.

I do not use “Documents”, “Pictures”, “Music”, or “Videos” or “Download” folders provided by MS in the OS.

I save all my files to the Desktop initially, and then move them to an appropriate location on my “D” drive, and then to the Backup caddy. Most programs can be made to save to the desktop or to the “D” drive directly if a database file is accessed.

This process has the advantage that if the OS goes down, for any reason one can drop an image (Macrium Reflect or other similar) on to the OS drive without losing any personal or work files.

It has worked for me, but I have had some curious looks from some as to why I bother with such things. Obviously they have never had the experience I have had of losing all my files.

Please consider NOT USING “Documents”, “Pictures”, “Music”,  “Videos” or “Download” folders provided by MS, to store or hold your files at all. I fact I would like to see them removed from the OS all together.

As far as MS and Win 10 ver 1809 —- words fail me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mbhelwig

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DeWayne12, BobbyB

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Just changed to this system, and a week after needed to re-image my OS drive and it was no problem as all data was on another.

Best idea ever. Easy to manage backups as well as data is in one place.

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Absolutely true, never used (My) Documents etc in all my Windows years. Since the beginning of this year though, I stopped using Windows for production, switched to macOS. Had way too many troubles with 10, mainly lost time and revenue because of updates and upgrades. As it looks now, I moved away just in time.

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How does your strategy handle %appdata% ?

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Yeah, this could be an issue, but it depends on what programs you use.
If you use an email client, you can move the data files to another drive; Outlook is possible but an effort.

It is about going into preferences in your programs and changing the folders it uses.

Edit to remove HTML.

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You could use directory symbolic links. I use this for the MobileSync\Backup folder in iTunes to let me store iPhone backups off my SSD. You’d need to set them back up after a reinstall but this could be put in a batch script. I only use this where I have to though.

Or, as I do with my Waterfox profile folders, is to use a command line archive tool (such as 7z.exe) to periodically back up the folders to my data volume.

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Problem with symlinks is that if there is some %appdata% or whatnot wiping bug in the next update it will most likely wipe the symlinked location.  Also, Desktop is a Microsoft provided folder just like Documents, Pictures, etc…

Use something like Syncthing and set it up to keep a few backup versions of your files on an entirely different PC (if feasible).  I use it locally to copy my files to all my PCs (Windows Linux and OSX, backup my Android phone and keep my car radio (Android) updated with a copy of my latest Google Music MP3s for offline listening.

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“Since that episode I have always built my own computers and softwared them up myself. The OS goes on its own drive, and then a good quality drive is used for a “D”  drive where all my files are stored. I do not save anything to my OS drive.”

Please elaborate why adding a secondary physical harddrive and using it for storing data prevents dataloss. In thousands of cases I have literally never seen an “empty” OS drive other then because of malware, partitoning errors made by an amateur or hardware failures, all of which a secondary drive holding all of your data is just as vulnerable to. In this particular case a buggy Windows patch removed default user folders residing on the OS drive but, let’s face it, tomorrows buggy Windows patch could target the folders on the D: drive. (In fact, that particular scenario happened in 2015 to users upgrading to W8.1 from W8 vanilla )

The “D” drive is then backed up to an external drive in a portable caddy which can be taken off site if necessary.”

And by doing so you have created a back-up system that is mostly onsite. At any time that the single “external” harddrive is in that tray both the OS drive and the external drive are vulnerable to malware, powerspikes and so forth simultaniously. If the external drive is even onsite in your home you are vulnerable to disasters like flooding, fire and so on.

If you had introduced an extra external harddrive which you would rotate offsite with the “last days” external drive on a daily basis you would have a better backup system altogether, albeit it being quite cumbersome.

What’s up with this deeply rooted fixation on backing up to local media like usb sticks and external harddrives that a lot of home users seem to be adhering to? Why don’t cough up the few dollars a month that an online backup system costs? Apart from having Terrabytes of homemade movies I can’t think of any reason not do go for the offsite online backup route.

I mean, sure feel free to have a local back-up besides the offsite backup if you don’t want to entirely rely on an online backup solutions provider. Most online back-up software for home use worth its salt offers the option  to create a secondary backup on local media like internal harddrives, external harddrives, NAS and so on, anyway.

TLDR: Even as a home user, follow the 3-2-1 backup rule religiously. And if you don’t know what that rule is, google it.

“I do not use “Documents”, “Pictures”, “Music”, or “Videos” or “Download” folders provided by MS in the OS.”

And why don’t you use those folders may I ask?

Not using them provides some real hassle as most of the software out there (Games, Video editing, Labelprinting, Scanners, browsers and so on.) use those folders by deafult to store, find and save data.

Surely every X years those folders might be more vulnerable then user defined folders (Malware, buggy Windows patch) but since you have those folders back-upped  anyway, why bother?

Furthermore, it can be quite hard to remove the default Windows folders you mention on purpose, let alone by accident. May I ask how you have protected your own custom folders for things like documents, music and pictures against accidental deletion?

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woody wrote:

and you’ve tried using Recuva to get the files back… Contact Microsoft directly: https://twitter.com/donasarkar/status/1048612272287834112 “They hav[See the full post at: If you got hit by the 1809 upgrade file deleting feature…]

>

Is this the latest RANSOMware ?or some alienware?
Thanks NOT a lot Microsoft

 

 

* _ ... _ *

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@Woody Could we do an article with side by side reviews of third party Windows 10 Update blockers? Thanks Woody & askwoody.com contributors – great community!

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I’m thinking about obtaining a copy of windows 7 and ditching windows 10. I’m 2 months in and not enjoying the crazy ride 🙁

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I’ve thought about that, but decided not to.

WUMT seems to be the leading contender (although the field’s expanding rapidly). Here’s what I published on Jan 1, 2017:

I looked at WUMT several month ago, and decided not to recommend it. The problem isn’t with the tool itself, which appears to work well, and has garnered praise from many corners. The problem is with its pedigree. The developer(s) isn’t/aren’t identified, except by their My Digital Life forum handles @stupid_user and @shewolf. There’s no web site for the product, and no way to contact the developer(s) directly. As best I can tell, apparently, the developers are in Russia, and their primary support contact, Mr. X, is in Mexico.

As I mentioned back in August, I got in touch with @shewolf who was pleasant and knowledgeable, but I didn’t get any details about WUMT’s source – who built it, who maintains it, how to get in touch should things go wrong, other than posting to Mr. X on MDL.

All of those were – and are – big red flags for me. I have no evidence of aberrant behavior, but I just don’t trust the product well enough to recommend, or use, it.

Has anything changed in the interim?

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Elly, BobbyB, ch100, PKCano

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The developer of WUMT has a .ru email address.
I know the name of the developer but as it was not made public in other places, I am not making it public here either.
Those interested in making a well deserved donation, would receive an acknowledgement with full name and email address.
There is no big red flag involved, however it is the end-user’s responsibility for using this software like with any other software. As far as I can tell, WUMT is a GUI for Microsoft’s own published Windows Update APIs. This is losing relevance in light of newer developments related to Windows 10 UUP and newer updating technologies, but it is still useful.
I am not aware of any use of WUMT to produce loss of user profiles though. :O

1 user thanked author for this post.

BobbyB

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@ch100 and @Woody well that’s good to know, in the light of recent events that this little Util. is not a sinister deal, I have checked it out with numerous AV Products, and it never asks nor attempts to open up any ports save that which Windows has open (yeah I know not proof positive) it has an annoying habit occasionally of misreporting update/upgrade sizes which makes arrivals difficult to analyse and wushowhide engages in similar obfuscation when an unwanted upgrade drops in. Apart from that it appears a viable way to have some control of the updates etc that come down the update chute, I use it with a Task set up in scheduler to run at logon/boot time by adding the -update switch to the task and it catches everything before Win10 seems to get in to its stride, probably of more use to Win10 Home users wanting to gain some control. Although I do run it on my Win Pro Laptop just for checking. It managed to catch the 1803 upgrade in May and subsequently hidden, just waiting to verify whether it’ll catch the 1809 debacle when that emerges again, but so far so good. I do agree with @woody though its dubious parentage did give me some reservations and was suitably leary here but “nothing ventured nothing gained” or “so far so good,” I guess

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So the choice is a maybe shady “WUMT” that may cause an issue in the future or a confirmed shady Microsoft that already has caused multiple issues, spied on me and deleted my files.  Hummm, let me think…

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Upgraded to 1809 on my Win 10 home machine last Tuesday. My files are still intact. Computer seems to be working fine.

I understand that this upgrade caused so much havoc for many users. It’s terrible and MS has really crossed the line here.
Reading many of the tech sites, I see that there ARE others like me, who upgraded without issues.
Still, I fear this upcoming Patch Tuesday.
Is MS going to issue a new version of 1809? Like 1809.1?
Please oh please do not make me re-upgrade my computer.
MS….Stop with these feature upgrades!!! Twice per year? Absolutely nuts.

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As for the “tools”, this is what MS “support” provides: https://ibb.co/eLwDUU

Please follow the –Lounge Rules– no personal attacks

 

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https://forum.macrium.com/Topic25447.aspx

It may be worth mentioning to those who make an Image prior to any / all Win Updates that good intentions don’t always work.
This post revealed that an Image made Prior to the 1809 Upgrade was made with WINVER showing as v1803.
When the 1809 bad news surfaced the owner decided to revert back YET the Imaged Result showed v1809.
Turns out the 1809 Upgrade had already started in the background and was just a Re-Start away from BEING v1809. Talk about bad timing. FYI for Future Image Planning.

W10 Pro 22H2 / Hm-Stdnt Ofce '16 C2R / Macrium Pd vX / GP=2 + FtrU=Semi-Annual + Feature Defer = 1 + QU = 0

5 users thanked author for this post.

geekdom, Microfix, Great Lake Bunyip, Elly, woody

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Wow. Tremendously bad luck….

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When developers  at MS are “busy” with things like this, we are doomed for sure.

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Found the “Fit For Use” EU statute; bears reading.  We have a few similar things here in the US, but they don’t seem to be codified, only precedents set, and here’s an example:

A farmer buys a plow for rocky soil, the salesman tells him it’s right for that, it fails, and is now considered “not fit for use”. He can return it for a refund, and if the company balks, he can sue them.

In the EU statute it reads:

6.   FITNESS FOR USE
“The product shall be fit for use. This evidence may include data from appropriate ISO, CEN or equivalent test methods, such as national procedures. a product is presumed to be fit for use if it conforms to a harmonised standard, a European technical approval or a non-harmonised technical specification recognised at Community level.”

Note that “at the community level”….a great deal of the “community” thinks W10 is NOT fit for use.

Where’s Melvin Belli when you need him? We need another “King of Torts”.

Here’s the full Mulligan: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32010D0018

Win7 Pro SP1 64-bit, Dell Latitude E6330, Intel CORE i5 "Ivy Bridge", 12GB RAM, Group "0Patch", Multiple Air-Gapped backup drives in different locations. Linux Mint Greenhorn
--
"The more kinks you put in the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the pipes." -Scotty

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“The product shall be fit for use. This evidence may include data from appropriate ISO, CEN or equivalent test methods, such as national procedures. a product is presumed to be fit for use if it conforms to a harmonised standard, a European technical approval or a non-harmonised technical specification recognised at Community level.”

Note that “at the community level”….a great deal of the “community” thinks W10 is NOT fit for use

“At Community level” means “at the level of the European Union”. It does not refer to a group of people, as one might think. The European Union evolved from the former European Community, hence the word used in the quoted legal instrument.

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b

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Here Microsoft pitches its latest Feature Update: https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/data_pipeline.png

Win10 Pro x64 22H2, Win10 Home 22H2, Linux Mint + a cat with 'tortitude'.

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According to reports by multiple users here, MS L1 “support” has been suggesting to do a System Restore on the affected systems. Needless to say, that will not only restore no user data, but it pretty much guaranteed to ruin the chances of proper data recovery even further.

Providing such ******** “advice” should be criminal.

EDIT: Please do not use defamatory language.

1 user thanked author for this post.

woody

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System Restore is NOT on by default in Win10.
Unless the user has expressly turned it on in the past, the recommendation is further of no value (beside it not affecting/restoring User data).
Turning it on after the fact is useless.
Not to mention, the average User is not even aware of how to turn it on.

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I have way more experience than I wish I had over the years in recovering files that were deleted or lost on a corrupt partition, even able to recover from slightly damaged hard drives.  My company employs several highly regarded recovery tools (at a fairly high licensing cost) for this purpose.  So was understandably very curious about Dona’s tweet the other day to see what tools they have that could do so much more than we’re capable of finding.

Turns out, not much.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-says-they-can-recover-files-deleted-by-windows-10-october-2018-update/

Be warned, if you got hit by the lost library bug while upgrading to 1809 your only real recourse is a restoration from an intact backup.  You might get lucky in that the deleted files were not overwritten during the final stages of the upgrade – but I would not count on such.

~ Group "Weekend" ~

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