this<\/a> , the whole Users folder seems to be gone.<\/p>\nWhat is the best way to recover files user had on her desktop? I have used PhotoRec before but I’m not excited about digging through ton of files to recover a few documents. Are there other options that would restore directory structure?<\/p>","upvoteCount":3,"datePublished":"2018-07-30T06:13:49.000Z","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/t/recovering-files-after-interrupted-windows-10-update/664806/1","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"ilmarsl","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/u/ilmarsl"}},{"@type":"Answer","text":"
That is one idiot user you have…<\/p>\n
It does show “preparing your computer…” or “updating windows …do not restart…” and they went to force it down…?<\/p>\n
Try to see if the user files can be found in “documents and settings” as Windows might have compiled the profile into a compressed/hidden file while preparing the Windows…<\/p>\n
The probable path is to try a Windows recovery…but 99% of the time it will lead to a dead Windows or empty profile as we do not know which part of the update process the user killed…<\/p>","upvoteCount":0,"datePublished":"2018-07-30T06:49:03.000Z","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/t/recovering-files-after-interrupted-windows-10-update/664806/2","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"adrian_ych","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/u/adrian_ych"}},{"@type":"Answer","text":"
First of all it will be best if you make a copy of the SSD and on that you could try to fix the file system. With Ubuntu you might get them back with “ntfsfix”.<\/p>","upvoteCount":0,"datePublished":"2018-07-30T06:54:40.000Z","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/t/recovering-files-after-interrupted-windows-10-update/664806/3","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"peterw2300","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/u/peterw2300"}},{"@type":"Answer","text":"\n\n
<\/div>\n 2300peterw:<\/div>\n
\nFirst of all it will be best if you make a copy of the SSD and on that you could try to fix the file system. With Ubuntu you might get them back with “ntfsfix”.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/aside>\n
This is not a NTFS corruption…this is like OS installation then user force reboot…some files not copied into Windows folder etc…<\/p>","upvoteCount":1,"datePublished":"2018-07-30T07:38:41.000Z","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/t/recovering-files-after-interrupted-windows-10-update/664806/4","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"adrian_ych","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/u/adrian_ych"}},{"@type":"Answer","text":"\n\n
<\/div>\n 2300peterw:<\/div>\n
\n…<\/p>\n
Had further thoughts. I just wonder if they are there but hidden or miss located to another folder. …<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/aside>\n
You were partially right. The files were still there but for some reason Ubuntu couldn’t access them (might have something to do with it being a domain user’s files but that’s just a guess). After plugging the drive into another windows 10 machine the files showed up just fine. I made a backup copy and ran a system restore afterwards, it’s working and the files did not disappear.<\/p>","upvoteCount":0,"datePublished":"2018-07-30T15:48:58.000Z","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/t/recovering-files-after-interrupted-windows-10-update/664806/6","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"ilmarsl","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/u/ilmarsl"}},{"@type":"Answer","text":"
Glad you got the files back. Going through loads of photorec recoveries is not anyones idea of fun.<\/p>","upvoteCount":0,"datePublished":"2018-07-30T15:57:05.000Z","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/t/recovering-files-after-interrupted-windows-10-update/664806/7","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"peterw2300","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/u/peterw2300"}}]}}
ilmarsl
July 30, 2018, 6:13am
1
One of our users ran into a problem with slowly booting computer and decided to speed things up by restarting it with reset button. I’m presuming she interrupted Windows update, because after the reboot the PC doesn’t boot at all. It shows bsod ( screenshot ) and pressing F8 does nothing.
The real problem is, that after booting the pc from ubuntu live usb all I see is this , the whole Users folder seems to be gone.
What is the best way to recover files user had on her desktop? I have used PhotoRec before but I’m not excited about digging through ton of files to recover a few documents. Are there other options that would restore directory structure?
3 Spice ups
That is one idiot user you have…
It does show “preparing your computer…” or “updating windows …do not restart…” and they went to force it down…?
Try to see if the user files can be found in “documents and settings” as Windows might have compiled the profile into a compressed/hidden file while preparing the Windows…
The probable path is to try a Windows recovery…but 99% of the time it will lead to a dead Windows or empty profile as we do not know which part of the update process the user killed…
First of all it will be best if you make a copy of the SSD and on that you could try to fix the file system. With Ubuntu you might get them back with “ntfsfix”.
This is not a NTFS corruption…this is like OS installation then user force reboot…some files not copied into Windows folder etc…
1 Spice up
@adrian_ych . Agree with you about corruption. But if desperate it may do something.
Had further thoughts. I just wonder if they are there but hidden or miss located to another folder. I wonder if you do a file search in Ubuntu for one her files it might turn up and show you where they have gone. You never know they could still be in /Windows/Temp or something like that.
1 Spice up
ilmarsl
July 30, 2018, 3:48pm
6
You were partially right. The files were still there but for some reason Ubuntu couldn’t access them (might have something to do with it being a domain user’s files but that’s just a guess). After plugging the drive into another windows 10 machine the files showed up just fine. I made a backup copy and ran a system restore afterwards, it’s working and the files did not disappear.
Glad you got the files back. Going through loads of photorec recoveries is not anyones idea of fun.
![](\"https://i.imgur.com/Cudo3Pk.jpg\")
![this<\/a> , the whole Users folder seems to be gone.<\/p>\nWhat is the best way to recover files user had on her desktop? I have used PhotoRec before but I’m not excited about digging through ton of files to recover a few documents. Are there other options that would restore directory structure?<\/p>","upvoteCount":3,"datePublished":"2018-07-30T06:13:49.000Z","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/t/recovering-files-after-interrupted-windows-10-update/664806/1","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"ilmarsl","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/u/ilmarsl"}},{"@type":"Answer","text":"That is one idiot user you have…<\/p>\nIt does show “preparing your computer…” or “updating windows …do not restart…” and they went to force it down…?<\/p>\nTry to see if the user files can be found in “documents and settings” as Windows might have compiled the profile into a compressed/hidden file while preparing the Windows…<\/p>\nThe probable path is to try a Windows recovery…but 99% of the time it will lead to a dead Windows or empty profile as we do not know which part of the update process the user killed…<\/p>","upvoteCount":0,"datePublished":"2018-07-30T06:49:03.000Z","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/t/recovering-files-after-interrupted-windows-10-update/664806/2","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"adrian_ych","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/u/adrian_ych"}},{"@type":"Answer","text":"First of all it will be best if you make a copy of the SSD and on that you could try to fix the file system. With Ubuntu you might get them back with “ntfsfix”.<\/p>","upvoteCount":0,"datePublished":"2018-07-30T06:54:40.000Z","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/t/recovering-files-after-interrupted-windows-10-update/664806/3","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"peterw2300","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/u/peterw2300"}},{"@type":"Answer","text":"](\"https://i.imgur.com/3vsSlK6.jpg\"){kind=link}