Data Backup Digest

Windows 10 is the most popular operating system in the world, with over half of the personal computers in existence using it. It’s also, supposedly, the last operating system that Microsoft are going to make. Rather than releasing whole new editions like XP, Vista or 8, Microsoft see Windows 10 as an evolving platform.

To help support this vision, Windows 10 receives automatic updates. This not only ensures that users get all the latest features, but it also means that any security vulnerabilities can be quickly patched across all the systems running the operating system.

Generally, Windows updates go smoothly for the public. This is because the updates go through various cycles, including those who have opted in to receive early updates. Although an update might work fine for one person, it might break someone else’s computer due to their different configuration or hardware.

However, there are times when updates can go wrong. This can be witnessed in one of the latest Windows updates, KB4549951. This was rolled out for version 1909 and 1903 and was designed to add some security fixes; in fact, it wasn’t a fanfare release at all and was purely designed as a security-focussed update.

While many users were updated without issue, some suffered the infamous blue screen of death and data loss. Ordinarily a blue screen of death represents complete failure that the system couldn’t recover from and it’ll provide a stop code error to help you diagnose the problem. However, users have reported all sorts of error codes that are usually seen when installation files or drivers have been damaged.

Microsoft usually fix these problems fairly quickly when it’s widespread, so hopefully they will issue some advice or a hotfix to resolve the issue. That said, for now you are better off rolling back from the update. You can do this within Settings > Updates and following the rollback prompts.

While this is resolvable, a bigger problem from this update seems to be that users have lost personal data stored in folders like Documents and Pictures. One user claimed it deleted all their files and Windows Store apps, while another says that all their personal browser history had vanished.

This is likely because the update has made Windows 10 unable to local the user profile. As such, it then creates a brand new one. If this has happened to you, try browsing other user profiles – your old one might be corrupted and need repairing, but the data should still be there.

If the data truly has gone, you need to use some data recovery software to pull it back. Since the data only disappeared recently, good and reputable recovery software should be able to recover it without issue.

Regardless, that’s a hassle that you shouldn’t have to go through. Sadly, it’s never going to be guaranteed that a Windows update won’t mess up your system, which just proves why it’s so vital that you have a strong and continual backup plan to ensure that your data is safe and recoverable within moments.