How To Find Old Files After Reinstalling Windows

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Recover your personal files in Windows 8 using the Recover Personal Files tool
3. Manually restore your personal files from the C:\Windows.sometime folder

Introduction

When you upgrade to Windows 8 there may be situations where your personal documents are not transferred to the new version of Windows. These reasons may include permission issues on the files or folders or because you selected the Continue Nothing option when you upgraded to the newer version of Windows. If your personal document folders are empty afterwards an upgrade that does not mean that your data is lost. It only means that the Windows setup program had a trouble transferring it over or yous specified non to. As the Windows upgrade process backs up your information to the backup C:\Windows.onetime folder, we can apply that folder to restore your information. Therefore, brand sure you practice not delete the C:\Windows.sometime folder before you confirm that all your data has been safely migrated to the new version of Windows. This guide will assistance you recover your missing data from the Windows.old folder using a transmission method and through a utility from Microsoft.

Note: If y'all do not have a C:\Windows.quondam folder so the steps in this tutorial will not be able to work for you.

If you accept whatever questions regarding these steps, please ask for help in the Windows 8 Forum.

Restore your personal files in Windows 8 using the Recover Personal Files tool.

Microsoft has a utility called the Recover Personal Files tool that can be used to automate the process of recovering missing data from a Windows 8 upgrade. When you run this tool information technology will scan the user profile in the C:\Windows.sometime folder for the currently logged in user. If it finds any issues it will repair them and will then copy any personal data files from your quondam Windows version to your Windows 8 user profile. As this process only scans the currently logged in user, you will need to login to each user account who has missing data that y'all wish to recover.

To download the Recover Personal Files tool, delight go to this url:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=254871

Once the utility is downloaded, double-click on it to start the program. You will now exist at the starting time screen for the tool.

To continue please click on the Adjacent button and the tool will start to browse the C:\Windows.old user profile folders for whatever issues that may have prevented your data from being copied. If it finds any issues it will automatically repair them and and so re-create your data to the C:\Users\ user profile binder for the currently logged in account.

When this process is done, yous will be presented with a summary of actions that were completed.

Notation: When the program finishes migrating information from your old profile to your new one it will create a migration.xml file in your C:\Windows.old user profile folder. This file will forestall this program from copying your erstwhile data in the future. To drift your data over again you will commencement need to delete the migration.xml file for the item user y'all wish to recover.

To see more details you can click on the View detailed information pick. Otherwise you tin click on the Shut button to close the programme.

You should now be able to admission your data when you open your libraries such as Documents or Pictures.

Manually restore your personal files from the C:\Windows.one-time folder

When Windows performs an upgrade it creates a folder called Windows.quondam and stores the previous Windows's user profile folders inside it. This allows you to manually copy whatsoever information that may have been left backside from the C:\Windows.old binder to your new account in Windows 8. This procedure should be repeated for each individual user on your auto whose data was non migrated. When performing these steps you should be logged in as the user whose data you lot wish to recover.

To copy your information from the C:\Windows.old folder, open File Explorer past using the Win+Due east keyboard combination. To use this combination, simply hold down the Windows key with one finger and so tap the E fundamental on your keyboard. This will open the File Explorer windows in a screen that shows all the available drives on your computer.

Double-click on the C: drive then navigate to the C:\Windows.old\Users folder if upgrading from Windows Vista or Windows vii by double-clicking on the various sub folders that announced. If you are upgrading from Windows XP, so navigate to the C:\Windows.old\Documents and Settings folder instead. You will now be at a screen that displays the various folders for each user on your computer.

To restore the data for the user you are logged in, double-click on that user'due south folder name. For example, in the above image the User business relationship has the User folder proper name. This will then open that user'due south profile folder where you tin see diverse information folders such as Documents, Pictures, Videos, Favorites, etc.

At present open up the folder containing the data you wish to recover by double-clicking on it. For example, to copy the pictures that may have been left backside, double-click on the Pictures folder. When the folder opens, press the Ctrl+A keyboard combination to select all the files in that folder. So right-click on any of the selected files to brand a context-menu appear equally shown in the prototype below.

Then highlight and select Copy, which will copy the selected of files into memory.

In the same File Explorer window you will also see a section labeled Libraries which is indicated by the red box in the image above. The Library folders represent the folders associated with your Windows 8 account that we want to copy the quondam data into. Select the appropriate library folder for the data nosotros are copying and left-click once on it to select it. As nosotros are copying pictures, we would select the Pictures library. Once yous select it, the screen will modify and show the contents of that folder.

In one case the library is open up, click on the Home tab and so click on the Paste button every bit shown in the epitome above. Windows will now re-create all of the files yous selected from your C:\Windows.former binder and copy them into this ane. When it is done copying the files, yous should run across that your old files are now recovered and located in the library you selected.

You can at present repeat this process for any of the other information folders under the C:\Windows.old folder until you have recovered all of your missing data. When you are washed you tin then close the File Explorer window.

Source: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/recover-personal-files-from-windows-old-in-windows-8/

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