Windows 10: How to recover programs (and data) from Windows.old after reinstall?

G'day folks,
I could not boot into Windows 10 after an automatic update overnight. NOTHING I tried would give me keyboard or mouse interaction after the "cave and ocean" screen. I could use both if I booted to a USB drive but I tried everything to no avail in trying to make the OS behave. The "Repair" option was not available in the process so I was left with no option but to reinstall. On booting afterwards ALL my programs have gone. A bit surprising there is nothing indicated along these lines - I guess it's a trivial issue for MS?

Folks, is it possible to regain the "lost" software from the Windows.old file? I have looked at Macrium software, but it appears nothing there does what I need, after talking with them. I'd rather not reinstall everything and have to re personalise it.

I lost all installed software when I initially upgraded to Windows 10 18 months ago, so am not pleased with this a Microsoft "feature".

Any polite suggestions would be most useful.

Thanks folks.

:)

 

File History, cannot restore files from previous Windows installation

Files & data from the previous W10 install maybe recovered from the 'windows.old' folder, which is found in the 'Windows' folder on your C/: drive, apps are not recoverable from this folder, you will need to re-install these from the original sources.

The 'windows.old' folder will be automatically deleted 10 days after the upgrade.

 

Data that was in windows.old folder in Windows 7 is deleted on Windows 10 after upgrade

I had a Windows 7 and Ubuntu dual boot. I chose to upgrade to Windows 10 but it failed causing me lose both my Ubuntu and Windows 7. I reinstalled Windows 7 using the recovery CD and was able to find all my Windows 7 data under Windows.old folder. I did
not move this data to the new Windows 7 installation. I later chose to retry upgrading to Windows 10. This time the upgrade worked smoothly. However when I logged on to Windows 10, I see it has a Windows.old folder but does not have any data.

I think the upgrade only recovers data from previous Windows OS Users/program files however there if any data under windows.old folder that will not be recovered. Is there any way I can get this data back?

Thank you in advance.