Windows 10: Novice and I recovered my laptop and all my programs are gone

I am novice I recovered (tried to reset) the laptop and all my programs are gone there are some files but no programs am I dead or is there help

:)

 

all of my programs and files are gone

Hi,



Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community. Let me help you.

• 
  Have you made any changes in settings prior to the issue?
  
• 
  Do you receive any error code or error message on the screen?
  

I suggest you to refer the following article Recovery options in Windows 10
and follow the procedure in the section Restore from a system restore point
and check if it resolves the issue.

Click on,
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/windows-10-recovery-options



I hope the information helps. Keep us posted on the issue. We will be happy to assist you accordingly.

 

all of my programs and files are gone

i have been running the same desktop computer with windows 10 for over a year. it started acting sluggish and I restarted it, now all of my programs and files are gone, please help.

 

If you got an image of your system partition(s) you can restore it. Otherwise I'm afraid you have to start from scratch. Always backup your data in case something goes wrong.

 

I do not know where to look for an image of the system partitions I have some icons on the desk top amen on the backup

 

Disk imaging is what is referred to here.

This is where you use a special program (e.g. Macrium Reflect, free/commercial) to make a compressed copy of your disk/partitions onto external storage. The program can update that image with smaller faster runs reflecting only the changes since the first one.

You can then use those images:
a. to restore your disk/partition/PC exactly as was
b. as a full backup - you can extract files and folders

This is useful:
a. if your PC becomes unbootable
b. if your hard disk fails and you need to put a new one in
c. if you encounter a snag you can't easily solve and want to go back to before it happened.

Images can also be useful in moving to a new PC.

Sadly too many people- despite the many many times we recommend this here- think about proper backups when it's too late.
So one for next time..

And of course you can also run scheduled or manual backups to external storage for files and folders. One way is using Windows File History. There are lots of dedicated backup programs around as well.

 

I will try that today thank you for your help I am very concerned

 

A well known program for creating system images would be Macrium Reflect (there is a free edition). And of course there are lot's of paid alternatives like Acronis True Image, Paragon Backup & Restore...

 

To be clear, much of the above is an explanation - useful for the future so you don't get into this sort of difficulty.

Now you have reset your PC, the content of C: is just Windows, no programs or data.

"When you reset your PC, it will remove everything and reinstall Windows 10 to start over completely with a clean install."

Hopefully you can reinstall the desktop programs you need- dealing with anything you acquired from the Store is easy, as you should just be able to download these again, provided you have signed in with the same details. For desktop programs you will need licenses where these are not freeware.

And hopefully you had backups of your data, or, as is best practice, you kept most of your data on a different partition or disk (and backed up of course).

 

I can see the C drive and 4 partitions If I extract them what will I have Would it be everything that was present before my stupid mistake and if so how would I tell what I have extracted to go back where they were before the mistake
Thanks

 

Hello, Exactly where do you see these partitions?

Assuming you are talking about the drive in your laptop, and you don't have a backup, then I assume those partitions relate to a UEFI installation- system, recovery, Windows... maybe a manufacturer's recovery partition...

Now, if your laptop is bootable, then that is what you have, and I'm afraid discussing extracting information from them isn't meaningful as you've reset your PC.

OR
do you mean you see the partitions in (for example) some sort of backup you created before you reset your laptop?

 

I click on the C drive and it shows what I am calling 4 partitions identified as 1 system,2 NFTS Primary,3 Recovry,4 HP tools As you know I have no idea what I am seeing or what they relate to. My prayer is that they somehow can put me back together a hope that is getting much dimmer. Thank you again this must be very aggravating to deal with DUMB

 

Hi.
I think if you've done a reset, your data should still be there, but any programs you installed will be gone and you'll need to reinstall them. The partitions you see are standard/normal.

EDIT: If you did a reset from within Windows 10, that would leave your data intact. If you did a reset (reinstall) using the HP Tools, it may have put you back to factory condition. I'm not sure which you did.

 

1-3 are the partitions forming your OS, 4 is I assume a manufacturer's recovery partition, used to set your PC up as bought.

Now you have done the reset, you've lost anything installed and configured, except for any Store bought apps. If you log in with the same credentials, you can download anything you previously obtained from the Store.

Apart from data that you hopefully still have, you are reliant on any backups you have...

What is your operating system version now?
Press the Windows key + R, type winver. The number will tell you the OS build.

 

I will look up the version today
As a hope I do see a 4 year old folder Backup. Scared to go there for nowe