Member Avatar for B E

ALL of it. <rude words>. Linux, here I come.
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Edited by Reverend Jim because: Keep it clean
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A Windows update that looks like it "deleted" a music library often doesn't mean the bits are gone immediately — files are commonly moved, hidden, or left in a previous-installation folder. Several replies point in the right directions (notably and ). The checklist below gives a safe, practical triage sequence, plus recovery and prevention steps that are useful long after the original thread.

Immediate triage (do these first)

  1. Stop writing to the system drive — continued use risks overwriting recoverable files.
  2. Check the Recycle Bin and any external drives or USB sticks that might hold the library.
  3. Look for alternate profiles or the previous-install folder (for example, C:\Windows.old\Users\<account>\Music) and for other folders under C:\Users — an update can create a temporary or differently named profile.
  4. Reveal hidden/protected files in File Explorer (View → Options → View) and search by extension (.mp3, .flac, *.m4a) across C:. A quick command-line search can help:
dir C:\*.mp3 /s

powershell -command "Get-ChildItem -Path C:\ -Include *.mp3,*.flac,*.m4a -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Select-Object FullName"

When files are not found

  • Do not install recovery software onto the affected drive. If possible, image the drive or connect it to another machine and run recovery from separate media.
  • Tools commonly used: Recuva, PhotoRec/TestDisk, R-Studio (or a reputable commercial recovery service when data is critical).
  • System Restore does not recover personal files; it is not a substitute for file recovery.

Prevention going forward

  • Maintain at least one external or cloud backup (File History, regular disk images, or cloud sync for the Music folder).
  • Put large libraries on a separate data partition or external drive to reduce risk during OS updates.
  • Backups are the real defense — as noted, OS choice alone does not prevent data loss.

Recommended Answers

All 8 Replies

Member Avatar for Reverend Jim

Care to elaborate so we can all avoid the same fate?

Member Avatar for nullptr

Have you looked for your music in the windows.old folder?

Member Avatar for Reverend Jim

If I might suggest something, I use a great free tool called Everything. I find it very useful to instantly find things when I don't know exactly where they are. As nullptr stated, the files may have been moved, not lost. In any case, why don't you have a backup? If your files "go away" and you don't have a backup then shame on you.

commented: Thanks for Everything. +12
Member Avatar for happygeek

Agree with the Rev, Everything is a brilliant little search tool.

Edited by happygeek
Member Avatar for rubberman

In my opinion, Windows is a virus, just waiting to infect your systems! I ONLY use Linux. My wife is an Apple user (iPad and Mac workstations). Neither of us have virus issues, or lost files such as this.

Edited by rubberman
Member Avatar for happygeek

I use Windows, my wife uses Windows, my sons use Windows. None of us have virus issues, or lost files such as this... So your point is what again?

Edited by happygeek
commented: My friends all understand "We only lose what we don't backup." Seems folk must learn this first hand. +12
Member Avatar for Reverend Jim

Here's another example of MS idiocy. There is no way to change the size of displayed text in Skype. The given font apparently only comes in micro which is murder on my ancient eyes. Just about every other software allows you to set the font and Windows allows you to zoomin/ont with CTRL-WHEEL. Bu Skype, which seems to ask me to install an update every other week doesn't have this feature.

I'm not saying Windows is bad. I love it, but I have to shake my head at what is left out.

Member Avatar for happygeek

Agreed Jim. No OS is perfect is the point, and there are always checks and balances to be made when choosing which we use. It's certainly not as simple as saying 'use Linux' as that is not going to be a suitable solution for a lot of people for a lot of reasons.

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