Microsoft has fixed the Windows 10 October 2018 Update after suspending the dissemination of said update last week.
Shortly after rolling the update out, users that did the right thing and applied the update found that their files – specifically in the Documents folder – were missing.
Following these reports Windows suspended the rollout of the update.
Now Microsoft has said it has fixed the buggy update and will begin rolling it out to Windows Insiders.
“We have fully investigated all reports of data loss, identified and fixed all known issues in the update, and conducted internal validation. Also, Microsoft Support and our retail stores customer service personnel are available at no charge to help customers,” Microsoft director of program management, John Cable said in an update.
So what caused the issue? Known Folder Redirection.
As you might be aware there are several folders that are always present in Windows 10 such as Documents, Desktop, Pictures and the like.
These folders can be redirected to use space on a separate drive because by default they use storage capacity on the same drive the operating system is installed on. This is known as Known Folder Redirection (KFR).
The bug that deleted files would occur when Known Folder Redirection had been enabled but there were still files in the old folder location.
“In previous feedback from the Windows 10 April 2018 Update, users with KFR reported an extra, empty copy of Known Folders on their device. Based on feedback from users, we introduced code in the October 2018 Update to remove these empty, duplicate known folders. That change, combined with another change to the update construction sequence, resulted in the deletion of the original ‘old’ folder locations and their content, leaving only the new ‘active’ folder intact,” Cable explained.
As for users that had files deleted by the bug, Microsoft has urged them to contact Microsoft Support but does not guarantee that files can be recovered.
Once the update has been tested by Windows Insider participants and if it is found to contain no issues the Windows 10 October 2018 update will be rolled out en masse.
[Source – Microsoft]
