Microsoft Windows 10 October 2018 Update Can Delete Data, Some Users Report

Just after Microsoft announced the availability of its Windows 10 October 2018 Update, some early adopters are reporting that the update deleted their personal files. Several people on Reddit and Twitter have noted that that the newest feature update for Windows 10 operating system is wiping their documents, images, and music. To recall, the Windows 10 October 2018 Update was announced at IFA by Microsoft as the sixth major update after the November Update, Anniversary Update, Creators Update, Fall Creators Update, and the April 2018 Update. While the latest Windows 10 update brings a number of new features, it also appears to come with a file-wiping bug.

Microsoft has started the Windows 10 October 2018 rollout, and now a few users have discovered the update is deleting files, including photos and music, reports MSPoweruser. As per a Twitter user, if your documents are saved in the user directory and not on OneDrive, the update will delete everything in that location. Additionally, the user recommended that "if your 'Documents' or 'Pictures' don't have a OneDrive symbol, MIGRATE IMMEDIATELY!" Rolling back the installation apparently does not restore the missing files.

Another user claimed to have lost 220GB of data after updating to the latest Windows 10 version. On a Microsoft user forum, the user wrote, "I have just updated my windows using the October update (10, version 1809). It deleted all my files of 23 years in amount of 220GB. This is unbelievable, I have been using Microsoft products since 1995 and nothing like that ever happened to me." The user added, "Files were located at C:/Users/rober/Documents/. This location is still present, with no files. All of files deleted."

On Reddit, a user claimed, "My wife lost all her photos and documents from the past five years. Anything we can do to get them back?" Another user said that he lost weeks of work after the update.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has blocked the Windows 10 October 2018 update for some systems because of a compatibility problem with Intel Display Audio device drivers. It is warning users against the manual installation of the update if their PC is running an older version of the Intel Audio Display device driver intcdaud.sys. Microsoft says that it "may result in excessive processor demand and reduced battery life".