Dell 6000 - EVERYTHING ERASED?!!?!?

Hey everyone,

My gf has the Dell 6000, it is about a year old or so. She turned on her computer this morning to send me an e-mail, and as I open my e-mail, she says that EVERYTHING IS ERASED on her computer. Her background picture, all of her pictures, all of her music, all documents. Totally gone. I really cannot come to a conclusion as to why this has happened? I asked her if she did anything unusual last night but she said she didn't. I am away at school, so I can't really help her until this weekend. I suggested she perform a System Restore if when she boots up again her data is still not there. Is this the best move? Does anyone have any idea why this would happen? Should I call Dell Tech Support to see if they can help? Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks!

PaulyRags

Dell 640M l T2500 2.0GHZ l 1GB RAM l TRUELIFE

 

So much for discovering her past affairs. :shifty

Tech support?

You: I turned on my computer and all my stuff was gone.
Dell: Did you turn your computer on?
You: Yes.
Dell: And all your stuff was gone?
You: Yes.
Dell: Did you turn your computer on?
You:

For real though, it seems like it could only be few things:

A really bad virus, probably Russian in origin. She somehow did do somthing really crazy.

Hopefully she has everything backed up. I know after losing a lot of stuff back in the day, that I keep multiple copies of anything important. Thank god for the external hard drive.

 

Thanks for the support guys, except I didn't ask for sarcasm. All I asked was what would be the best solution? Would a system restore work? Maybe some more civilized, mature, and or educated people could answer such a question.

Thanks again though HP Fan and Schemula, your input was insightful and much appreciated.

PaulyRags

Thanks for the input Schemula on the EDIT

 

Mostly, I just mean, that's just the kind of problem Dell support is not really going to have an answer for. Put yourself in their shoes? Their procedural method "reinstalling the driver" is just not going to help.

Is there anything in her event logs?

Administrative Tools > Event Viewer

It seems weird that her computer would differentiate between just her data, and the OS. Are other things ok, like are her bookmarks in the browser still?

It almost sounds like she somehow restored the thing or something.

The way hard drives work, deleted files are not really deleted, just marked for deletion until you write over them. Still, this seems like a really huge problem.

I'm not sure, but I think system restore is really just limited to the system. Not really the documents. You can roll back to a previous system state, but not a previous document state, like the word docs I deleted last week would not be restored.

PS I'm civilized and educated. I'm just not very mature...

 

a system restore would delete everything and make it like it just came from the factory.

i'd say if everything really is erased, the best solution is to do as little as possible to maximize the chances of being able to recover it. it seems pretty serious if it is legitimately gone, but who knows? maybe she opened up a different user aco**** like a guest account or something. i really don't know what to say since there's so little information and since computers don't just restore themselves to factory spec by themselves.

 

There are two types of system restore.

The partition on the computer that has a system restore on it. You use that to make the computer as it was shipped from the factory.

The system restore where the OS attempts to revert itself to a previous state to fix some kind of severe issue with drivers or something.

Neither one is going to help bring back lost documents.

====

If you are going to try to recover files though, as mentioned above, she really should not use the computer. Just leave it alone until you try to recover files.

 

lol that Dell sarcasm has a point! makes me laugh. hahhahah

is the russian virus one a joke? how do u know?
my guess is it is a virus too!

if i remember correctly; i think my sister got some virus from her friend.. and it delete everything! even the programs..... reformat fix the problem, but i have no luck recovering my files.... lucky i backed all of it up *phew*

 

i don't know if this might help but... before doing the full DELL SYSTEM RESTORE, why not try WINDOWS SYSTEM RESTORE FIRST.

edit: oh is the programs still there? try to scan for viruses and spyware first before doing anything else.

 

Hey guys, I just talked to my gf, she said when she turned on her computer this morning the Dell default background was there and then a message popped up for her to click on some license agreement or something or other, she said she didn't read it....but clicked it......so I dunno....this sounds bad, virus bad.....

Schemula, I know what you meant with Tech Support, I just thought I'd ask anyway.

Thanks for the input everyone, I guess these things happen

EDIT:

She also mentioned that there were still programs that were still there, like MSN Messenger, because she noticed that all her "emoticons" were gone, and her Icon Picture was set to default......it sounds as if the programs may still be present

 

It could be something as simple as she's a new user.

How much free space/ is on the hard drive?

 

I am not sure how she could have even signed on as a new user though, because her computer does not load to the logon screen, it automatically loads into Windows, she is the only one that uses her computer, and didn't like the idea of signing in everytime.

 

When she hits the Start button, what name is displayed at the top?

What users are in Control Panel > User Accounts?

Seems like, if she's somehow a guest user or a new user, she would not be able to see other documents, ie, her documents.

 

Yes, I do see what you are saying Schemula, I will ask her to check.

Thanks a lot

 

id laugh heartily if this is what happened as i expected

 

Enlighten us.

 

Oh, I sure hope this is what has happened......but I am still confused as to how it could log her on as someone else, say a guest, or a new user??? Is this possible? If so, how?

 

it's in my first post where i said maybe she's logged on as a guest or another account

 

Right. Why is account ****'d up? Made me kind of miss it.

It seems like this is the most likely case, based on what we have. Especially since, any type of restore would get your attention and not be automatic.

As far as how it happens, who knows, windows can get spooky sometimes.

 

Ok guys, I am just hoping when she turns her computer on after she gets back from work everything is fine.......I'll update later on

Paul

 

I hope it is that issue because a hacker wipped out my cousin's computer clean. I mean the entire HD was GONE! Bastards. This is why you need to have all your antivirus, spyware, adware, etc. up-to-date. Not blaming your gf or you of course... just saying in general.

Mike.

 

Hey guys, I talked with my gf last night, this is what she recorded and sent to me:

"Windows cannot load locally stored profile. Possible causes include insufficent rights or corrupt local profile. If this error persists, contact your local network administrator. Windows gave me a temporary login profile, since theres a problem with my normal one, and any changes that i make will be lost "

So, basically, the computer has assigned her a temporary account. I asked her to check under users to see if her account is still active, and it is....but I do not know where to go from here. Does anyone have any suggestions? If so, let me know. I am hesistant to ask this question again, but could Dell Tech Support assist with this type of issue?

Any input would be appreciated,

Thanks,

PaulyRags

 

u try safe mode/windows system restore?

 

yeah go into safe mode; there is an admin account there

 

Hey guys,

I called Dell Tech Support last night, they suggested the same thing...go into Safe Mode, perform a System Restore, it seemed to work fine.

And just so you guys know, when I say everything erased??? Everything was NOT erased, only my gf's profile was corrupt, so anyway, her files are all still there, she just had a little freakout.

Thanks for everyone's input,

PaulyRags

640M l T2500 2.0GHZ Core Duo l 120GB 5400 HD l Truelife

 

Now that she got religion, you can get her an external hard drive for xmas!