I am gutted!

[jx2mad]

Been away for 3 days. Came home today and tried to upload some photos I took and I find that the windows picture program and my Picassa program are both empty of photos. No files in deleted bin. Where could they have gone? Lost all the holiday snaps plus dozens on the grandkids. Why could I loose all files from both programs? No-one else touches my computer. PC with W10. Can anyone help? Would they be recoverable somehow? Do I need a bank loan to pay for a local Tech to find them if possible? Jim

[Mick_Marsh]

Have you looked in the "Pictures" folder using "Explorer" (the thing that looks like a manila folder)?

[Tim_AM]

Sounds like the destination folder has changed

i.e your program is looking at an empty folder rather than where your photos are actually stored, Maybe the program updated and has reset to different folder?

best to try and locate a photo using the search function, and then look at its destination folder to locate them all,

try typing '.jpg' into the search part of the start menu, (or what ever format they were saved in) this will then list all images on your computer in that format, then right click and 'open file location' - this should take you to its location and hopeful where the rest are!

good luck!

[jx2mad]

Searched for .jpg I t brings up the photos I uploaded today. No other folders

[Mick_Marsh]

Searched for .jpg I t brings up the photos I uploaded today. No other folders

Where did you search?

What did you use to search? The windows picture program, my Picassa program or the file manager program (Explorer)?

[jx2mad]

explorer

[Mick_Marsh]

And what was in your pictures folder?

Have you logged in on your usual login?

[Ferret]

... Would they be recoverable somehow?

Do you do backups? If not, now you know why other people do.

You can try recuva (http://www.piriform.com/recuva) to get them back if they have truly disappeared. Though if you go down that route ensure you recover your photos from your HDD to an independent device ie USB drive etc. to avoid overwriting the files on your HDD you are trying to recover.

If you are thinking of trying to recover them then the least you use your HDD the better your chance of recovery.

By the way, I once had the same experience as you. All photos in a photo directory and all photos in the various sub directories of that directory just disappeared. Many, many years worth of photos gone. But I had backups :)

[jx2mad]

I ran recuva. I managed to retrieve about 80%. Others that were supposedly retrievable didn't come back because they were not good enough quality. It seems that most of the grandkids photos came back. Thanks for the help. Now I have to figure how to backup. I have a usb hard drive so will try to copy there. :)

[Dark61]

I have a lot of music and photos on the laptop and have two external hard drives for back up. I try and do it as often as possible.
cheers,
D

[Pedro_The_Swift]

only connect your backup drive when actually copying files.
Physically remove the drive and put in a dark place at all other times.

:angel::angel::angel::angel::angel:

[jx2mad]

Two more things. I deleted the large file of photos off my mobile last week. Could this somehow removed them from my computer? Secondly, other than plugging the backup drive in, what are the physical steps in actually doing the backup? I believe it is click and drag but drag what from where?

[Ferret]

... what are the physical steps in actually doing the backup? I believe it is click and drag but drag what from where?

This video uses windows 7. The speaker refers to 'my computer'. In windows 10 this term is now called 'this PC'. Other than that, things are pretty much the same.

To get to 'this PC', Open explorer. You will see towards the top of window the 'address bar'. It will look something like this.

> This PC > WINDOWS ( C: ) > whatever

Click on 'this PC' you can then follow the video as normal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lluk26qiNXw

Strictly speaking the above is not 'backup'. But keeping an independent copy of your valuables on an external drive is doing far better than what you have been doing so far. Backup is a big topic ranging from simple file coping (what you are doing above) to drive 'imaging'. If you are challenged by simple 'file coping' then drive 'imaging' is a topic for later.

If you photos were also on your phone you could try some of the photo recovery software that is available for android or iPhone. You may recover more photos.

You will need to look in the google play store or apple store. Some will be free others you probably have to pay for. What works best? - who knows.

[theresanothersteve]

Two more things. I deleted the large file of photos off my mobile last week. Could this somehow removed them from my computer? Secondly, other than plugging the backup drive in, what are the physical steps in actually doing the backup? I believe it is click and drag but drag what from where?
Are you using any form of file synchronisation between your phone and PC? Don't forget things like OneDrive and Dropbox create sync folders that you can use as if they are normal folders, but changes on one device are reflected on the other.

You can use a USB drive for backups. I like to open 2 instances of File Explorer (Windows 8/ Windows 10). Hold down the windows key on the keyboard and press e to open each instance. Keep holding the Windows Key and press the left arrow (on the keyboard) to dock the file explorer window on the left side of the monitor. When the first has opened and docked do the same except use the right arrow to dock the window on the right. (Yeah, I know, Windows 3 did this better).

Next, navigate through the file structure in the left window to find the files you want to copy. They might be found under favourites, libraries, documents. If the worst comes to the worst expand computer -> (C:) (it might have a name as well) -> Users -> <your user name>.

When you have located the files you want to copy, drag and drop them to the USB device in the right window. You might want to create some form of folder hierarchy to make photos easy to find, that's why I use 2 windows. If you just want to dump them all on the USB you don't need to open a second instance of file explorer, you can drag and drop from the source location straight onto the USB in the same window.

To be candid, it sounds as if you have a minimum of computer skills. Have you considered doing a basic computer course? You might try searching online for online tutorials, although the catch here is you have to have some computer skills so that you can get computer skills. Youtube can also have some video tutes, but picking good ones can be time consuming.

HTH

[theresanothersteve]

You can also configure Windows 10 to do background backups. Basically uses another drive to shadow copy files, but this is only good for speedy recovery.

If your photos are valuable you should make an effort to create portable copies and store them offsite. (I have 2 removable hard drives, 1 kept in the car and the other at work. Used to create regular backups. This is in addition to a server that makes daily backups and keeps the last 3 days, the last 3 weeks - Sunday, and the last 3 months - 1st of the month for instant file recovery.)

At the very least copy important files to a DVD and leave it at a friends/ family member's house.

[jx2mad]

I have backed up to my usb hard drive but I am scared that deleting files on my mobile will delete files on my pc again.
Secondly I recovered all my photos on the mobile and put them back into the normal file. However if I look for these photos from the computer I cannot find them

[theresanothersteve]

I have backed up to my usb hard drive but I am scared that deleting files on my mobile will delete files on my pc again.
Secondly I recovered all my photos on the mobile and put them back into the normal file. However if I look for these photos from the computer I cannot find them
If you do a straight copy you will be OK, deleting files will not delete copies you have made using drag and drop, copy and paste and so on.

I think the issue is some form of synchronisation software. How do the images get from the phone to the PC? If it is using dropbox or other 'cloud' functionality it is likely this is the culprit.

I use dropbox all the time, it saves the hassle of remembering to connect and download, but I make sure I copy any images I want to keep from the dropbox folder on the PC to a folder in documents. That way it is included in Window's backup. I also keep remote copies of images using portable hard drives, out of all my content photos are the only thing that cannot be replaced.