Installation Has Caused Loss of Critical Files in Folders

[NormalPaul]

 

This afternoon, I renewed my subscription to CCleaner Pro. Using the Administrator account on my Windows 10 desktop, I downloaded and installed the updated version, and three other programs: Recuva, Defraggler and Speccy. I opened CCleaner, just to confirm that it was the latest updated version. I was called away before I could close, or run, or read the Help file to learn the function of any of the premium software programs. I did not close or run  any of the three additional programs. However, I left the computer running, as well as a connected, 1TB, LaCie external storage drive.  When I returned, I was shocked to discover that many of the files in folders on the connected LaCie external drive were "inaccessible" because the files supposedly no longer "exist." However, the file folders themselves are still present, but they display as empty when opened. The LaCie drive shows in the This PC folder, but the indicated amount of available space is considerably larger than it had been before I downloaded the Defraggler software - suggesting the the files have indeed been deleted from the drive. In addition, the LaCie icon identifying the external drive appears blurred. To the best of my knowledge, I did not do anything with the Defraggler software; it seems to have automatically run while I was away from the computer. The missing files are crucial to the fund-raising activity of the organization for which I am managing community activities. I would very much appreciate instructions on how I can recover the files. This is an extremely time-critical issue! Thank you for your kind assistance. Sincerely, . P.S. My desktop computer is protected by Malwarebytes Premium and McAfee Total Protection, both of which provide real-time scanning, and automatic updating of signature files and daily scheduled scanning for malware and viruses.

[NormalPaul]

An additional observation to the missing files on the external drive in my immediately preceding post: When I open the This PC folder, the listing in the left sidebar directory contains two identical listings of the contents of the LaCie external drive!  Moreover, the Recycle bin of the desktop, as well as the Recycle bins in each of the two LaCie drive content listings, do not show that any files have been deleted on today's date.

[Guest Andrei CCleaner]

6 hours ago, NormalPaul said:

An additional observation to the missing files on the external drive in my immediately preceding post: When I open the This PC folder, the listing in the left sidebar directory contains two identical listings of the contents of the LaCie external drive!  Moreover, the Recycle bin of the desktop, as well as the Recycle bins in each of the two LaCie drive content listings, do not show that any files have been deleted on today's date.

Hello @NormalPaul, I'm really sorry to hear that. Please send our support team an email at support@ccleaner.com so they could have a look over your situation as soon as possible.

[nukecad]

I'm not sure why you think Defraggler has done something to your external drive - especially as you say that you hadn't run Defraggler?
(PS. If you had told it to run on installation then it would by default have defragged C: and not an external drive. You'd have to specifically select an external drive to defrag it).

The bigger question from what you have said may be did you run CCleaner?
In particular did you use the Driver Updater (or the Registry Cleaner)?

There are many reasons why files can go 'missing' from an external drive, usually they are still there but Windows just can't see them for some reason.

The fact that Windows can still see the drive as a whole, and some folders on it, is an encouraging sign that the drive is working OK and so the files are probably still there.
Sometimes just disconnecting and reconnecting the drive is all you need for Windows to see them again. (Tell windows to Eject it before unplugging from USB).

I'd work with support as Andrei suggests, but in the meantime use that drive as little as possible.
(Just in case the files have been deleted, you have more chance of recovery the less you use the drive).
 

[Willy2]

- I could imagine that Malwarebytes & McAfee are the reason why those files are "lost", why Windows has "problems" with those files.

[Andavari]

1 hour ago, nukecad said:

There are many reasons why files can go 'missing' from an external drive, usually they are still there but Windows just can't see them for some reason.

Drives can fail or just have some hiccup that causes issues.

One of them being if/when Windows states for instance a USB 3.0 drive can run faster if connected to a USB 3.0 port, such as Windows had issues detecting the USB version and in that particular instance it's best to Safely Remove the drive and plug it back in again, if failing to do that and any writing to the drive is done (even a very small sized file) it can cause corruption and missing files on the drive. I had just that happen earlier this year on a backup USB hard disk however I also have two more backup USB SSD drives containing the exact same connects. So in short: Your critical external USB backup drive itself needs a complete backup copy of it preferably on at least two or more external USB drive(s) and preferably a different brand/make/model in case a particular drive has some issue such as firmware bugs, etc.

[nukecad]

1 hour ago, Willy2 said:

- I could imagine that Malwarebytes & McAfee are the reason why those files are "lost", why Windows has "problems" with those files.

They work well together, as long as the relevant exceptions are put in place.

Malwarebytes4 will run happily side-by-side with most other AVs, giving extra protection.
https://www.howtogeek.com/230158/how-to-run-malwarebytes-alongside-another-antivirus/

[NormalPaul]

Last night, after posting my inquiry to this forum (actually a desperate plea!), I collapsed in bed without turning off the desktop computer. This morning, when I rushed down to my desktop, to check for any responses to my post, I found that the icon on the LaCie external drive was no longer blurred, and that all of the files that had been unavailable, last night, were now available! When I conducted a search for the location of the Defraggler program file, I found that it was not in the Programs or Programs (86) folders on the C:\\ drive. Rather the program file was located in the Programs folder of the Windows folder's Start Menu. I inferred that the Defraggler program had run automatically after installation, and that it had been running during the period of time when the LaCie drive icon was blurred and files contained in its various folders were showing as "unavailable." I have concluded that the defragging process of the C:\\ drive (which is an SSD and which is not very large) had completed, and that the 1 TB external LaCie drive  -  which is large and was quite full of data  -  was still in the process of being defragged during the time, last night, when I was trying to access the files for the charity fund-raising events. Hence, the blurred icon and unavailability of so many of its files. In addition, I suspect that the double listing of the contents of the LeCie drive in the C:\\ directory is an means for enabling the Defraggler program to dissasemble and, then, reassemble the contents of the drive, during the defragging process. This morning, when I open the This PC folder, the LaCie drive's icon is sharp, there is no double listing of its contents, and every file that I have checked is now available. This implies that the defragging process was completed during the night, and that a significant amount of space on the LaCie drive had been cleared by the process.

I want to express my gratitude to Andrei CCleaner and nukecad and Willy2, for responding so quickly to my post/plea, and for offering their helpful advice. I cannot overstate the sense of relief that I am experiencing, and the renewed confidence I have in the competence of the CCleaner organization. Thank you.

May I make one suggestion: if the Defragger program is designed to run automatically upon installation, that a note be added on the installation panel, indicating that this is what will happen; or that there be options for setting when the program will run. I was suddenly called away from the computer, just when I was installing the three premium programs accompanying the CCleaner update and, if there were any such option(s) on the panel, I may have  overlooked them in my haste. In answer to your quesion, I did open and run CCleaner, but did not use the Driver Updater or the Registry Cleaner, I only opened the CCleaner program, clicked the Health Check box and, while that was running, checked that the updated version that had installed.

Again thank you for your helpful responses.

Paul Patterson

[NormalPaul]

And thank you as well, Andavari. I didn't notice your post while I was replying to the earlier responses to my initial post. You can be sure that I will be backing up my data to more than one external drive, from now on! Thank you all. Paul 

[nukecad]

Good to hear that your files came back.

I've never noticed behaviour like that during a defrag - there again I've never looked. (I usually just set it running on a file defrag and don't do anything else until it's finished).

However after a quick test here I'm pretty sure that what you saw was NOT Defraggler.

To start with, running on install, many apps have an option to do this when they have finished installing.
It's been a while since I installed Defraggler, so to refresh my memory I've  just uninstalled and reinstalled Defraggler  on this laptop.
It did open the user interface once installed, but it did not run automatically.
So unless you actually clicked on the 'Analyze' or 'Defrag' buttons after installing then it was not Defraggler that was running on your external drive.

I don't know what it was that you saw, but unless you had clicked one of those buttons then I'd say that it wasn't Defraggler.

I would strongly suggest that you make a backup of your files to another drive (the current drive may have a fault).

As you say that these are 'crucial' then you should already be regularly (daily/weekly) making at least one, and to be safe more than one, backup of them.
Keep one backup well away from the computer itself, in a different building or as online storage in the cloud - if there is a fire or other disaster it could destroy any backup kept on site as well as the originals.

PS. Being in the Start Menu folder is normal for any/all applications that you have installed, that folder contains shortcuts to where they actually are installed and is there so that they appear on your Start Menu applications list.
Defraggler normally installs in "C:\Program Files\Defraggler"