Your files might have vanished after updating from Windows 7 to 10.
Your files might have vanished after updating from Windows 7 to 10.
I completed the switch from Windows 7 to Windows 10 without major issues. The main hiccup was with my internal HDDs—though they show up in Windows 10, one of them appears empty despite having video files on it. Those were live TV recordings from when I used Windows Media Center. I took extra care during the upgrade, choosing my SSD to wipe and install Windows 10. Since my SSD is smaller than the others, the process was straightforward. It's odd that some non-video files remain on that drive, suggesting I didn’t accidentally erase everything. Any tips would be appreciated.
It seems unclear if a DRM system is involved. However, I can note that Windows 8/10 doesn’t support files protected by WTV, likely because it lacks Windows Media Center—an addition only available in Windows 8 Pro, while Windows 7 offers no enhancements.
Because Windows 10 doesn’t support Media Center, it’s likely the system recognized the drive as storage for recordings and deleted the files since they wouldn’t be usable later. I recommend avoiding any actions that might move or alter the data on the drive. Consider using a data recovery tool to try and retrieve what you lost.
I reinstalled Windows 7 because I didn’t do much with Windows 10 setup. After switching back, the separate drive still appears empty. It seems I might have accidentally deleted some files during installation, even though I tried to be careful when choosing the drive. I plan to use Recuva to try and recover the lost data. Apart from the initial deletions, I appreciate your advice. Thanks everyone!
Insert the drive into a backup computer using Windows and check if you can view the contents. This process works well for upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10. The recommended approach is to transfer files via the driver to another storage device, then reformat it before restoring.