Hp Pavilion dv7 intermittent issue upon BIOS upgrade InsydeFlash TEMP

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Kurruppt_SpyCircuit

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Greetings,

The issue that I am currently experiencing evokes an instability after a recent BIOS upgrade which upon much research I have concluded that I was inserted into a temporary account 'TEMP'. I had 'successfully' updated the BIOS upon this pc expecting it to restart alas to my dismay it hadn't functioned as I'd expected; upon a manual restart I had encountered the Windows start screen with two accounts (Administrative/restricted user), as I began to log myself into the Administrative account the following message was displayed upon the screen 'Preparing Desktop', after this process had completed I had received a completely new 'factory settings' desktop in addition to certain software remaining which is allocated to all users. I was unaware at present that I had been granted access to a TEMP account; merely under the impression that an extensive update had been initiated and this was an appropriated outcome.

I began to reconfigure certain settings and folders... at this point I opened my Documents and was astonished at the sordid reflection gazing back towards me... all my files were missing; I subsequently began a 'search' and found all of the files within their rightful directories, ever so unfortunately I began to transfer across the intact, original files and folders towards this 'TEMP' account, hence what was presently located in C:\Users\'AccountName'\Documents I had now unknowingly transferred into C:\Users\'TEMP'\Documents :( I continued this process until I had 'restored' the account to its state prior to the commencement of the BIOS upgrade utilizing the search functionality (*The TEMP account had administrative privileges) it appeared that I was directing the folders to the same location as TEMP wasn't present within the address bar.

(I also noticed that certain programs required registration of serial numbers and subsequent activation)

Once I had completed the entire agenda I had restarted the pc to ensure that it was functioning optimally... It came to my attention that my 'ORIGINAL' administrative account had been returned to me less all of the business critical documents upon the desktop and within my documents; the desktop background had reverted towards a black contrast as in comparison to its original depiction now believed to be located within the TEMP directory :(

I am able to find all of my missing documentation which includes assorted images, music and video files equating towards at least 100 GB, the capacity of the Volume (C) hasn't been altered hence it is my great optimistic perception that the data hasn't been deleted just misplaced into a directory which I am unable to access at present.

(GREAT INCENTIVE TO ASCERTAIN WINDOWS 7 - NO ESOTERIC TENDENCIES PREVALENT WITHIN THAT OS)

I am Able to locate ALL Missing folders utilizing the search functionality albeit when I endeavour to open the prescribed location I receive the following prompt:

"C:\Users\TEMP\Desktop\Filename refers to a location that is unavailable. It could be on a hard drive on this computer, or on a network. Check to make sure that the disk is properly inserted, or that you are connected to the internet or your network, and then try again. If it still cannot be located, the information might have been moved to a different location."

Filename - Generic

This is a local installation hence the reference towards networking or any form of domain integration can be excluded.

As a precaution I instigated a System Restore to a prior scheduled point of restoration it took an exceedingly vast amount of time for the process to complete alas I wasn't optimistic as I am quite well aware of the operational logistics infused amongst Microsoft's System Restore :(

I now have all my software applications in functioning order, even my internet favourites have been successfully restored; nevertheless I am receiving the above for mentioned prompt :(

Is it possible to revert these folders to their original location as I have many priceless family photographs upon there :( I also have many important Word documents which I can actually see for a moment when the desktop is booting upon login for a split second then they just vanish as if they were hidden behind the account.

Or otherwise is it possible to access this TEMP account and restore the data to its original destination once again?

OPTIMISTIC ANSWERS ONLY PLEASE :)

I have encountered this issue in generic form upon many other forums usually occurring after a Windows update, nevertheless I thought that this would be a suitable intervention in order to resolve this issue without having to consult a recovery specialist or even my extended warranty upon this occasion.

System specifications:

- Hp Pavilion dv7 Entertainment Notebook

- Windows Vista Home Premium SP2

- Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q9000 @ 2.0 GHz 2.0 GHz

- Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB

- System type 32 - Bit

- HD capacity - Partitions: OS (C) and DATA (D) equivalent to 1 TB also contains a HP Recovery console partition (E)

* DATA (D) is subsequently partitioned with a Linux installation which I am able to access upon initial boot and mount the OS partition which could possibly assist me within this matter :)

* I also have a Hp Touchsmart PC and this issue has never occurred upon that machine.

If any supplementary information is required please don't hesitate to ask :)
 
Your post confused me quite a bit.

A BIOS update has nothing to do with the contents of your hard disk, and it's quite impossible for such an update to create the situation you're in. Are you sure you performed a BIOS update, or are you confused? Did you perform some other kind of installation?

Nevertheless, as long as your disk isn't damaged, another computer should be able to make sense of your machine, even if yours can't. Can you plug it into another system and get your files off that way?
 

Kurruppt_SpyCircuit

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Greetings,

Thank you ever so much for the prompt reply, although I am absolutely certain that it was a BIOS update integrated through HP Health Check using the program InsydeFlash; the process seemed to complete successfully apart from a disconcerting sound during the upgrade.... the Pc shutdown; I turned the notebook on and I accessed a 'Factory Settings' account (Guest account per se) perhaps the BIOS update wasn't the cause as I had update several drivers prior to the BIOS upgrade albeit I wasn't able to locate any of my data within such a TEMP account, hence I transferred everything from my 'actual' account to the account I was afforded during the initial restart... If I had just restarted the Pc again I wouldn't be experiencing this issue :(

My dv7 is able to view all of the files I am missing and I can even see thumbnail images of the jpeg photographs... there's approximately 100 GB data and the volume capacity hasn't changed hence I still believe that my data has been misplaced rather than deleted :)

Windows update also installed a network interface driver upgrade prior to the BIOS upgrade.

The following is somewhat of an exact description relative towards my issue:

http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=101&threadID=225496&start=0

^ I am not advertising any other forum upon here so please forgive me for the reference.
 
HP would never include an update/patch that would mess with the OS - that's not their area. Their product is your notebook and it's hardware - therefore, I'm inclined to believe your issue is more likely due to malware or some kind of OS error.

You can view your files, but you can't open or move them?
Like I said, if that's the case, your OS is probably at fault, and your files should be accessible to any other computer that you can plug your hard disk into. That's the course of action I would take - and then I'd simply reinstall the OS. I've never encountered the thing you've mentioned with XP, and I've seen a lot of messed up machines in my days. I don't think HP has much to do with the issue; even 9 year old OSs have bugs.

If you don't have another machine to plug your disk into, you can use your linux partition to move the files to an external hard disk (or some other location with enough space).

Edit: For future reference, you should avoid updating the BIOS through Windows whenever possible. It's much safer to do those things through DOS.
 

Kurruppt_SpyCircuit

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Greetings,

It has come to my undesired acceptance that I have ever so unfortunately lost my data in question; it appears that the search functionality brought upon a catalogued index of the data pertaining towards this issue, upon re - index of the (C) volume the data which was transferred towards the TEMP directory was deleted :( I presume that when I attempted a System Restore... the ill fated prompt which appeared during this process: 'Deleting Temporary Files' which may have propagated the missing files issue.

I have managed to recover a vast amount of data utilizing an extensive recovery process via software installed upon an alternative PC in order to prevent data being overwritten.

I have a question: If my data which I believe I transferred into the TEMP directory has been deleted... my drive volume (C) remains the same which is quite peculiar, shouldn't the space have been reallocated?

I have managed to recover all of my required photographs, however I have certain word and .txt files which have been corrupted, i.e Scrambled Unicode, is it possible to recover these documents without specialist methods of restoration?

I also have the same notice within Hp Health check prompting me to update the BIOS once again, perhaps if I attempted to initiate the update once again I might be redirected towards the TEMP account :p

As per your inquisition with regards to malware, I have scanned my drives thoroughly utilizing 4 different AV applications and none of these detected any form of hostile code.

However, my primary concern regards towards the capacity of my Drive (C) - at least 100 GB was 'deleted', hence why hasn't this transpired towards a reconfiguration of utilized space within my drive volume?

*Enforcing a mandatory backup initiative :)
 
Your disk index is simply a list of files and their locations to speed up searching - this doesn't affect your actual files at all.

By temporary files, system restore probably meant files it (system restore) had created to restore your machine. In that case, your files have not been deleted, which explains your disk still having the same usage capacity.

Unfortunately, I don't know of a method to unscramble unicode. I can look for one tonight - I'll get back to you when I can.

 
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