Microsoft Explains Why Windows 10 Version 1809 Deleted User Files

[nir]

Microsoft last week pulled Windows 10 version 1809 after it officially acknowledged a bug leading to the deletion of certain user files, and in a blog post today, the company explains what exactly went wrong in this new OS feature update.

 

Microsoft says the culprit is a change made to the Known Folder Redirection (KFR) which technically allows users to redirect known folders, like the Windows libraries and the desktop, to a new location.

 

The software giant says that it received feedback from users who installed the April 2018 Update that KFR creates an empty folder on their device, so the October 2018 Update came with new code to prevent this from happening.

 

“That change, combined with another change to the update construction sequence, resulted in the deletion of the original “old” folder locations and their content, leaving only the new “active” folder intact,” Microsoft explains.

 

The software giant goes on to explain that there were three different issues with the existing implementation of KFR in Windows 10 October 2018 Update.

 

Unexpected behavior of KFR

First of all, the bug occurred when KFR was configured to redirect a known folder to a different drive, as the feature actually removed the old folder, including its contents. However, the new location was preserved, was Microsoft says.

 

Second of all, it affected a configuration with Known Folders, like the Windows library, redirected to OneDrive.

 

“During this process the system prompts the user and asks if they would like to move the files to the new location.  If the files were not moved and the October 2018 Update is installed the original “old” folder was deleted including the files in that folder,” Microsoft says.

 

And third of all, the issue hit systems with early versions of OneDrive clients and configured to use OneDrive settings with Auto-save.

 

“This feature turned on KFR for the Documents and/or Pictures folders based on the user’s choice but did not move the existing files from the original “old” location to the new location,” Microsoft says, adding that the feature has been updated to no longer delete the old folder.

 

Windows 10 version 1809 is now available for insiders with fixes for all these bugs, users who have already installed the October 2018 Update are recommended to get this month’s cumulative update to address the issues.

 

Source

 

[Karlston]

Well we know why it happened, but what we still don't know (and probably never will) is why the clueless developer didn't check that the folders were empty before deleting them.

 

Any novice developer would have thought of that... CHECK... IF... THE,,, FOLDER... IS... EMPTY... BEFORE... DELETING... IT...

 

I was a professional developer for 20+ years (wrote my first program at high school in 1973) and there is absolutely no way any half-decent developer would have just deleted a folder without checking. None!

 

Not to mention, why did Microsoft ignore a bug of such severity. There is no worse thing to do than delete user data.

 

And still, of course, not even the hint of an apology from the incompetent Microsoft fools.

[flash48]

Actually,  the real problem is that Windows is designed more complicated than it should be.  Every new feature that is added may not fit very well so it is forced to fit.  As future updates are done, something always breaks.  I think bloatware is the cause.  Perhaps Windows 10 needs another year or so before it becomes dependable..