Installation erased all data and settings

wmeaney · ‎05-01-2012

When prompted by Norton 360 I downloaded and installed ver 6.0. When my computer restarted all my data, emails, and settings had been lost....everything! Had to reconfigure my email account, reset up all programs. What happened and how do I fix it???

cgoldman · ‎06-25-2008

I doubt this is a function or failure of Norton v6. Norton does not touch data and emails in general, except when you are sending or receiving mail. Neither does it remove or break programs per se.

It is more likely, that in the installation you had or already had, a hard disk error. If you have had a hard disk crash but were unaware of the bad blocks, then it is possible that some new disk activity could cause the effect to which you refer. I am however only speculating. You will know if you ever got stuck and had to cut power to your PC.

Anyway, if you are unsure of the state of your hard drive, then I suggest a full "chkdsk /f /r" which should take effect at the next reboot.

James_Carr · ‎04-26-2012

cgoldman has it right. Norton does not touch your personal data. It is highly likely that this happened as a result of hardware failure or infection; however, I find it strange that no operating system damage occurred, just the data. Once you get everything up and running again, I suggest backing up your important files. Your subscription to Norton 360 entitles you to online backup space (2GB for Standard, 25GB for Premier.)

If this happens continues to happen, you may want to consider replacing the hard drive. You can then restore your files from the online backup once you reinstall the Norton product.

wmeaney · ‎05-01-2012

Thanks for the suggestions guys. For future reference a friend made a suggestion that fixed the problem. He suggested that I look at the hidden file setting. Sure enough, the ver 6.0 upgrade, when installed, changed the setting from show hidden files to don't show. When I changed that everything was there. It couldn't have been anything else because all was normal before the upgrade and all different after. When I changed that one selection everything was back to normal. I know that 360 is not supposed to alter programs and data but it can definitely change settings.

cgoldman · ‎06-25-2008

I cant say this makes sense. You see if you are referring to "show hidden files" as a setting within Windows Explorer, then not only does Norton 6 not change that setting, but even if hidden files and folders were hiddden, that would not affect the display of emails.

Well glad it is sorted out. Please mark this thread as solved.

SUBASH_PRABU · ‎05-31-2011

Hi

You can follow the below step to restore all the Icons that are made hidden. This sometimes might happen after a Fake Application Infection Removal ( a side effect). The below command will reset all the files to be non-system and unhides them, Because the Infection will assign System File attribute to the files in start menu, Desktop, My Documents, etc.

Open Command Prompt with Admin credentials: start->type cmd -> right click on cmd.exe ->Run administrator ->type cd\ ->type attrib -h -s /s /d -> Hit enter and let it run and once finished you can check your icons. Let us know how it goes.

wmeaney · ‎05-01-2012

cgoldman, the setting was not in explorer but was a general setting. I had to change it back using control panel. What I don't understand (I'm not all that computer savey) is why my data and emails would be saved as hidden files. I'm sure there's a reason but I wouldn't have expect that. Thanks for your comments.

wmeaney · ‎05-01-2012

Subash_Prabu, thanks for the reply. I've got everything working for now but I want to think about your reply. I'm sure that Norton ran a scan in conjunction with the new installation. If there's a history associated with that scan I might see if there was a Fake Application Infection removed. Also, i appreciate your quote/tag line. It has many, many applications!!