So Microsoft finally forced the Creators Update on me (I use defer updates in the hope the updates will be stable when they get to my PC) and I've had some problems. For one Steam sometimes refuses to open, needing a reboot to get in working. Talking about reboots. The reboot times are horrendous (and mind you I don't have ANY applications on startup, and most background processes are disabled).

Meanwhile, my girlfriend had a problem where the update removed a Brother printer driver on her and her brother's PC when the update came by. So they had to re-download them manually.

I'm convinced Microsoft simply doesn't test these updates. Some updates fix some things and some break some things. Seems to be a random determinant what breaks since everyone has a different problem (or none). It's like winning a shit lottery...

I can't help but you but anyway.

It's pretty funny that people seem to be reporting even more problems with Windows 10 updates than they used to in previous version of Windows, despite Microsoft claming forced updates make updates simpler because there aren't that many different configurations out there anymore (because everyone's already running the same version, i.e. the latest version). I know there were problems before, but I encountered them much more rarely.

Windows 10 is terrible. The Anniversary update literally ruined my external HDD. Now I'm going to have to buy some expensive recovery software if I want any of my archives back.

the concept of forced auto updates... not a fan.

It differs from person to person, so clearly the "same configuration" isn't working out for them. I don't mind updates, I just want them to work. Imagine being a business owner and a random update knocks out all company printers and you need to manually install drivers on every machine. That's unnaceptable downtime.

Yup. Only Linux for me now. Might use Win10 for games, but I have my PS4 for most of those.

All the consistent fuckups Microsoft is causing by this forced update procedure is a big part of why I moved away from Windows.

That's the core reason why I never went to W10 and stayed with 7. In till they stop with the forced updates I won't go near it. It's bad enough when you install a update on the past OS'. It bitches after you installed the update to restart. And you have to say no every 4 hours. Instead of having a permanent option of: Install updates when PC is rebooted by user. Do Not ask again.

It broke gsync for me. I found a fix recently and can use it again. HDR is still broken though, because MS blocked an API or something like that which nvidia used. MS said to fix it with an update. That was months ago....

I also got a new notebook from my company with win 10 CU. My company uses a harddisk encryption. A windows update I did completely broke it, so I couldn't boot windows anymore.

The thing is... you can have the same configurations sure... but there is almost no 2 PCs in peoples homes which are identical, even down to different stocks PCs bought from a company as a complete set up will have different breeds of HDD/DVD drive and even different but similar part PSU's etc. There is no such thing in the PC landscape as one PC configuration for all machines.

Take a look at Ease US Data recovery wizard, I've had some good success with that depending on the file types you are looking to recover. Sorry for the loss of your data though, can be a really bad sting.

Have you no other backups of the data from the drive?

Regarding the price of Ease US.... if you are really stuck you can get a version of it for free if you know the same sites where you can get all software for free, just check out the comments section if you are stuck for cash and need your files back for free, could consider buying a version of it when you have more cash at hand if it helps you out :)