Windows 10: Windows Repair File Deletion Recovery

I have a laptop from school where the computer was locked into administrative state and could not log in. The help desk had me use the windows recovery when pressing shift + restart on login screen. He said that all the personal files such as in the downloads folder would remain. However it seems like the who hard drive was wiped. I tried to use windows recovery native software but am having no luck in finding the deleted files. Is this even possible? I know where the majority of the files were. Any suggestions?Thanks

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Repairing Windows

Every time I boot up Windows, I get an error that says I need to repair (it says it's missing a file). I've been reading that in order for me to repair my Windows installation without loss of data, I need to delete a file called undo_guimode.txt in the system32 folder. I open up the recovery console and type in del /a /f C:\Windows\system32\undo_guimode.txt and it says "The parameter is not valid." Now, I'm not sure if this means that the file doesn't exist (which is good news for me, meaning I can just go ahead and install) or if it's hidden, or I'm not doing it right, or something. If anyone could help, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

 

Using Windows Repair?

My computer has been randomly freezing for no reason lately so I've decided to use the Recovery Console on my Windows XP installation CD. If I use this to repair windows, will my files be deleted or are there any locations on the C: Drive that I should remove my files from and place somewhere else (ie. My Documents, Desktop)? I really don't want to reformat as I don't have enough space on my spare harddrive to backup 1tb worth of data.

 

Recovery. Your pc or device needs to be repaired

Hi,

To address your concern, we suggest that you run the Windows Startup repair. To do that, follow these steps:

• Using you installation media, access the Windows recovery environment.
• Select Troubleshoot
• Choose Advanced option
• Choose Automatic Repair or Startup Repair.
• Once done, your system will restart.

Let us know if you need further assistance.