Windows 11 bug leaves some user data on disk after a factory reset...


Winuser

Winuser

Well-known member
Pro User
VIP
Local time
11:51 AM
Posts
4,872
Visit site
OS
Windows 11 Canary Channel
I'm glad I always do clean installs before donating my old computers to a family member.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec B746
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-10700K
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z490 Phantom Gaming 4/ax
    Memory
    16GB (8GB PC4-19200 DDR4 SDRAM x2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 TI
    Sound Card
    Realtek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SAM0A87 Samsung SAM0D32
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    NVMe WDC WDS100T2B0C-00PXH0 1TB
    Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB
    PSU
    750 Watts (62.5A)
    Case
    PowerSpec/Lian Li ATX 205
    Keyboard
    Logitech K270
    Mouse
    Logitech M185
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge and Firefox
    Antivirus
    ESET Internet Security
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy x360 15-ds1083cl
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 4700U 2.0GHZ
    Memory
    16 MB DDR 4-2666
    Graphics card(s)
    AMD Radeon
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6"
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    PCIe NVMe M.2 512GB
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge and Edge Canary
    Antivirus
    ESET Internet Security
Brink

Brink

Administrator
Staff member
MVP
Local time
10:51 AM
Posts
8,517
Visit site
OS
Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
Files might persist after resetting a Windows device
Synced OneDrive files might not be deleted when selecting the "Remove everything" option when the device is reset.

www.elevenforum.com

Known and Resolved issues for Windows 11 version 21H2

Current status as of January 26, 2023 Today we begin to automatically update consumer and non-managed business devices running Windows 11, version 21H2 Home and Pro editions to Windows 11, version 22H2. Since Windows 10, we have been helping Windows users stay up to date and secure with...
www.elevenforum.com www.elevenforum.com
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    1TB Samsung 980 PRO M.2,
    6TB WD Black WD6001FZWX
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gbps Download and 35 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Spectre x360 2in1
    CPU
    i7-1065G7 3.9 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR4-3200
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Plus
    Sound Card
    Intel SST
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.3" 4K UWVA AMOLED multitouch
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
The-Hive

The-Hive

The First Three Star Guru
Guru
VIP
Local time
4:51 PM
Posts
11,409
Location
Wiltshire UK
Visit site
OS
Windows 11 Pro
I never use OneDrive and when I finished with a machine it is scrap
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware Area 51m R2
    CPU
    10th Gen Core i9 10900K
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Geforce RTX 2080 Super
    Sound Card
    Nvidia HD
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    C: Samsung 2TB P981A
    D: Samsung 2TB 970 Evo
    Case
    Dark side of the moon
    Mouse
    Alienware AW610M
    Browser
    Chrome and Firefox
    Antivirus
    Norton
    Other Info
    Killer E3000 Ethernet Controller
    Killer AX1650i Wi-Fi Network Adaptor
    Alienware Z01G Graphic Amplifier
    Tobii Eye Tracker
  • Operating System
    Dual Boot Windows 11 Pro / Windows 11 Pro Dev build
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 3501
    CPU
    11th Gen i-7 2.80 gb
    Memory
    16Gb
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    512Gb SSD
    WD 2GB EXT
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Norton
Winuser

Winuser

Well-known member
Pro User
VIP
Local time
11:51 AM
Posts
4,872
Visit site
OS
Windows 11 Canary Channel
The-Hive said:
I never use OneDrive and when I finished with a machine it is scrap
Click to expand...
I've had a few computers I had to send to the scrapyard. I take the HDDs out before I do.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec B746
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-10700K
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z490 Phantom Gaming 4/ax
    Memory
    16GB (8GB PC4-19200 DDR4 SDRAM x2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 TI
    Sound Card
    Realtek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SAM0A87 Samsung SAM0D32
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    NVMe WDC WDS100T2B0C-00PXH0 1TB
    Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB
    PSU
    750 Watts (62.5A)
    Case
    PowerSpec/Lian Li ATX 205
    Keyboard
    Logitech K270
    Mouse
    Logitech M185
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge and Firefox
    Antivirus
    ESET Internet Security
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy x360 15-ds1083cl
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 4700U 2.0GHZ
    Memory
    16 MB DDR 4-2666
    Graphics card(s)
    AMD Radeon
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6"
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    PCIe NVMe M.2 512GB
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge and Edge Canary
    Antivirus
    ESET Internet Security
The-Hive

The-Hive

The First Three Star Guru
Guru
VIP
Local time
4:51 PM
Posts
11,409
Location
Wiltshire UK
Visit site
OS
Windows 11 Pro
Same here, we had a good clear out of the loft old pc's all with no HDD's and a pile of them to destroy
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware Area 51m R2
    CPU
    10th Gen Core i9 10900K
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Geforce RTX 2080 Super
    Sound Card
    Nvidia HD
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    C: Samsung 2TB P981A
    D: Samsung 2TB 970 Evo
    Case
    Dark side of the moon
    Mouse
    Alienware AW610M
    Browser
    Chrome and Firefox
    Antivirus
    Norton
    Other Info
    Killer E3000 Ethernet Controller
    Killer AX1650i Wi-Fi Network Adaptor
    Alienware Z01G Graphic Amplifier
    Tobii Eye Tracker
  • Operating System
    Dual Boot Windows 11 Pro / Windows 11 Pro Dev build
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 3501
    CPU
    11th Gen i-7 2.80 gb
    Memory
    16Gb
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    512Gb SSD
    WD 2GB EXT
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Norton
Skull Kid

Skull Kid

Member
Local time
5:51 PM
Posts
17
Visit site
OS
Windows 11
Would this still be happening if I went to do a full reset, and also doing a full wipe of my data in the options? I did that for somebody else with important data on their computer so they could replace it with a new one.

Like so:
 

Attachments

  • Settings 2022-02-26 23_27_42.jpg
    Settings 2022-02-26 23_27_42.jpg
    46 KB · Views: 2

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    Intel Core i9-9900K @ 3.6 GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus PRIME Z-390-A
    Memory
    32 GB DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer XV280K
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
0

0hwell

Member
Local time
10:51 AM
Posts
4
Visit site
OS
Windows 11
I think at the very least a person should sanitize their drives then maybe do a clean install just to the point of logging in. After that, the new user can finish the installation, but I myself have never given a computer away and when done with one I just destroy the hard drives.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
TheMystic

TheMystic

Well-known member
Power User
VIP
Thread Starter
Local time
9:21 PM
Posts
742
Visit site
OS
Windows 11
Skull Kid said:
Would this still be happening if I went to do a full reset, and also doing a full wipe of my data in the options? I did that for somebody else with important data on their computer so they could replace it with a new one.

Like so:
Click to expand...
Yes. That's what this bug is about.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy dv7
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3630QM
    Motherboard
    HP
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000 & Nvidia GeForce GT 635M
    Sound Card
    IDT High Definition
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Crucial MX500 on bay 1.
    1 TB Seagate HDD on bay 2.
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Skull Kid

Skull Kid

Member
Local time
5:51 PM
Posts
17
Visit site
OS
Windows 11
TheMystic said:
Yes. That's what this bug is about.
Click to expand...
I did just that on one of my computers, and I didn't see anything in the OneDrive folder, not even any hidden files.

EDIT: I did indeed leave the OneDrive folder with local files before doing the reset, too...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    Intel Core i9-9900K @ 3.6 GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus PRIME Z-390-A
    Memory
    32 GB DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer XV280K
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
TheMystic

TheMystic

Well-known member
Power User
VIP
Thread Starter
Local time
9:21 PM
Posts
742
Visit site
OS
Windows 11
Skull Kid said:
I did just that on one of my computers, and I didn't see anything in the OneDrive folder, not even any hidden files.

EDIT: I did indeed leave the OneDrive folder with local files before doing the reset, too...
Click to expand...
Did you look into the Windows.old folder?

Ideally with the option you chose, the Windows.old folder shouldn't exist.

A bug need not affect all users because of the diversity of hardware, drivers and other factors when it comes to Windows.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy dv7
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3630QM
    Motherboard
    HP
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000 & Nvidia GeForce GT 635M
    Sound Card
    IDT High Definition
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Crucial MX500 on bay 1.
    1 TB Seagate HDD on bay 2.
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Skull Kid

Skull Kid

Member
Local time
5:51 PM
Posts
17
Visit site
OS
Windows 11
TheMystic said:
Did you look into the Windows.old folder?

Ideally with the option you chose, the Windows.old folder shouldn't exist.

A bug need not affect all users because of the diversity of hardware, drivers and other factors when it comes to Windows.
Click to expand...
I'll check again... and report back.

EDIT: Nope... no Windows.old folder.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    Intel Core i9-9900K @ 3.6 GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus PRIME Z-390-A
    Memory
    32 GB DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer XV280K
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
TheMystic

TheMystic

Well-known member
Power User
VIP
Thread Starter
Local time
9:21 PM
Posts
742
Visit site
OS
Windows 11
Skull Kid said:
I'll check again... and report back.

EDIT: Nope... no Windows.old folder.
Click to expand...
That computer likely is not one that was affected by this bug. But this bug is something to keep in mind for those who are planning to give away their computer.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy dv7
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3630QM
    Motherboard
    HP
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000 & Nvidia GeForce GT 635M
    Sound Card
    IDT High Definition
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Crucial MX500 on bay 1.
    1 TB Seagate HDD on bay 2.
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

  • Article
Windows 11 Snipping Tool "acropalypse" privacy bug exposes cropped image content
Replies
14
Views
625
Wisewiz
Wisewiz
  • Article
Visual Studio 2022 version 17.5.3 released
Replies
1
Views
181
Melchior
Melchior
  • Article
Xbox App 2301.1001.5.0 January 2023 Update for Windows
Replies
0
Views
202
Brink
Brink
  • Article
Insider KB5022914 Windows 11 Insider Beta 22621.1325 and 22623.1325 - Feb. 16
2 3
Replies
45
Views
6K
DSAND1
D
  • Article
New Skype Insider Preview version 8.94.76.302 released
Replies
0
Views
165
Brink
Brink

Latest Tutorials

Latest Support Threads

Top Bottom