I worked on this laptop (Sony) for my SSgt. He called me tonight saying he turned it on today and all his stuff is gone. It worked for days then all of a sudden BAM!

Any thoughts?

P.S. The OS is Vista 64-bit (forgot what version)

I am in the middle of trying certain things but want to know if anyone has more ideas also, I am unsure of the full details as he lives 3 hrs away and it's only hear-say from 2 novices.

That doesn't happen. Maybe (a) he made a new profile or (b) he tried to fix it and formatted it but didn't tell you that part. I'd use Hirens boot CD and check out the files on the C: to see if his stuff is actually still there.

Edit to add: I kind of missed the part where you worked on the PC for him. Hmmm... maybe he could be more specific about what "everything" means. Also did you see his files when you worked on it?

A) I am checking the profile thing as soon as he calls again.

B) There was nothing to fix, I fixed it and mailed it back to him in working condition which he used for days perfectly fine until tonight.

I am not entirely sure what he meant when he said everything was gone. I am hoping he just meant from the desktop, which I will go into c:/Documents and Settings/users etc... to check if it all still there.

Sorry for not having many details.

It may not be as big an issue as you think. You'll need to know what he thinks he's missing. Users... sheesh.. :)

From the sounds of it it is his docs. He said he's still got all installed program ie: ITunes, VLC Converter, etc...

It sounds like a profile issue but he said he logged in as himself but who knows.

I hope it isn't as big of a deal as I think because this is one person I don't want mad at me! He's my Platoon Sgt. :/

One thing I have realized over the years is that once you fix a computer for someone there's a good chance your stuck with it for any future problems Ughh:(

I had a client like that, they access their docs by through Word only, they have no concept of Windows Explorer. Someone previously had set up their Word to default to a different location for docs, so when Office was upgraded it pointed to My Documents instead and I also heard "all my stuff is gone!". I made Word point to his special folder by default and all was fine.
Good luck.

<double-post, site was wonky earlier>

Another thing he may be doing. If he goes through explorer it may not show the files even if they are there. He/you need to make sure it shows in the list. Sometimes the list can get reset. Like if he closes the laptop before it completely turns off.

Not using explorer.

Well I had him try something last night around the time I posted this and he never called me back. I am assuming what I told him to do had worked.

Ill keep you updated as soon as I find out more!