HAHA, that was a killer read man, keep um coming!

WIndows randomly deletes your files?

Dude… don’t take this personally, but as an IT professional myself, I suspect that the problem is somewhere between the keyboard and the chair.

Here is why I think that:
a) The problem is unique to you.
b) You had this problem across multiple operating systems.
c) Windows 7 is the most stable OS I know with the exception of some Linux distros. It is definitely more stable than OS-X, but even a less stable OS doesn’t just erase files at random.

Instead of making ignorant statements, which you will likely regret later, why not try to find the actual cause of the issue you are having?

Let’s start with this, did you do a clean install of W7 or did you install it over Vista?

Randomly deletes your files. Riiight.

Dear all IT Professionals who walk around acting like that Jimmy Fallon character, Nick Burns: your job title is not some talisman that allows you to walk around declaring other people’s problems unique, self-inflicted, and easily solved. To the rest of you, please stop hiring these douchebags.

As a non-IT professional who generally makes his money while interacting with other human beings, I ask you not to take this personally: only an idiot would call someone’s statements ignorant and ask him not to take it personally. On top of that, only a bigger idiot would assume that I hadn’t spent months trying to solve the problems, not only by myself, but by consulting IT professionals, probably much like yourself, who seem to know even less than I do about computers. In fact, there’s an entire dedicated IT office in my building, filled with people who have seen the phenomenon and have no idea what causes it. I’ve since come to the conclusion that most IT professionals wouldn’t have a job if it weren’t for lazy people who don’t know how to use google.

Furthermore, I should point out that the problem is not unique to me. I’ve found quite a number of people experiencing similar problems online, and the genius IT professionals out there typically have some snarky response like the one you just proffered, rather than an actual solution.

The two operating systems I’ve had the problems across have both been notoriously problematic. I’ve never had a problem with my macintosh, and if the love of my life wasn’t constantly stealing it from me, I’d find the guy I spoke with in tech support at dell, whip my PC at his head, and never look back.

The problem with Windows 7 is not so much that it is unstable in and of itself, but that software, particularly in the early months following of its release, was not prepared to make the jump. iTunes, on the other hand, was always crap and only gets worse with each new iteration. I don’t blame Windows 7 for that, but I feel I’ve had enough problems with Microsoft that I still feel justified in telling them to f@#% themselves.

Finally, if you must know, the system does not simply delete the files, it reverts them to an earlier saved version of the file. I’m sure you’ll have a slew of theories on how or why I’m causing the problem, but I assure you, you’re wrong. It would take me hours to shoot down all your theories, as I’ve done with at least 5 other IT professionals, and at the end, I’d have nothing but another, “Wow, you’re right. I’ve never seen anything like this”. And in any case, I’ve already rewritten the documents, so unless there’s a prophylactic out there, which I doubt, it wouldn’t help me to recover them at this point. My point in writing the article was to point out the problem, not to seek help with it. Just as my point in writing this response is to point out that, with limited knowledge about a problem, you should be slow to criticize people for failing to solve it. It makes you look like a donkey’s behind. Not nearly as much as the donkey below you who assumes I’m ignorant and shows no interest in guiding my ignorant butt to a solution, but a form of before Christ transportation nonetheless.

And in answer to your final question, I did a clean install. For whatever reason, installing over Vista was not even an option, which is probably for the best, given the nasty habits it had developed.

Oh, and I regret nothing. I won’t be so presumptuous as to assume you will, either. Even the bad guy is the hero in his own movie. They taught us that in drama.

Forgive them – they know not what the do. As someone who just recently earned the “right” to refer to themself as an “IT professional”, the only thing I’ve learned in both 6 years of school and with my own MS woes (of which there have been many and similar to yours of late) is how to troubleshoot, troubleshoot, troubleshoot again, and then either have solved the problem, created a bigger one, or just start from scratch. Sadly Mac may in fact be the solution, but my grant involves the delivery of a new Dell this week. I hope to fare better.

And apologies for the above edits (we have to keep the donkey butts in check).

No apologies necessary, Michele, you’re a bastion of hope for the rest of us. I’m hoping they’ve dealt with the hardware issue on those Dells, I know they’re aware of it. My understanding is that it is unique to the XPS models, which bodes poorly for gamers, but explains why Dell hasn’t been proactive about the problem. XPS is part of the consumer line, which is often cheaper and better than the commercial models, but doesn’t get the same kind of customer service. In any case, I hope American computers don’t go the way of American cars, but Dell certainly won’t be the one raising the bar.

I’ll try to be brief:

1. Criticism taken.

2. Agreed on iTunes being crap.

3. I’ve been there and understand how some computer problems are extremely frustrating, especially if they seem to come out of nowhere.

4. I still maintain it is not a Windows problem.

5. In the end all such problems DO have solutions and it is usually something you didn’t think of or thought you already eliminated.

6. This one sounds like a hardware issue.

7. If you’ll have it, I’d like to offer my help in diagnosing it.

P.S. – When I said “ignorant” I was referring not to your general state of being, but specifically to when you said “Don’t upgrade to Windows 7 until it starts acting like an OS instead of a lack thereof. F#%* Microsoft. Just f#%* ‘em.”

Apologies if I came down too hard. I wasn’t really talking about Windows 7, at least in isolation, when I said f#%* Microsoft. I was talking more about problems with the xBox and the way they do business in general, right down to using fun-bucks instead of real prices on downloadable content. I believe Sony has at least been more open and honest in the way they do business, and they’ve released a better product. It bothers me that Microsoft hasn’t been hit in the pocketbook hard enough to clean up their act.

I’ll certainly key you in on some of the issues I’m having once I get some time set aside. God knows, I’m not perfect, most of these problems have a solution. I just don’t think they should take quite so much effort to find.

Files don’t randomly delete themselves. But as you later say, that’s not what was actually happening anyway. If this is how you described your problems to your so-called IT Professionals, it’s no wonder they had a hard time solving your issue.

If you’re going to rage (inaccurately) about a problem and then bash an OS for it, you should at least be prepared for people to call you out on it.

I did get a chuckle out of this:

“It would take me hours to shoot down all your theories, as I’ve done with at least 5 other IT professionals, and at the end, I’d have nothing but another, “Wow, you’re right. I’ve never seen anything like this”.”

So if you and your “5 other IT professionals” couldn’t figure it out, it must be unsolvable. Crazy how that particular OS has become so popular when it randomly deletes files! Or reverts them to older versions. Or whatever the case really was.

But, like you said, you’re not looking for a solution, you’re just looking to bitch and moan. Carry on!

A fun semi-related story: Windows 7 unexpectedly deleted some files on me once; but there wasn’t anything random about it. As it turns out, if you move files out of a profile, and then DELETE that profile via User Profile Settings, Windows 7 (thinking itself smart), goes and finds those files that you physically moved OUT of said profile and deletes them as well, wherever they happen to be on your machine.

So I moved all of my documents out of a domain profile to the desktop on a local profile. I then deleted the old profile via the User Profile Settings. Then I watched in horror as, one-by-one, the docs disappeared from my desktop. When I realized what was happening, it was too late. I was able to recover most of it from a backup, but that was a painful and time-consuming process.

Anyway, the point is, this stuff doesn’t happen “randomly” unless, as Alaric suggests, there’s a wacky problem with the hdd.

(Sorry to be spammy–ok not that sorry)

As for Sony offering a better product…well that might be true. A year ago I would have laughed at such a ridiculous statement as Xbox Live was WAY ahead of PSN with their online offerings. PSN was a complete joke. But as MS has steadily *cough* “improved” their dashboard and Sony has “improved” theirs, well, I think you have a case.

Sony game installations are still ridiculous, though.

By most accounts, cancer is not unsolvable, but if that doesn’t keep people from b****ing and moaning when they get it. I’m not saying I don’t want a solution, I’m just saying that I’ve already spent more time trying to fix problems with this OS than I should reasonably have expected to for the rest of my natural life.

So no, I did not describe the problem to IT professionals in the same words I used in my whimsical blog post about how my various gaming platforms are dying. Forgive me for thinking readers didn’t want to hear the epic saga of my Motion for Summary Judgment and How the Dell stole Christmas. Perhaps I should explain what a Motion for Summary Judgment is, what mine was based on, what the deadline was, how I knew I had saved a later version than the one eventually found on my hard drive, what programs I used to try to recover the document, as well as the names and credentials of everyone who tried to help me. Then you could take the time to describe to me why I shouldn’t have filed the Motion, why my argument was wrong, that I should have gotten it done sooner, which programs I should have used, and why the IT people who tried to help weren’t qualified.

Or maybe that would’ve been really, really boring.

And before anyone else says it, yes, I see the typo. Please ignore the “if” that doesn’t belong in the first sentence. Makes a lot more sense that way. See? I’m not perfect. We just proved it empirically.

So should we add the IT peeps to the lawyers languishing at the bottom of the ocean, yet?

Yes, James, we were all about to pounce on your typo. Good save!

But you must forgive me; I didn’t know you were being “whimsical” (i.e. making stuff up for a gag). I am sorry your gaming platforms are dying, and I hope you find everything you could possibly need in that regard from Sony. I also hope you’re able to find some IT pros who will address your issue and not give up (thought it sounds like you’ve already taken the latter approach out of frustration?). I’m confident your problem is much more solvable than cancer or OmegaBob.

Yes, Michelle, add the IT peeps to the bottom of the sea. We’re all just like Nick Burns, after all.

“Boring” this was not.

I am an IT “professional”, and I am JUST like Nick Burns. MOVE!