My wife has an old laptop she hasn't used in a few years, Windows 7. She couldn't remember the user PW so we logged in as the admin and changed the PW. However, in doing so it wipes/deletes/removes the C:\Users\<Your_Username>\AppData directory.

I need software to copy the contents of the C drive so I can restore it.

I'm perfectly willing to purchase software.

Any suggestions?

ETA: I don't need anything really sophisticated, but I want something good with little room for error. She's gonna kill me if we don't get that back. Once I have the entire file system copied I'll probably try to revert to a last know good backup, but I want to create a "golden copy" first.

You're best bet is to remove the hard drive and connect it to a PC made in the last ten years. Then try to retrieve the data.

quote:

She couldn't remember the user PW

Password manager app! So thankful I have one. I’ve used mSecure for more than a decade. I pay ~$15/year. The iOS and macOS apps are synchronized.

Do you just need the data or the apps? The apps might be a problem. If it's data only, Lunasee's advice would be very good.

The biggest pain point are the web browser(s). She didn't use a PW manager, so everything was stored in the browser. It's all gone. She had the computer for so long she doesn't know all of the user id's, PW, etc... Some we linked to a previous employers email so getting the ID or PW back is going to be problematic.

It's actually quite eye opening to see how much stuff is stored in a web browser that you don't even think about it.

I'd like to get all of the low hanging fruit first, then tackle the problem ones.

A PW manager will be in her future, trust me. I'm not going through this again. She's not very computer savvy.

https://www.ccleaner.com/recuva

It's free.


If you need any assistance, let me know and I can email my phone number.

Before you do anything else, check for a Windows 7 restore point.

Restore from that.

https://www.wikihow.com/Use-Sy...Restore-on-Windows-7

If that does not work, on to harder methods.