Files mysteriously disappearing from PC

[bipolarity]

I bought my HP Laptop about a month ago and it generally works fine, however I have gradually noticed that files seem to periodically disappear from my desktop.

The first files to disappear were a couple of SolidWorks Part documents which were part of a school project. The files were all located on the desktop. The disappearance boggled me at first, but I wasn't really bothered because I had a backup of the file in a flashdrive.

Then about a week later, some .txt (notepad) files disappeared. These were also from the Desktop and significantly more important because they had no backup and it would have been pointless for me to back these up, because I modify these files on a daily basis and only the latest version of the file is of any use to me.

Recently, a .xls (Excel) file disappeared from the desktop and this file is very important to me. The file's name was Time Management.xls

I scanned my computer for viruses using Avira's Luke Filewalker, finding nothing. I frequently use CCleaner to fix registry error's and clean up my system. I also defragment regularly.

I tried using Recuva to recover the files, and Recuva managed to recover a very old (and hence useless) version of the file.

I do have a backup of this file, but the bigger question is, what can I do to ensure this does not happen again?

Thanks.

BiP

 

[ugoboom]

first off, you have tried windows search to see if you could find the file?
Have you ever received any messages when logging in about a corrupted profile? *sometimes* your user profile which is where your all your documents/desktop are located can be come corrupt, and windows will load you into some sort of a temporary account. This means that your desktop and documents/pictures/videos/music folders won't have the files in them that they did before. Did any other files or shortcuts that you personally placed there go missing at the time when these files disappeared? If your in a temp profile then most likely your files still exist they are just not where you'd expect them to be. I assume you probably did search for them though so this is mute.

 

[superagentx]

The only other thing I can think of would be if you have too many icons on your desktop, but then you would be able to search for them or find them by navigating to your desktop folder. They could also be marked as hidden and that could stop you from finding them in your searches but you can change your settings to show hidden files/folders.

That's all i can think of other than what ugoboom already said.

 

[luke127]

This sounds like a windows setting or possible virus. However I'd run MBAM just to be sure. As Avira's Luke Filewalker doesn't ring any bells in the anti virus department for me. Download the free version of MBAM and run a full scan. Copy and paste the log.

Here's a link: Malwarebytes : Malwarebytes Anti-Malware removes malware including viruses, spyware, worms and trojans, plus it protects your computer

Don't get the pro as you won't need it for what we're doing.

 

[ugoboom]

This sounds like a windows setting or possible virus. However I'd run MBAM just to be sure. As Avira's Luke Filewalker doesn't ring any bells in the anti virus department for me.

Luke filewalker is actually the name of avira's antivir's on demand scan component. It's effective but nothing like MBAM. Before I had started recommended people MBAM +SecEssentials, I would usually recommend the free version of Avira if they were unwilling to spend any money on AV stuff.