Windows Update HELP!

I had about 11 security updates marked important, so I decided to install them all. After the restart my wallpaper resetted to the original and all my files I placed on my desktop were erased. The only thing left were shortcuts. Its as if the system had gone through a system restore, when I ran Firefox all bookmarks were erased as well. All my documents are gone too.... I'm gonna cry. Install update was on 8/11/2010

 

I just got those updates too but didn't install them yet. Seeing this makes me not want to install them. But then again you could of done something wrong when it was installing, like unplugging from the AC adapter.

 

It sounds very much like you system has booted into either safe mode or autologged into the default user.

Either one can be caused by the use of a license key that has been canceled/invalidated by Microsoft. This most often happens to msdn/technet keys that have been sold via ebay but can also happen with corporate/volume keys that have been leaked.

Your files/settings may still be on the machine. What do you see when you use windows explorer to navigate to /users/yourusername ???

 

This update installed properly. Windows even said successfully installed. I suggest you double check if these updates are similar to yours.

 

I purchased my upgrade key through Microsoft. The system isn't in safe mode its booted in normal mode. The computer acts as if its booted for the first time with windows. All the programs I installed are there, but they have no memory of my previous settings (MS office ask for my user name, Firefox has no bookmarks, IE8 is the same, things like that) . All other files that I added are gone also (my entire music collection, documents, and pictures).

 

What users do you see under C:\Users?
As mentioned, it is possible that the system has created you a new user account, this happens if the account/user profile got corrupted somehow.

 

When I looked under C:\Users I clicked on my username and was able to find all my files. The wierd thing was I was already logged in with the same username, but my files didn't appear in places like, my docs., pics, etc. So I decided maybe a restart would reload everything and it worked.

Good thing too because I was thinking about a format.

Thanks guys.

 

Restart should always be your first thought if something like this happens.