System reset to previous date

[Jaclyn02n]

Long story short - spent 5+ hrs with adobe support on my computer and lost all data/backup files in catalog.

Is it possible to do a windows system restore to the day before all this went down and get things back to the way they were? I do have the original files backedup on external. 

Windows 10 Pro

Current settings on temp catalog:

Lightroom Classic version: 10.3 [ 202105281559-8dc50eb4 ]
License: Creative Cloud
Language setting: en
Operating system: Windows 10 - Business Edition
Version: 10.0.19043
Application architecture: x64
System architecture: x64
Logical processor count: 24
Processor speed: 3.7GHz
SqLite Version: 3.34.0
Built-in memory: 65451.5 MB
Real memory available to Lightroom: 65451.5 MB
Real memory used by Lightroom: 443.9 MB (0.6%)
Virtual memory used by Lightroom: 4268.7 MB
GDI objects count: 924
USER objects count: 2851
Process handles count: 2585
Memory cache size: 0.0MB
Internal Camera Raw version: 13.3 [ 807 ]
Maximum thread count used by Camera Raw: 5
Camera Raw SIMD optimization: SSE2,AVX,AVX2
Camera Raw virtual memory: 327MB / 32725MB (1%)
Camera Raw real memory: 507MB / 65451MB (0%)
System DPI setting: 144 DPI (high DPI mode)
Desktop composition enabled: Yes
Displays: 1) 3840x2160
Input types: Multitouch: No, Integrated touch: No, Integrated pen: No, External touch: No, External pen: 

Graphics Processor Info:
DirectX: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (27.21.14.6089)

Application folder: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Lightroom Classic
Library Path: C:\Users\Owner\Pictures\TestCatalogAug2021\TestCatalogAug2021.lrcat
Settings Folder: C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Lightroom

Installed Plugins:
1) AdobeStock
2) Facebook
3) Flickr
4) Nikon Tether Plugin

Config.lua flags: None

Adapter #1: Vendor : 10de
Device : 2484
Subsystem : 87bc1043
Revision : a1
Video Memory : 8043
Adapter #2: Vendor : 1414
Device : 8c
Subsystem : 0
Revision : 0
Video Memory : 0
AudioDeviceIOBlockSize: 1024
AudioDeviceName: LEN LI2821wA (2- NVIDIA High Definition Audio)
AudioDeviceNumberOfChannels: 2
AudioDeviceSampleRate: 48000
Build: LR5x24
Direct2DEnabled: false

[dj_paige]

Long story short - spent 5+ hrs with adobe support on my computer and lost all data/backup files in catalog.

This really isn't specific enough, and we need to know more details about what happened in order for us to help you.

Is it possible to do a windows system restore to the day before all this went down and get things back to the way they were? I do have the original files backedup on external. 

Are you 100% sure your catalog file and catalog file backups are now deleted? How do you know?

System restore on Windows doesn't exist on a daily basis. I guess you need to see when the last system restore was performed.

[Jaclyn02n]

I was having syncing issues between Lrc amnd LR mobile. Adobe suggested i 'rebuild sync data' to remedy. During that process LrC crashed and my catalog I was working with, plus backup folders and everything assoc dissapeared. We spent several hours trying to figure out what had happened but  they were unable to find or rebuild/repair the catalog. The only exisiting catalogs are a couple from previous computers that I no longer use. 

I was fortunately enough that a restore point was created the day before I lost everything. I have not done anything to the computer since then so I wouldnt be losing anything. BUT I obviously want to avoid creating further issues. 

I will note that all of my edits for this catalog still exist in the cloud.... 

[dj_paige]

Backup folders do not disappear when LrC crashes, unless the crash was due to a hard disk malfunction, and only then if the backup folders were on the same disk as the actual working catalog (which you should not be doing).

I'm not sure you answered my earlier question:

"Are you 100% sure your catalog file and catalog file backups are now deleted? How do you know?"

Specifically, if you do a search of all hard disks for any files whose name ends with .LRCAT, using your operating system's search feature, what do you find?

[Jaclyn02n]

I recently got a new computer - my thought is that somehow my backup folder DID end up in the same place as the working catalog. 

I have searched everywhere for backups - I found the catalog but it is empty. There are no other .lrcat files anywhere. 

So with that, if it was a hard disk malfunction - is there a possibility that I might be able to restore things to the day before I did the rebuild sync?

[dj_paige]

So with that, if it was a hard disk malfunction - is there a possibility that I might be able to restore things to the day before I did the rebuild sync?

The only way to know is to actually try it.

Where were the backups on the old computer? Are those backups still available?

[Jaclyn02n]

They are but they dont have anything from my new catalog in them. 

yeah I guess it cant get any worse! just curious if it had ever worked for anyone else.

thanks!

[GoldingD]

"Use System restore to make restore points when you install a new app, driver, or Windows update, and when you create a restore point manually. Restoring won’t affect your personal files,"

(ref): Microsoft | Use System Restore Windows 10