Windows 10/11 error causes some data to remain on the hard drive after factory reset

A new bug discovered on Windows 11 and Windows 10 version 21H2 by developer Rudy Ooms of the Call4Cloud blog, puts user data at risk even after a factory reset.

In the event that you sell or give away your computer, it is common practice to reset the machine to erase all data, this error will cause data can still be saved even when you thought everything was erased.

Ooms found that remotely wiping Windows 11 computer data using Microsoft Intune software – commonly used by business customers – may still leave some user data on the hard drive. This error also shows up when doing a factory reset using the Settings app or even when using the cloud option.

Ooms says this appears to be related to OneDrive files being synced on a computer, so data that isn’t synced to OneDrive will not be affected. When the data wipe, factory reset process is over, the data from OneDrive is still kept in the Windows.old folder, which will contain all the previously synced storage content on the machine.

Opening these files requires the user to press Shift + F10 on the Windows login screen to open Command prompt and access those files. While general users may not know how to use this method to open files, more advanced and tech-savvy users will probably try opening files in this folder if they see one.

If you do not use OneDrive to synchronize data on your device, it will not be affected, in addition, only offline files can be accessed after reinstalling. Microsoft is aware of the issue and is working on a fix, however, in the meantime, users can use PowerShell to actually delete all data in the Windows.old folder before starting the restore process. restore original settings.

You can read more about this error, and you can also download the PowerShell script from the Call4Cloud website.

Reference: Pocketnow