Another Transition Question

[BobH]

For the first time since losing use of my old laptop, I went looking for some files stored in the Documents folder on the old HDD. The folder is not to be found. Presumably, this is because that is a standard Windows folder and is supplanted by the one supplied by Win 11 system on the new laptop.

Is there any way to find those files on the HDD that is installed in a USB-attached enclosure with files otherwise available to the Win 11 system?

[stuck]

On the old HDD, look for the \users folder. The Documents folder is a subfolder under \users\[your user name].

Ken

[Jay Freedman]

If you don't find the folder C:\Users\[your user name]\Documents or it's empty, or contains only some of the files you expected, there's another possibility.

If you had OneDrive installed on the old PC, look for the folder C:\Users\[your user name]\OneDrive\Documents. That's Microsoft's way of trying to synchronize all of your stuff with the cloud.

[BobH]

Thanks, Gentlemen!

Found the folder and the files. I try not to use cloud storage. I've forced to with my iPhone because of the number of images. They take up more storage than I have on my phone.

[Mico]

For the first time since losing use of my old laptop, I went looking for some files stored in the Documents folder on the old HDD. The folder is not to be found. Presumably, this is because that is a standard Windows folder and is supplanted by the one supplied by Win 11 system on the new laptop.

Is there any way to find those files on the HDD that is installed in a USB-attached enclosure with files otherwise available to the Win 11 system?

Yes, there are a few steps you can take to try and locate your missing Documents folder and files

[Rebel]

Yes, there are a few steps you can take to try and locate your missing Documents folder and files

It would probably be quite helpful if you described the "few steps".

[hlewton]

Is there any way to find those files on the HDD that is installed in a USB-attached enclosure with files otherwise available to the Win 11 system?

I know what I do is probably an overkill but I never have lost any file in all the years I have used computers ( thankfully since I seem to have enough other problems .) It may not be feasible since you are using a laptop but I have 3 external SSDs (upgraded from HDDs used years ago) attached to my primary desktop computer. Though it is a manual task, any time I make a change to any file, no matter what folder it is in, I immediately copy it to the same named folder on all 3 external drives. In addition, once a week all those changed files get manually copied to the rest of my computers, including laptops. So no matter where I am, I have a copy of any file I use.

For instance, on the external drives my Documents folder is just named Documents, not User\my name. Then when I get a new computer, I just copy everything from that external drive's Documents folder into the new computer's Documents folder. I too do not use the cloud for anything except photos from my iPhone. So even though all I do is manual, it takes very little time using a program called MyFolders, which maps paths to all the other computers and external drives I use.

Not sure how helpful this is but hopefully it does some good.

[StuartR]

I also make multipe copies of changed files as soon as I save them.
I use a tool called GoodSync to make local copies to another computer
I use Acronis continuous cloud backup to make (encrypted) copies on the Internet