Refresh erasing files.

Refresh Windows 10 Windows 10 Installation Upgrade Tutorials

Which option did you choose?

And it sounds as if you don't have a backup strategy. Amongst other things we strongly and repeatedly urge people to use disk imaging- which should be supported by another means to protect critical files you are working on.

Keep my files

This is to refresh Windows 10. Reinstalls Windows 10 and keeps your personal files. Removes apps and drivers you installed. Removes changes you made to settings. Removes any apps your PC manufacturer installed. (If your PC came with Windows 10, apps from your PC manufacturer will be reinstalled.)

Remove everything

This is to reset Windows 10. Reinstalls Windows 10 and removes all your personal files. Removes apps and drivers you installed. Removes changes you made to settings. Removes any apps your PC manufacturer installed. (If your PC came with Windows 10, apps from your PC manufacturer will be reinstalled.) If you're planning to donate, recycle, or sell your PC, use this option and choose to fully clean the drive. This might take an hour or two, but it makes it harder for other people to recover files you've removed.

I'll try to make this more explicit for you.

You chose to Refresh your PC. You then have two basic options- to 'Keep My Files' or 'Remove Everything'.

It sounds as if you chose the latter...

Put another way, how long did it take?

This might take an hour or two, but it makes it harder for other people to recover files you've removed.

If you did that, and you have no backup, that would explain your present difficulty.

Out of curiosity, where was the windows.0ld file before you did the Reset? "Keep my files" option I believe refers to the folders/files in your USER folder. Like Documents, Pictures, etc. If the Windows.0ld was on C: (in the root directory), that would probably not be considered a "user" file, and be deleted.

Lenkk said:

Indeed, windows.0ld was in root folder. But as far as i searched, any user-modified folder should be intact and present in the proper windows.old that is created afterwards.

I don't believe that applies to Root folders. A refresh essentially does a clean install and puts all you USER DATA, SETTINGS, and Store APPS back on. That being said, the Root folder C: would be re-created. That Windows.0ld of yours would not be considered "USER" data and would be discarded.

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Excerpt:

Using Reset This PC with the Keep My Files option will essentially perform a fresh install of Windows 10 while keeping all your data intact. More specifically, when you choose this option from the Recovery Drive, it will find and back up all your data, settings, and apps. It will then install a fresh copy of Windows and restore the data, settings, and the apps that were installed with Windows 10. When your PC restarts, just log in with your same username and password and find all your data.

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http://www.techrepublic.com/article/reset-your-windows-10-system-with-the-keep-my-files-option/