In context: Microsoft is suffering from a bit of a PR crisis following the flawed early rollout of its Windows 10 October Update. Some users who manually downloaded the update are finding that data contained in their Documents, Pictures, and Music folders has been deleted, or otherwise hidden from view. The company is now asking users to "minimize" their use of affected devices, and contact tech support to recover lost data.

Microsoft's early rollout of its October 2018 Windows 10 upgrade was distributed without a hitch, for the most part. However, a few users began posting reports of some serious bugs.

Specifically, as we noted on October 5, some users claim their files have been deleted from their computers, without their knowledge or consent. Most of the lost files seem to have been those that were stored in the Documents, Pictures, and Music folders.

Naturally, given the gravity of this incident, Microsoft was quick to halt the rollout of their seemingly-bugged update. This was a smart move, and a timely one - the October Update was initially set to arrive for everybody tomorrow. Those who have reported file deletion issues thus far seem to have been those who manually checked for updates, which gave them the October Update a few days early. By stopping the update's automatic distribution, Microsoft can hopefully mitigate the effects of the bug.

...Microsoft is asking users to stop using their computers and contact tech support if they want to recover their data.

Now, Microsoft is asking users to stop using their computers and contact tech support if they want to recover their data. While this is mere speculation, some software-savvy users suggest that the files in question aren't actually being deleted, but merely hidden or returned to "free storage." If that theory is correct, continuing to use an affected computer could result in this hidden data being overwritten entirely.

Again, that's speculation, and Microsoft hasn't officially clarified the nature of this bug just yet. However, the software giant's Dona Sarkar does promise that, as long as users contact support quickly, the team has "the tools to get you back to a good state."