Excellent to hear that you’ve found a way to recover your lost images, Ian … Just repeating my initial observation, tho;
it’s extremely unlikely that an installation of Nik Collection (or any reputable software product, for that matter) would, in and of itself, result in all your images being deleted.
it’s far more likely that “some other” incident caused your loss.
When you’re speaking with your computer advisor, I recommend that you ask them to set-up a proper back-up regime for your system - so that you can reliably recover from such disasters.
… including a separate backup platter (no good idea to have a backup in one folder and working on other folders on the same physical drive … apart from wearing it out quicker).
Personally, my backup platters (I use 2 sets) are stored in a external boxes. which allow to exchange standard drives reliably … → see here for details
a warning
Do NOT use these cheap open stands, where one slips in a platter vertically. Apart from collection dust inside, they might work with light weight 2,5" platters, but tend to produce errors with 3,5" standard models cause of unreliable contacts !!
(happened to me and confirmed by ‘my’ computer specialist)
I’m joining this thread a bit late, but I am so impressed at how helpful and polite you guys have all been!
My advice to Ian is that it is unlikely that your computer advisor is any more intelligent than you.
So learn what he/she knows. It’s a big part of your trade/hobby, just as you learn every little quirk of your camera, spend some dedicated time on computer tech. Apart from anything else - it’s actually quite fun.
Dear Spike, We transferred from the “Rubbish bin”. But not all the pictures were there. I am now transferring step by step from my back up drive to the external dive of the computer. It’s a bit tedious. I have downloaded earlier updates without an issue. This Ver 5 was different. How a unique file from the update landed in the external drive remains a mystery as Photoshop etc are on the hard drive within the computer. So for next update, I will have the external drive disconnected. Thanks again and best wishes. Roger
I’d like to report the same issue. I upgraded to Nik 5 last night and have also lost all my images (5 years worth - I do have a backup), they were kept on a separate partition (drive d:). The initial install didn’t work on PhotoLab 6 as the Nik Collection button was greyed out, so the programme was uninstalled and then re-installed using the ‘Run as Administrator’ option as per the FAQ. I’ve looked all over the place for the files but they’re nowhere to be found.
Ian, it has also happened to me. I am currently recovering images using program called Recuva (free). Not finished yet, but looking promising, and has taken nearly 3 days. Shall let you know if successful. Like you these images were nowhere to be found on hard or external drives. And the Nik update installed onto an external drive (shouldn’t have) where lost images were.
I still can not imagine that an installation program deletes data on a drive. A normal MSI installation works with variables and paths that only affect program directories, the user path and the own program path, possibly also parts below Windows. But that files in a D:\ drive are deleted I have never seen or heard in several years of IT. Have you reported this to DXO support? I currently still have version 4.3.6 but had NIK5 installed in a virtual machine as well, also with a D: disk and my test images on it…no problem. By the way tried with Windows 10 and Windows 11.
Hi Guenter, I’ve never seen it before either and, yes, I’ve reported it to DXO. I did wonder if it had something to do do with uninstalling the first version of NIK5 that didn’t work and then re-installing as Administrator; perhaps, I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing? Anyway, what is interesting is that a few others have been affected.
Update: I’ve restored all my file and both Photo Lab 6 and Nik 5 are now working fine.
Dear Peter,
You will read within the forum that Annie had the same experience as you and I. I have replied to her and I hope you can access that rely and that it will be helpful. Rgds Roger Trythall
Dear Annie, Thanks for contacting and advising me of the identical experience. Some of my friends refused my denials that I had done “something” during the download. Here is the procedure I used to eventually load the Ver 5. successfully. Just go step by step.
"I disconnected the external drive and tried to uninstall. It refused. I reconnected the external drive and the uninstall worked because the procedure required some program within the nik collection that was lodged on the external drive during the initial attempt to download ver 5.
Why the download would need to interfere with the external drive is beyond me but that it did was the root cause of eliminating my picture folder, and that by removing the drive I could not uninstall.
So where are we? So keeping the external drive connected I could uninstall. Then I scrubbed the Nik folder on the external drive. I disconnected the external drive and successfully re-installed ver 5 on the computer. "
To recover the files, I initially went to the “rubbish Bin” on the desktop. There were only about 10% of the lost pictures there. So that was most disappointing.
Next I went to my backup disc and like you I have spent 3 or 4 days to recover the lost files from the backup that I do monthly. However I have still lost some pictures I worked on in LR and PS. I will take a look at the Recuva program to see if it can find them. Now it’s not an absolute train smash, but initially when I discovered the loss, I was devastated because of the pictures I have taken across the world.
Somewhere there is an email in my inbox from DSO suggesting some rectification. I have still to read it.
Anyway, please keep me informed. Best wishes for the New Year from Cape Town. Roger Trythall
I too lost a complete folder of over 6000 images. Still in the process of recovery (yes I have a back-up) but not the point. How can an upgrade delete all images? Investigating, the Nik 5 update somehow was installed onto an external drive which contained lost images. This was not the location of Nik program pre-update. The Nik software was also not installed into Photoshop as a plugin, and I cannot open it as a stand alone, which I was always able to do. Next steps, if image recovery is successful I shall uninstall update, and reinstall last operating version, thankfully saved to PC. Hopefully the update has not corrupted previous versions files.
if you are still investigating what has happened you can take a look at the folder
“C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\DxO\Nik Collection Installer Logs” and look for the corresponding log file by date and/or name. Maybe you have a chance to check the uninstall file.
Hi Annie. I have reported the issue to DxO and let’s see what they do. In my previous communication to you I described how I eventually installed the new Ver 5. Critical is keep the external drive attached to the computer during the uninstall procedure as there is some codes there that the uninstall needs. Once that is done, disconnect the external drive and try re-installing Ver 5. That worked for me. In the meantime I am checking the reinstalling my picture folder from the backup. I hope this helps. Regards. Roger
Sadly that folder isn’t there, just a NIK Collection folder that contains a single cfg file. There are cash report folders within some of the individual modules but the report folders within them are empty.
I hope you have a good Christmas too.
Hi Ian, an update - I had no luck with Recuva and discovered post humus it is unable to restore Nikon NEF files. So I have since purchased another recovery program, which is still in process, and has been for some 6 days. I haven’t even attempted any NIK uninstal or reinstalls yet, BUT i ABSOLUTELY will not have an external drive connected when I do so, and will ensure every single image is backed up externally out of their reach!!! Grumbling big time here. No response from DXO.
Hi Annie, the best recovery software I’ve come across is Disk Drill but it’s not cheap -
Alternatively, try WinRecovery, it recovered my FUJI Raw failed but didn’t find the Lumix ones.
Both allow free usage but ask you to pay to complete the recovery. I didn’t get much of a response from DXO, they just asked me to carry out a few actions to tidy up the registry - no mention of files being lost.
Good luck.
Dear Annie, you may need to keep the external drive connected to complete the uninstall. Just take look at the files on the external drive and you will find the one that the download dumped and wipped out your pictures. I have forgotten its name. Once you have completed the unistall, disconnect the external drive and then run the re-nstall and it should work
DXO responded but I am unable to share the response via this forum. If you write me an email to irtrythall@iafrica.com I can send it to you. Rgds Roger
I had the same problem. After installing NIK V5 all my photos had been deleted. Luckily I have good backups , so I just copied my backup back to the pictures folder. Don’t know if it was NIK or something else but everything was working fine until I installed Nik V5.
Dear Rob, I wish I could be of help. I had to do exactly as you did after NIK v 5 wiped out the picture folder which I had on my external drive. DXO asked to send them some diagnostic file for examination by their programmers. I have heard nothing. There is another updated V 5 so I down leaded it to my lap top. No problem. Later I will check on my primary computer, but will certainly have the external drive disconnected. Regards Roger
