Reverse remote wipe

Cyclon

Hello,

I think I accidentally did a remove wipe of one of my windows laptops. Bitdefender didn't find the license on that laptop. Also didn't find a user. So I went to Bitdefender central, where I could still see that laptop registered. Tried to start a remote scan, localise device, update device,... All didn't work, nothing happened on that laptop. So I started to re-install bitdefender on the laptop. While windows was re-installing, in Bitdefender central, I wanted to remove the registered device. But I wasn't paying attention, and pressed wipe device (should have used remove device). I guess that wipe action did go through. When bitdefender was re-installed, it asked me to restart windows. When the laptop restarted, it showed "deleting files" on the screen.

Now I no longer can access my c-drive, with windows, nor my d-drive, with all my data.

Is there any way to reverse a wipe remote, and recover my data?

Second question : if I cant reverse this, what is the best way to reinstall windows? I booted with windows recovery media, but the media couldn't do a new install.

Gjoksi

Hello.

You should contact Bitdefender Consumer Support by chat, telephone or e-mail:

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/help/

Chat is the fastest way to get in touch with Bitdefender Consumer Support.

Select: How to's & Troubleshooting Bitdefender products -> Troubleshooting -> select your Bitdefender product, for example Bitdefender Total Security, click on Contact Support in the black box and then click on Chat 24/7.

NOTE: Bitdefender telephone support is not toll-free!

Regards.

Flexx

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/98438/reverse-remote-wipe

Try this method; I cannot guarantee that it will work, but you can give it a try. If you have an SSD installed in your laptop, remove the SSD and use an SSD-to-USB connector. If you don't have the connector, you will need to purchase one from Amazon or another source. Before buying, ensure that you select the correct SSD-to-USB connector based on whether your SSD is SATA or NVMe.

Once you have the connector, insert the SSD into it and connect the device via USB to another laptop. On the second laptop, the SSD will function as an external drive.

If this process is successful, you will need to install data recovery software on the second laptop and scan for deleted files on your external disk. Numerous data recovery software options are available on the internet, so you can choose the one that suits you best. You may also switch between different data recovery software since no single program can guarantee the retrieval of all your files.

There's a chance that your complete data will be recovered, or only partial data, or in the worst-case scenario, your data may be corrupted due to the way SSDs operate. Take a look at the image below for reference.

Regards

Alexandru_BD

Hello @Cyclon,

I'm very sorry to hear this.. unfortunately, if the device was wiped, chances to recover the data are very slim..

You can still try Flexx's suggestions above, but there is no guaratee this will work. I don't understand how it came to this, the wipe page clearly states that this action will delete all data on your device, including apps, photos, messages and any files stored on it, and that this action involves permanent loss of data that can't be recovered later.. The Wipe option can be found under the Anti-Theft feature for obvious reasons..

Anyway, what's done is done and if the data cannot be retrieved by following those suggestions, it's lost forever.

Regards,

Alex

Cyclon

Hello,

I opened up the laptop, but I didn't have the necessary cables to try to recover data on another pc.

Fortunately, I have a good backup procedure. I put the image of my C-drive back, and restored my data on the D drive. Just lost a single file, but I had a print of that file, so I could recreate my excel file.

I did the bitdefender central actions in the android app. Unfortunately, the wipe option is not as hidden as on the website. It's in Dutch, but you can see it just above update. I did get a warning files would be deleted, but I thought I was deleting my bitdefender license, so I thought all bitdefender files would be deleted. Was a bit hasty.

Deleting the bitdefender license is more hidden than wiping te device. And in Dutch, wiping the device is called "Apparaat wissen", removing the license is called "Apparaat verwijderen". Not very different.

Problem solved, but maybe bitdefender can hide this function a bit more in the central app.

And it started with bitdefender on the laptop not being able to communicate with the bitdefender servers. Communication restarted after re-installing bitdefender, and unfortunately it remembered the wipe command I sent before re-installing.

Gjoksi

Hello.

And that is the reason why i have ALL my files backed-up on Google One (formerly Google Drive).

Also, all my sensitive files on my laptop (like scanned IDs, scanned Passports ets.) are first password protected with Glary Utilities and then uploaded to Google One.

So, i don't care if i accidentally wipe my laptop, or my laptop being hacked for ransom etc.

Regards.

Alexandru_BD

Thank you for your feedback @Cyclon, I'm glad to hear you could restore your files. 👍️

So it's a happy ending this time. 🙂