Vista - Files/folders missing from my C:/users/username folder

Guys, this is driving me crazy! I have now experienced this 3-4 times. It happens all of a sudden, and is scary. Some or most of my data suddenly disappears from my user folder (C:/users/username). First time it happened immediately after I installed Spyware Doctor, back in April, when they first released the x64 version. I have since restored all the data, and uninstalled Spyware Doctor.

However, it happened again. The last two times, it just happened. I simply noticed that I had much more free space on my C drive (40GB more than the day before).

Last weekend, it mostly affected my photos, but other folders were missing also.

I am running x64, on a HP machine with 6GB RAM. Luckaly, I perform multiple backups (TrueImage and Ghost), as well as Mozy. In each case I was able to restore all data, but it takes time, and more importantly, I don't trust my computer. I live in a fear - will my data be there tomorrow???

Anyone have any ideas? Or, has anyone else experienced anything similar?

Thanks,
Zrinko

Removing 40GBs from the disk is a pretty massive intervention. It must be a program that does a lot of activity on the disk. The Disk Defragmentation program comes to mind. Yours is probably set to automatically defrag from time to time (like it is on most system). I would switch it completely off and defrag "manually" like every 2 weeks (that suffices) and then check immediately afterwards for possible damages.
Very often you have processes that get into each others hair. It is nearly impossible to properly diagnose that. You have to look at all the programs you installed yourself to see whether there may be a possible culprit. It is apparently not the security program (which can sometimes make trouble) because you switched that already.
A full virus scan with e.g. SuperAntiSpyware cannot hurt either - although your problem does not look like one typically created by malware.

Disk defrag tool is certainly a thing to check out. I had not thought about that at all. For defrag, I use JKdefreg set to run weekly, I think. The longest time between the "deletetions" was almost 6-7 weeks, so turning the defrag off for few weeks might not be enough to rule it out completely.

Yes, I have multiple virus scans (AVG is my AV), and malware scans using MalwareBytes scanner.

I was going thru event logs, and have noticed multiple errors with the Volume Shadow Service, as well as MS DTConsole. This in turn made my restore points dissapear, and my "Previous Versions" were empty.


The last time, 20+ GB were gone, mostly photos. At about the same time, I had noticed few Windows Explorer crashes. I can't match the timelines with any certanty, but it seems related to me.

Any othe ideas?

Thanks,
Zrinko

Run a diagnostic on the hard drive, either with a chkdsk on the next boot up (drive properties, tools, error checking, check now and check both boxes. It'll ask to do it on next reboot. Also, go to the drive manufacturers website and grab their diagnostic software and have it run through the drive (outside shot, I really do not think it is the drive since it is a specific file rather then niggling file errors across the board - but always good to check). Also check AVGs virus vault to make sure it is not removing the folder (I actually had Avast delete my TrustedInstaller.exe - what a pain it was to get that back to working)... Also definately check the edfrag like everyone is mentioning as well. Since you are using a third party defrag, make sure that windows defrag is for sure turned off... Of course, if all else fails, there is always a format and restore, but check these others things out first (nothing worse than restoring an OS to a failing hard drive).

Thanks Rabscuttle,

I ran the Chkdsik on the drive C, no problems found. In addition, HP runs a complete hardware diagnostic test once per month, and it always says that all is peachy.

I also checked AVG logs, which had few items, but nothing from my C:/users/username folder.

In each case that data was deleted, I did image-restore, but if the software of some sort is the cause, the restore process, restores the problem.

Rebuilding the system from scratch is not an option, as I have hundreds of software titles installed, and have spent numerous days setting everything up (this PC also acts as a print server as well as a backup destination for all other computers on the network).

Any other ideas?

Thanks,
Zrinko