- A Redditor deployed a huge data slab from old training sessions to a new
- They used OneDrive as a median point in a poorly thought -out strategy that has left all data from Microsoft Cloud Service temporarily
- When they came to download the data, they have been excluded from OneDrive and cannot get Microsoft support to solve this problem
An edifying story shared on Reddit tells the story of a Windows PC owner who used OneDrive to store 30 years of their data and lost their lot when their Microsoft account was locked, without apparent way to find access.
This is a difficult situation of unpleasant sounds (highlighted by Neowin) to say the least, with the loss of what is described as three decades of “irreplaceable photos and work” which have been transferred to OneDrive as a temporary storage installation.
The idea that the Redditor had was that they had to move this huge collection of files from several old discs where they were stored at a new new disc, and OneDrive was selected as the median point of this data migration course.
Thus, they moved all the files of the old discs on the Microsoft cloud storage service and prepared to transfer the data to the new reader, when they encountered a huge stumbling block. The Reditor was suddenly locked from its Microsoft account (and therefore OneDrive, and all Microsoft services).
Now, this is not a reasonable way to manage this data transfer, of course (and I will come back to describe why in a moment, in case you are not sure), but the point here is that the error has occurred, and the Reditor cannot have any joy of Microsoft in terms of solving the problem.
In their article Reddit, which attracts a lot of attention, they say: “Microsoft suspended my account without warning, reason or any legitimate recourse. I submitted the compliance form 18 times – eighteen – and each time I get an automated response that does not lead anywhere.
They continue: “This seems not only contrary to ethics but potentially illegal, in particular in the light of consumer protection laws. You cannot simply hold the hostage of someone’s digital life without regular procedure, without warning and without responsibility”, adding that Microsoft is a “Kafkaesque black hole in the negligence of the company”.
Analysis: Microsoft must do better
Okay, then first, very quickly – because I do not want to work on the errors made by the unfortunate Redditor – it is not a good way to do with a training migration.
When transferring a large data slab like this, you should never have a single failure point in the process. I intend to push all the data in the cloud, on OneDrive, and to have this as the only copy. This is obviously the node of the problem here, because once the user was locked by OneDrive, he had no access to his data.
When you perform such an operation or as a general rule for all data, you must always keep several copies. As a general rule, it would be the original data of your device, a backup on a separate external reader at home (preferably two discs, in fact), and an off -site copy in a cloud storage locker like OneDrive. The fact is that if you lose the original data, you can use, for example, the external disk, but if this also went to the Grave Yyyard Tech in the sky, you can go to the second training (or in the cloud).
Anyway, you get the point, but the Redditor sang this way of doing things – thinking, without a doubt, that as a temporary measure, it was good to count only on OneDrive – but clearly, this was not the case.
There are a number of problems with the scenario presented here where Microsoft is below the standards that a customer would rightly expect.
Why did it happen?
First, there is the fact that the Microsoft account was simply locked without notification or message provided why. The OneDrive user can only guess why this prohibition has been promulgated (and the obvious assumption is that certain materials protected by copyright, or any other content that has counterbalanced Microsoft policies, has been reported in downloaded files, which would trigger the account to be automatically locked). It should be noted that we have (obviously) any idea of the content of this data.
Second, with this, the most disturbing part here is Redditor’s description of the way they feel like they bang their heads against a brick wall trying to talk to Microsoft support staff on how to solve this problem. After all, it is essentially their entire data life, and there should be a way to discover at least what is the problem – and to give the person who has been locked a chance to explain and potentially resume access.
For everything we know, it could be a bug that caused it. But if no one listening to Microsoft, no one probably plays, probably. And if you use OneDrive as a cloud backup, not having access to your data at a critical time is indeed a scary prospect. (This is why you need to adjust these other local backups as an alternative, or even another cloud service if you really wanted to push the “data redundancy” boat).
Hopefully the Redditor can possibly speak to a Microsoft support agent – a real person – to solve this problem. In theory, all this data could still be on Microsoft servers somewhere.
This incident occurred at a time when Microsoft pushes its accounts of users of Windows 11, because you cannot install the operating system without one (well, you can use gaps, although the company is eradicating some of these fudes). Not to mention Pusing OneDrive, Microsoft 365 and other services with ads in Windows, of course.
This large drive is an unhappy backdrop here when you consider another recently highlighted false step. It was the demonstration of a potential problem with the deleted Microsoft accounts (deleted by the user, that is to say), which could lead to the loss of the key for the encryption of the default reader applied with new Windows 11 24h2 installations.
Again, this bad little scenario (although niche) could lead to the disappearance of all your reader’s data in a black hole, never to be revised again. This is another strange situation in which you could find yourself without any recourse in this case – and this, as well as the horrible detactions of the Redditor, are problems that Microsoft should clearly inflict on consumers.
We have contacted Microsoft for comments on this specific case and update this story if we get a business response.
