Laptop refresh/upgrade ideas?

So... I think I picked up some kind of malware through a Facebook message or something, and ever since then, my laptop has been acting super slow and just keeps freezing on me.

I figured, why not try a System Refresh to see if it could fix the issues and clean things up?

The prompt said it was a safe way to refresh everything without losing my data, files, or documents... but after the "refresh" finished, all my photos and docs were just gone! Everything!

And all my installed programs went with them too. I mean, honestly, reinstalling apps isn't the end of the world, but my pictures? How am I supposed to get those back?

Is it possible they were actually deleted, or is there some hidden folder somewhere that I just don't know about?

Does anyone have any idea?

I'm really not much of a tech person... so if anyone out there could help me out, I'd really appreciate it. 🙂

If you want to clear out viruses and other digital junk, Norton is your best bet.

It doesn't really make sense to run a scan every single time you pick up some malware.

Hmm... we're talking about Windows 8 here, right? I've never actually gone through this myself—so I can't give you a 100% guaranteed answer—but it's worth a shot. Why don't you try opening up your file explorer, head over to the C: drive, and see if there’s a folder sitting in there called Windows Old? If it's there, your files should be tucked away inside that folder somewhere. Alternatively, if you can manage to run a system restore, you might be able to roll things back. Once that's done, maybe download Norton, run a full scan, and just wipe out whatever it finds to clear up the issue...

Yeah, I'm talking about Windows 8.

There's that Windows Old folder, but there isn't anything in it... just empty. 😢

System restore? Hmm... how do you actually go about doing that?

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials...ndows-8-a.html

Just follow the steps shown in the screenshots—it’s actually pretty straightforward...