A new bug discovered on Windows 11 and Windows 10 version 21H2 is leaving data of few users unprotected. The bug has been discovered by Rudy Ooms and he has revealed information about the bug in the Call4Cloud blog. As per the blog, the operating systems are leaving data on a disk even after a factory reset.
This means the data stored on your PC may still be accessible even if you sell it or give it away after resetting. The blog suggests that the bug may be specifically files on OneDrive that are locally synced with the PC.
The bug was discovered by Rudy Ooms while trying to wipe a PC with Windows 11 remotely through Windows 11 Intune app. For those who do not know, Microsoft Intune is a management suite for enterprise customers. The blog further revealed the bug is also leaving data on the disk even when the factory reset is done locally when the OneDrive download option was active.
As per Ooms, the user data downloaded from cloud can be found in Windows.old folder after the reset. It is not that easy to find the folder through File Explorer. However, one can easily access those files through Command prompt. The bug is quite concerning as even if the drive is protected with BitLocker encryption before the reset, the encryption is removed from the disk after the reset.
It is worth noting that users are asked if they want to keep their data or delete everything on the drive before performing a reset. Ooms has also revealed that Microsoft is working to fix this bug for version 21H2 users of Windows 10 and Windows 11.
