So, among other data and programs, it seems windows decided to delete VO from my PC. I know, you will all say "computers only do what they're told" but that is pure BS. Sometime in the last 3 weeks, I have lost many folders of assorted game related data, family photos, and apparently VO. I have not opened, modified or otherwise altered a damn thing, and yet, it is all frakking gone, and this is not the first time this has happened. Some devices in this world need to be violated most violently with sharp, prickly plants found mostly in desert climates.

/rant.

Faille.

"it seems windows"

Well, there's your problem. :P

But more seriously, there is something wrong if this kind of thing is happening. Could be a virus. Could also be a malfunctioning or misconfigured anti-virus program (they sometimes get false positives on VO). Could be that somebody else is using your computer and (intentionally or otherwise) deleting stuff. Or it might be drive failure -- hardware does simply wear out after a while.

Personally, I keep a ~1TB external harddrive that I use for automated backups of everything I care about. I wrote a script to incrementally update those backups every time I tell my computer to shut down. This both provides redundancy in case my internal drive fails, as well as offers me the option of yanking the external drive very quickly if I need to evacuate my apartment. I've been considerably more lazy about setting up off-site backups of anything but the most absolutely critical files though. Need to get on that sometime...

"computers only do what they're told"

It's helpful to keep in mind that you're not the only person telling your computer what to do. :)