My Pics are Gone after 4.3 Update

[eviehearts]

I upgraded my AT&T Samsung Galaxy S3's software to 4.3 and my phone started acting sluggish so I restarted the phone and basically it never turned back on. I took it into AT&T and they rebooted the phone. All my pics, apps, and contacts are gone. I don't care about the contacts and apps. I'm more concerned about the pics and videos. I didn't have the pics backed up into a cloud, or AT&T locker as far as I know (I learned my lesson, and am now backing everything up). Some people have mentioned that I should get everything back once I log into my google account but that has not been the case. Can someone please advise. Are any of those recovery programs or softwares that claim they can get your lost data back reliable?

 

[SpookDroid]

Nope, if the phone re-boots and your files are not there, they were deleted. I have to ask, how did AT&T reboot your phone? Did they do it in front of you? The reason I'm asking is because sometimes, because they're lazy, rather than diagnosing the unit, they just go into recovery, do a factory reset, and hope that it clears the problem (which in your case, it did). Problem is, if they did that, then they wiped out your personal files in the process! The apps, yes, you will get back once you log in with Google as it will try to re-install them automatically, but personal files such as pictures, downloaded attachments, save files, etc. you might have had in your phone's internal memory is now gone.

Another way that it might have been deleted is if the phone's memory became corrupt, but there should have been a warning or something before (like suddenly crashing when trying to view a picture).

 

[UJ95x]

I agree with the post above, if it was done with a factory reset. Anything that wasn't backed up, or on your SD card is gone. Haven't tried any of the data recovery apps but I doubt they'd be of much help

Posted via Android Central App

 

[eviehearts]

The AT&T rep said that there have been issues with the 4.3 update and Samsung located the problem. They had me sign a waiver and then he connected my phone to a computer and went to work on it. It took about 15 minutes.

As far as my phone, it was working just fine prior to the 4.3 update. There was no warning. Thanks for responding to my post!

 

[UJ95x]

The AT&T rep said that there have been issues with the 4.3 update and Samsung located the problem. They had me sign a waiver and then he connected my phone to a computer and went to work on it. It took about 15 minutes.

As far as my phone, it was working just fine prior to the 4.3 update. There was no warning. Thanks for responding to my post!

Was he able to retrieve the pictures though?

Posted via Android Central App

 

[SpookDroid]

Yup, sounds to me like he factory-reset it and then manually flashed the update. Those waivers usually include something along the lines of 'you agree that I'll mess up your phone and delete everything on it and you won't be able to ask me WHY??!!!' (in fancier wording, of course).

There are a few guides that detail how to use recovery apps to TRY and get those deleted files back, but they usually require root, the use of complex command lines and programs, and a very meticulous process to follow. I, myself, have never tried them. I hope you can get your pictures back, and for the future, I'd recommend backing up at least your pictures in a Cloud service like Dropbox or Google+ (I learned that the hard way after my Note 2 fried my SD Card).