So i reinstalled windows and all my files are now in windows.old and my avast passwords are gone. How can i restore it? I checked some guides and it says they send email to recover it, but i dont have any
Hi Dovydas3,
The backup email was only sent when we using an older version of the synchronization function. It is not necessary for the current version (as an email will be sent instead when you synchronize a new device) - however, I can see that the synchronization for your account was only enabled after you reinstalled windows, so in this case it will not help you to restore the old logins.
It might be possible to restore the logins if Passwords recognizes your PC as the same device, as the windows.old folder should contain the previous version of your Passwords data. To set your expectations (and those of anybody else reading this post), please be aware that the chance of success is not high.
To try restoring from the old Passwords files, please:
[ol]- Disable Avast Self-Defense - please open the your Avast Antivirus application > click “Menu” in the top right corner > click “Settings” > click “Troubleshooting” in the central column > un-check “Enable Self-Defense” > confirm the action on any warning pop-up.
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Open Windows File Explorer and copy and paste %LocalAppData%\AVAST Software\APM into the address bar.
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Copy the contents of the APM folder and save the files in a location you can find later (this will serve as a ‘backup’ of your current Passwords data). Then delete the files from the APM folder.
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Open the windows.old folder in a new File Explorer window, and navigate to the C:\Windows.old\Users[your_username]\AppData\Local\AVAST Software\APM folder.
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Copy and paste the files found here to the %LocalAppData%\AVAST Software\APM folder.
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Restart your PC (N.B. please use restart, rather than shutting down and turning the PC back on).
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Open Passwords in your Avast Antivirus application and try to unlock the vault using the Master Password you were using prior to reinstalling Windows.[/ol]
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If the process is successful, please remember to re-enable Avast Self-Defense from the settings menu in your Avast Antivirus application.
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If the process doesn’t work, please return the ‘backup’ files saved to the memorable location earlier to the %LocalAppData%\AVAST Software\APM folder and restart the PC to regain access to the current Passwords data.
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If you are not able to open/unlock Avast Passwords for any reason, please delete all files in the %LocalAppData%\AVAST Software\APM folder and restore your current data by turning on “sync and backup” again (you will only be able to do this if Avast Self-Defense is turned off).
Thank you very much! At first it didin’t worked because there was “myusername” folder in my windows.old apm directory that i copyed. Then i copied whats inside that folder those files and now it works.