I reset my synch passphrase and lost everything
-
kaibaam last edited by leocg
I reset my passphrase and lost years worth of data. my browser has been acting weird since i updated it. today i open it and notice i am not logged in and its acting like its a completely fresh browser(no extensions,no autocomplete etc). i log in and try to sync all my data but it says "an error has occured while synching". i click on it and it shows me all the data its trying to sync (300 passwords, bookmarks etc) i couldnt remember what my passphrase was so i thought resetting it would be like resetting a password you dont remember, not complete data deletion (should have been clearer or at least have a warning imo). is there any way to recover the lost data? If i can remember what my passphrase is, can i get my data back?
[Opera Gx, Windows 11 64-bit, Opera One(version: 102.0.4880.16)] -
A Former User last edited by A Former User
Especially when Opera releases faulty Stable versions that reset the browser profile, should they have thought about this possible Sync situation.
What a major F-up and inexcusable incompetence from Opera.
-
leocg Moderator Volunteer last edited by
@kaibaam How did you reset your passphrase? If you go to https://www.sync.opera.com/ and click on Reset Passphrase, you will see a warning about your synced data being also reset on the server.
The data that was removed from the server can't be recovered.
-
A Former User last edited by
Even now, under the circumstances of the 102 Stable release, you are unable to criticize Opera. What a puppet you are.
Perhaps you have some knowledge of software and writing on forums, but you seem to have little understanding of risk mitigation and human behavior.
Users expect Opera to have data remained saved on their devices.
-
blackbird71 last edited by blackbird71@vegelund said in I reset my synch passphrase and lost everything:
...
Perhaps you have some knowledge of software and writing on forums, but you seem to have little understanding of risk mitigation and human behavior.Users expect Opera to have data remained saved on their devices.
You fail to understand the different concepts involved. Your quote of Opera's specific instructions for resetting a passphrase indicate (clearly) that only the server data will be reset in this way: the data on a device will remain untouched by the passphrase reset procedure. It says nothing about data preservation on a given device in case of device failure or in case of a browser update messing up that data. Data retention on a device is (and always has been) an elementary responsibility of the user... it's called "backup", and should be done periodically by each user to a safe storage media.
Whether Opera's updates cause data loss for some users or whether Opera (or any other browser) should help create automatic data backups are for separate topics, but "risk mitigation and human behavior" for computers starts with the elementary understanding of what it takes to operate a computer securely. A foundational principle of computer security is that, if a user wants to preserve digital data, the user must create a specific backup of it on separate media. If the user fails to grasp this principle, other data risk mitigation becomes meaningless.
Sync is not backup. It's designed purely for browser data "synchronization" across browsers on multiple user devices. To rely upon it for backup functionality is dangerous to data - a data wipeout or change on the sync server will readily propagate empty or altered data to individual sync'd devices and render useless any hoped-for sync backup functionality. There are numerous threads in these forums (and on other browser forums) illustrating the countless dangers of relying on sync for real backup functionality. The most that should ever be expected of sync as a backup is only for ultra-short-term backup of browser data between points of creating genuine backups to secure media. Using sync for backup can turn an inconvenient loss of data into a personal data catastrophe.
-
A Former User last edited by A Former User
Let me give a BIOS analogy.
BIOS update goes one way, it writes new version over old version.
In the same way a new Sync after passphrase reset writes data from device to an empty Sync profile on server.
BIOS has ample and clear warnings to the user about not shutting down system, confirmation Yes/No et cetera – but that does not matter if Lenovo has uploaded a broken and inoperable BIOS.
If you are going to say that the BIOS can’t be seen by the user, while an empty browser profile should be visible and obvious – you confirm your lack of understanding of the average user, their technical knowhow and way of thinking.
The average user does not have the insight and overview on how browser profiles and Sync work.
You and the forum members here are not the average user. Not even close.People do not expect Lenovo to deliver a broken BIOS, that would be unthinkable.
Just like a browser update deleting all your saved data is extraordinary.
-
blackbird71 last edited by
@vegelund said in I reset my synch passphrase and lost everything:
People do not expect Lenovo to deliver a broken BIOS, that would be unthinkable.
Just like a browser update deleting all your saved data is extraordinary.
The OP complained that an Opera update appeared to make their stored browser data no longer accessible via the updated browser. In an attempt to fix that, they elected to use sync to retrieve their data (which clearly demonstrates an attempt to use sync as a backup recovery tool), but instead they received a sync error. That led them to next reset their passphrase, ignoring the clear warning statement on that passphrase page that their saved data would be removed from the server by that reset operation. Apart from anything else, that statement should have alerted them to the reality that they would be then thrown back upon the saved-data resources of their own device and other backups. If they had instead elected to recover their data from a genuine, previously-made backup, things would have turned out quite differently.
This is not about BIOS analogies or the like. It is about basic understanding of a first rule of data security - maintaining backups, which I will grant many users are woefully either ignorant about or too lazy to implement/maintain. Nevertheless reality dictates that in the digital world, bad things will always happen to good data... sooner or later.
Indeed, browsers (and other software) should be designed to never fail, especially in their various critical operations. But they do, and they probably always will in different ways with differing impacts (sometimes "extraordinary", sometimes not so much), developers being human and testing protocols being finite. In this case, most other users aren't seeing a data deletion issue, so it's not a universal problem. Regardless, it remains the users' own responsibility to assure that critical and sensitive data from their devices is reliably secured and backed up. With computers, you ignore that responsibility at your own peril. Full stop.
-
A Former User last edited by A Former User
Did you know that on all Starbucks paper coffee cups it is written:
Careful, the beverage you’re about to enjoy is extremely hot.
Starbucks has an appropriate understanding of their customers.
You and señor leocg live in a bubble.
-
blackbird71 last edited by blackbird71
@vegelund And that Starbucks warning, written in small print near the bottom of the cup, does nothing to prevent customers from nevertheless burning their mouth because they don't seem to grasp that hot coffee is... uhmm... hot. It does, however, offer Starbucks' lawyers ammunition against customers' burn litigation.
The bubble in which @leocg and I live is called the real world... one of personal responsibility to take the time and effort to understand the basics of whatever product or technology we are dealing with.
-
chitra150 last edited byAs per my experience , you should follow these tips- Resetting your passphrase seems to have caused the loss of your data. Unfortunately, in many encryption-based systems, a passphrase reset often results in data becoming inaccessible, as the data is encrypted using that passphrase. If you can remember your old passphrase, there's a possibility you could recover your data. However, since you've already reset it, the chances are slim. The browser acting strangely after an update might have contributed to this issue. It's a good practice for software to provide clearer warnings about the consequences of certain actions like passphrase resets.
Thanks in advance!
-
Locked by
leocg
