WSL destroys home directory without warning after system restore
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Description
Environment
Windows build number: Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.18363.1082]
Your Distribution version: Ubuntu 20.04
Whether the issue is on WSL 2 and/or WSL 1: Linux version 4.4.0-18362-Microsoft (Microsoft@Microsoft.com) (gcc version 5.4.0 (GCC) ) #1049-Microsoft Thu Aug 14 12:01:00 PST 2020
Steps to reproduce
I use Ubuntu launcher from Microsoft store.
After I restored system to earlier state due to unrelated problem with recent update, I tried to launch WSL and got message "please wait, installing...". Then I was asked to create an user and afterwards I ended up in empty home directory.
WSL logs:
Expected behavior
WSL should warn people that their installation is unusable and has to be reinstalled, so they'll have a chance to recover any data they may have had in WSL
Actual behavior
My data was overwritten without a warning.
I also noticed that while /home directory was recreated during reinstallaton, some other directories were created long time ago (see screenshot).

Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
No source files, tests, or entry points are identified in the report. Start by reproducing the system-restore flow with the stated Windows and Ubuntu versions, then determine how WSL detects an unusable installation; done means users are warned before existing home-directory data can be overwritten.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Domain
- operating-systems
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 30/100