Lost my Historical Tax data on my desktop

[Toksica]

I got a letter from TurboTax saying that I will need to have Windows 11 installed on my computer to use Turbo tax; unfortunately for me, as I was loading Windows 11 on my laptop, it completely wiped out my hard drive and I had no back up. All my historical Turbotax filings are gone (for both Real Estate filings for my LLCs and personal filings).

I use Turbotax Business for real estate holdings by my three LLCs and I use Turbotax Premium for my personal Income and real estate holdings in my name.

Can anybody tell me what I need to do for 2025 since anytime I load the Turbotax Software on my desktop, it always loads historical data.

I am very worried about the Depreciation basis for my real estate holdings.

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

[Bsch4477]

If you used the desktop version of the program no data is stored on the TurboTax server. If you didn’t back up your computer files or save a  copy on your computer and your computer files were corrupted or deleted you have lost your data. 

[Toksica]

Thanks for your reply. I know I won't have access to the lost data which was why I came here. 

What will happen now if I install 2025 Turbo Tax....I assume I have to recreate all my rental properties in it with Purchase dates so it can figure out depreciations. Basically, I am asking if Turbotax will still work if I have no 2024 data 

[NCperson]

@Toksica yes it will work - there are always customers that are using TT for the first time.  

[M-MTax]

@Toksica You will have to enter absolutely everything from scratch, including data re your rental properties.

Please make sure you save a PDF copy and a copy of your *.tax2025 file to something like a USB flash drive after you finish your 2025 return(s).

[Toksica]

Thanks for your reply. I have learnt my lesson now. I will save on my laptop and also on a Flash drive like you suggested. It sucks that I have to reenter everything from scratch 

[NCperson]

@Toksica even better yet is investing a few bucks in a cloud based backup service. 

Having a backup on a jump drive is great, but if you lose the jump drive and / or there is a fire in your residence, what good is it? 

I use Carbonite. 

[Mike9241]

Microsoft says you can revert back to w10 within 10 days of installing W11 but i do not know if those missing files will be included. 

from MS

To revert back to Windows 10 from Windows 11, you can use the built-in rollback feature within 10 days of upgrading, or perform a full reinstallation if more than 10 days have passed.
Rolling Back Within 10 Days
If you upgraded to Windows 11 within the last 10 days, you can easily roll back to Windows 10 by following these steps:
Open Settings: Click the Start button, then select the Settings gear icon.
Navigate to Update & Security: In the Settings menu, click on Update & Security.
Select Recovery: From the left sidebar, click on Recovery.
Go Back to Previous Version: Under the "Recovery options," find the Go back section and click the Get started button.
Follow the Prompts: You will be prompted to provide a reason for reverting. Choose any reason and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the rollback process. Your computer will restart several times during this process

[M-MTax]

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@NCperson wrote:

Having a backup on a jump drive is great, but if you lose the jump drive and / or there is a fire in your residence, what good is it? 

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Personally, I have a fireproof file cabinet, and a separate small safe box, where I store my flash drives plus a safe deposit box at a local branch bank (free via my brokerage account) that I visit a couple of times each year. No thanks to paying for a cloud-based service that charge an annual or monthly fee, require internet access whenever data needs to be checked and can be compromised.

Small, essentially fireproof, safe boxes are available for 50 bucks or less. The odds of losing a flash drive are slim to none, particularly if you have multiple flash drives which are cheap as dirt and assuming you're not an idiot. The odds are probably even lower that your residence will catch fire in the exact same location you're storing your flash drive (and everybody should have more than one, anyway).

[NCperson]

@M-MTax glad you agree with me that simply having a jump drive is not the minimum standard to protect personal data.  It needs to be stored away from one's home or be maintained in a way that mitigates the loss of data from a fire. 

The method of implementation can vary, but the minimum standard to protect again home fire or theft needs to be implemented.  

[M-MTax]

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@NCperson wrote:

The method of implementation can vary, but the minimum standard to protect again home fire or theft needs to be implemented.  

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Yeah, I just outlined that in my previous post (if you bothered to read it); one needs redundancy (i.e., use multiple flash drives) and a few different storage locations in addition to one of those being essentially fireproof.

I suppose if you're the type of person who misplaces things and/or is incapable of implementing some sort of safe storage strategy (or just likes setting fires), then perhaps my method won't work.

[baldietax]

321 strategy - 3 copies, 2 local on different media, 1 remote

personally I use Backblaze for the remote copy, it's continuously backing up with encryption and has 1 year version history.  don't mind the cost for peace of mind and don't have any concern about data breach vs. the risk of data loss.

[M-MTax]

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@baldietax wrote:

321 strategy - 3 copies, 2 local on different media, 1 remote

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Personal preference, I suppose. I have more than 3 copies (3 different media) and 4 locations (2 in my house, 1 in my son's house a mile away, and 1 in a safe deposit box at a local bank branch). I don't really think I need a remote backup service.