This is a mere sketchy report. I do apologize. I'll know more in 24 hours and amend this thread accordingly. Why don't I just hold off until then? Because this is a problem reportedly caused by a regular Windows Update (of today, January 19th) and maybe others experienced it and can give some useful advice.

My wife reported this dilemma: at her county education job they use Windows 7 Pro. Today a message arrived that one Windows Update was available, so she naturally told it to go ahead and install. She thinks it changed her OS from 7 to 8, but I think she's mistaken about that, considering that the update took only about a minute to install before necessarily rebooting. So the other theory is that it updated her version of IE. I told her how to find out for sure when she goes back tomorrow, by checking Update History in the Windows Update Control Panel.

Despite some uncertainties, she is 100% certain that all of her saved browsing favorites and passwords are now vanished! Please: has anyone else experienced this same dilemma? I thought she might be able to get the lost memorized passwords back using the Import function of her new IE. But looking at our home IE (version 8), it doesn't offer to import passwords -- only favorites, history and cache. The lost passwords are impeding her scheduled work.

Not to worry though, as the employer has a tech person who will hopefully help my wife straighten out the dilemma. We just aren't sure how quickly that can happen.

Again, I am so very sorry for making an obviously premature post. We'll know more tomorrow. I thought that since everyone running this particular OS could pretty much expect specific Windows Updates to be distributed to them on or about the same day, that maybe someone on this sub-forum already knows what update it is that is to blame for this problem and might even advise how to quickly correct it.

Sometimes it is possible to revert (uninstall) a Windows Update, but I would hesitate to go that route without understanding the ramifications and whether that would even serve to reinstate her lost browser passwords and favorites. (I presume her browser history, cache and options are likewise affected.)

It was as I thought: a new version (9) of IE was installed yesterday and that caused the dilemma. Wife reports that when she rebooted, her memorized Favorites and History miraculously came back, but not the passwords. Not a huge problem though because she had record of all those passwords except just one. She may have to jump through some serious hoops to motivate folks at the State level to reset or divulge that one lost password. It was for a secure and confidential administrative site.

I was a little surprised that the File menu in the new IE 9 has no Import/Export function to be found! The only Import I found was for website security settings, and that's sure to be of no help.

The missus doesn't care for the new IE 9 and wants her old browser back. This updated IE 9 can be uninstalled from the Programs and Features Control Panel, but I am loathe to try that for fear of consequences, plus I see no way to get back the prior version of IE (either 7 or 8, she cannot recall for certain) or that lost password.

I downloaded and installed Google Chrome as an alternative browser for my wife. I know she loves that one, as we use it at home. I performed Chrome's Import function and it picked up Favorites and History but not that one pesky important password. ('Not sure as to other stored passwords -- I didn't investigate; 'likely none made it into Chrome.)

I found a Microsoft folder within Program Data folder on C drive, hoping that within that would be found an Internet Explorer folder where the missing passwords might be filed and possibly imported somehow. No luck discovering that data's whereabouts, under an OS with which I have minimal familiarity.

Well that's the story. I guess there's not a heckuva lot of interest in this thread anyway. But further insights are certainly welcome!!

When you uninstall IE9, you will have IE8 back. I like IE9 but it takes a little getting used to.

How do I install or uninstall Internet Explorer 9?

After you uninstall Internet Explorer 9, the previously installed version of Internet Explorer will be available on your PC. It isn't necessary to reinstall.

Thanks for that. It is done! IE 8 is back. The memorized passwords are still vanished but as I've indicated, we'll just have to work around that little snag by contacting the pertinent site administrators. I guess that concludes this inquiry. Thank you for being there, you all!

memorized passwords are still vanished

Once bitten by a situation such as yours, it then becomes apparent that a separate (secured) record of one's passwords if often advisable.

My wife and I have used ROBOFORM for years (RoboForm Trial download and reviews from SnapFiles) and it has kept us out of trouble on many occasions (eg: stolen laptop).

You can use up to 10 passwords for free with no time limit (as a trial). Every time there is an update, I use the 'print list' function to not only print out a hard copy record out but to actually save an HTML file copy as well.

There is also a free tool that I often see recommended:

LastPass Freeware download and reviews from SnapFiles

I just noticed in IE9 there are controls for password storage. I'm guessing IE8 has the same.

Tools / Internet Options / Content
Click on the Settings button under AutoComplete.

AutoComplete.jpg

Since I uninstalled IE9 at my wife's request, I'll never know if messing with that autofill option would have resurrected the missing passwords. Likely not, and options should carry over unmodified when upgrading to a newer version anyway. When those memorized autofilled passwords went away, it was doubtless some Microsoft malfunction. But then I initially reported that favorites were lost in the transition, yet that data self-recovered(?) on a subsequent restart(?). A part of the problem here is that it was my wife who was the hands-on witness to most of this. To be truthful, I don't think she is necessarily 100% credible. It's just hard to be sure with computers, and with second-hand accounts of events.

Agree it is unlikely to have restored anything. Sounds like Roboform may be the way to go though it would be just as effective to backup the data somewhere else, external hard drive or a flash drive on a regular basis then if something goes wrong you can restore it.

Looks like this is how you backup and restore saved passwords:

To backup your user names and passwords please follow the below steps:

Click on ‘Start’, in the search box type ‘credential manager’ and press enter.
You will see the list of your stored network credentials here.
To backup the list of user logon credentials, click on ‘Back up Vault’, and a wizard will occur.
Click the ‘Browse’ button and select a name and location for the file. Make sure it is something unforgettable.
You have to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to actually backup the credentials, and you will be asked for a password to protect the file. Make confident that something unforgettable or else you would not be able to restore the credentials later.

To restore please follow the below steps:

Click on ‘Start’, in the search box type ‘credential manager’ and press enter
Click on the ‘Restore Vault’, select the backup file and then you will be prompted to Ctrl + Alt + Delete Again.
You will be asked for the matching password you created previously, and the credentials will be restored.

Found here: How to back up Internet Explorer 8 stored usernames and passwords

That Credential Manager thing is extremely good to know about. It's a Control Panel under Windows 7. I tried it just now and found no entries whatsoever. (Wife's PC at her job is a laptop and she brought it home this weekend so I could investigate her mishap.) I'm wondering: shouldn't IE8-memorized credentials be automatically entered in that managerial control panel? I checked her IE8 autofill Options and the passwords box is indeed ticked, on. So why is the Credential Manager empty of entries? Hmmm. I'll have to experiment with it some more when I'm not so tired. 'Night-O