Were the files on the same logical drive as your configuration?
Yes, the files were on the same drive as the configuration, this laptop only has a single SSD.
Were the files on a removable drive, or accessed through a (windows) symbolic link?
No, everything was on the local SSD and no symbolic links were present.
When this happened, I was more focused on getting my files back than gathering any diagnostic information. If it happens again, I'll take a bit more time to see what, if anything, happened to cause it.