Ubuntu

Not able to dual boot Windows XP and Ubuntu.

Asked by Vince

I removed a 40 GB hard drive (HD) from my computer with a Windows XP (XP) operating system. I then installed a 120 GB HD. I partitioned this HD then loaded XP. I then loaded Ubuntu. I was able to dual boot XP and Ubuntu, but after extended attempts to get some other XP software to work, I decided to remove the 120 GB HD and installed the 40 GB HD.

After installing the 40 GB HD, I loaded the Ubuntu. After loading the Ubuntu, I am not able to find the XP stuff.

I then removed the 40 GB HD and installed the 120 GB HD. I formated the 120 GB HD, partitioned the HD and installed XP. I am currently using the 120 GB HD and things now seem to work fine on this HD.

I also installed the 40 GB HD in an external device which allows the 40 GB HD to operate as an external hard.

Now, here is my questions. Are my XP files still on the 40 GB HD? There is a lot of data on this HD which not recently backed up. I backed up this HD in October, so there are some files which have not been backed up. Life would be better for me if I can recover the files on the 40 GB HD. Is there a way to check for these XP files? If the XP files are still there, how do I recover them?

Question information

Language:
English Edit question
Status:
Answered
For:
Ubuntu Edit question
Assignee:
No assignee Edit question
Last query:
Last reply:
Revision history for this message
Richard Seguin (sectech) said : 		#1

Try putting in your Windows XP and going to recovery console.. try "fixmbr" and "fixboot" and see what happens.

Revision history for this message
Ralph Janke (txwikinger) said : 		#2

Thanks for the question.

In general, data always remains on a harddisk until it is overwritten. However, if the important parts of a filesystem are destroyed, it is very difficult to retrieve the data correctly.

The best thing is to check your partition table of the 40GB HD. If the XP partition is still there, it is possible that you will be able to retrieve your data from there.

From Ubuntu, you can use the command "sudo fdisk -l" to show all partition tables of your drives. The XP partitions are usually of the type ntfs, sometimes als fat. You can mount the partition either from ubuntu or von Windows.

Here are some webpages with detailed instructions how to do this:

Using the commandline terminal: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UsingTheTerminal
Accessing Windows partitions from ubuntu: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MountingWindowsPartitions

Hope this helps.

Revision history for this message
Ralph Janke (txwikinger) said : 		#3

Here is some information about the Dual-Boot https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WindowsDualBoot, in case this is still your problem.

Can you help with this problem?

Provide an answer of your own, or ask Vince for more information if necessary.

To post a message you must log in.