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OfflineHagbardCeline
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Installing Ubuntu to second hard drive somehow deleted the partitions on the first drive
    #14856675 - 08/01/11 02:09 PM (12 years, 9 months ago)

So after 4 or 5 years of me talking about installing Ubuntu, I finally got around to it.  A few days ago I took my really old 1.3 GHz Athalon setup with WinXP and threw in 20GB drive for Ubuntu.  Couldn't get it installed with a Flash drive, but finally burned CD and it went perfect.  I played for a few days before deciding I'd take the other 20 GB drive I had and put it my current system.

Since I was installing Ubuntu on a completely separate drive and it worked without an issue before, I thought it would be a cake walk. It wasn't.




I booted from the CD and immediately chose the install option.  I chose to format the drive and partition it with ext4 just as I had before.  What I don't remember from the first was it asking me to setup a separate swap partition, but it may have, and definitely did this time.  I partitioned it 18/2. 

I do remember at first at the bottom of the install it still said which drive to store boot info (something like that) and my 320 GB/Win XP was chose, but I changed it.  A potential problem that me be at the root of the issue was the video for the first part of the install was horrible, I could only see half the screen and looked like the static from an old TV on a non-existant channel.  I had seen it doing this when I tried running from CD, but it went away once the install started, so I wasn't too worried.  What may have happened though is that I thought I had changed it, but it didn't update like I thought.  There were several times that I did have problems checking  various options and getting it to register.

Well, half way through the install, it failed.  I forgot the error code, but said the install disk might be damaged, even though it was fine with the other computer.

So I rebooted and tried again.  I was getting it down so I was hurrying through and it again happened, no install.  So I try to just boot to XP intent on reburning it, and it just hung after post.  Reboot and go for the CD, to find Ubuntu booting off the new drive.  It still gives several error messages and is only 2.2GB, less than half of the other system's Ubuntu install.  But it seems functional anyway.

Try to look at the system and it's not detecting the 320GB at all.  Run Disk Monitor and it comes up, Unallocated Space, Partition Type MBR.

:facepalm:

I shutdown, disconnected the Ubuntu drive and tried rebooting again from XP drive.  Nada.

So I put in the Windows CD and it only gives me the option to partition the drive.


Is it all gone?  I tried the Ubuntu forums/WIKI, but it will not let me login with password even through I had saved it and the reset confirmation codes never arrive in several differenct email accounts I've tried.

Somebody please be my Jesus and save me!

/Looking up Suicide Prevention Hotline.....


--------------------
I keep it real because I think it is important that a highly esteemed individual such as myself keep it real lest they experience the dreaded spontaneous non-existance of no longer keeping it real. - Hagbard Celine

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Offlineimachavel
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Re: Installing Ubuntu to second hard drive somehow deleted the partitions on the first drive [Re: HagbardCeline]
    #14857236 - 08/01/11 04:13 PM (12 years, 9 months ago)

probably is all gone. when you select the only partition you have to install something to, even if the install doesn't finish, it formats the drive, meaning it rewrites the type of file system to the partition you are installing to. and even more so, it wipes out the previous partition to create a new one to begin with.

most likely your windows xp AND ubuntu are gone. You should always back up files before installing or reinstalling anything, just to be safe. Now of course you can always reinstall ubuntu or windows xp, I don't know if your disk is good enough, you didn't list the error code.

also you left some stuff out, you mentioned two drives, and also mentioned "linux working before." were you using a live cd? apparently the newer ubuntus have an install option that allows you to reboot, and then partition your drive before installing linux. I'm not doubtful of it and my best guess is this feature is an on cd version of gparted. gparted is what you want to use to create a new hdd partition, it's fast and easy and can be burned as an iso same way you burned ubuntu. sorry about your operating systems.

best bet is to do a clean install and in the feature back up any files before playing around with anything at the boot menu such as partitioning off a new section and installing a new operating system. it looks to me as though you just formatted everything, better luck in the future.


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:kingcrankey: I did not say to edit my signature soulidarity! Now forever I will never remember what I said about understanding the secrets of the universe by paying attention to subtleties!

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OfflineHagbardCeline
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Re: Installing Ubuntu to second hard drive somehow deleted the partitions on the first drive [Re: imachavel]
    #14858031 - 08/01/11 06:53 PM (12 years, 9 months ago)

I didn't select it as far I as I know.  If I did it was because the video wasn't refreshing properly and I thought the selection was changed when it wasn't.

I had done an identical install on a lesser computer a few days ago and it went perfect.  After looking more, I found this bootinfoscript tool for SourceForge.net.

Here are the results.  I'm not optimistic.


*******************************************************************************************




                  Boot Info Script 0.60    from 17 May 2011


============================= Boot Info Summary: ===============================

=> No boot loader is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda.
=> No boot loader is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdf.
=> MS-DOS 3.30 through Windows 95 (A) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdg.

sdf1: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:      ext4
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info: 
    Operating System:  Ubuntu 11.04
    Boot files:        /etc/fstab

sdf2: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:      Extended Partition
    Boot sector type:  Unknown
    Boot sector info: 

sdf5: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:      swap
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info: 

sdg1: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:      vfat
    Boot sector type:  Unknown
    Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
    Operating System: 
    Boot files:       

============================ Drive/Partition Info: =============================

Drive: sda _____________________________________________________________________

Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320071851520 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders, total 625140335 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition  Boot  Start Sector    End Sector  # of Sectors  Id System



Drive: sdf _____________________________________________________________________

Disk /dev/sdf: 20.0 GB, 20020396032 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 2434 cylinders, total 39102336 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition  Boot  Start Sector    End Sector  # of Sectors  Id System

/dev/sdf1              2,048    35,194,879    35,192,832  83 Linux
/dev/sdf2          35,196,926    39,100,415    3,903,490  5 Extended
/dev/sdf5          35,196,928    39,100,415    3,903,488  82 Linux swap / Solaris


Drive: sdg _____________________________________________________________________

Disk /dev/sdg: 2000 MB, 2000682496 bytes
64 heads, 63 sectors/track, 969 cylinders, total 3907583 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition  Boot  Start Sector    End Sector  # of Sectors  Id System

/dev/sdg1                129    3,907,007    3,906,879  6 FAT16


"blkid" output: ________________________________________________________________

Device          UUID                                  TYPE      LABEL

/dev/loop0                                              squashfs 
/dev/sdf1        eba5bf39-757e-4abe-912a-d9f412015b3e  ext4     
/dev/sdf5        42711eb1-7d97-4e32-99ec-0416e0c1c0ce  swap     
/dev/sdg1        FC67-F788                              vfat     

================================ Mount points: =================================

Device          Mount_Point              Type      Options

/dev/loop0      /rofs                    squashfs  (ro,noatime)
/dev/sdf1        /media/eba5bf39-757e-4abe-912a-d9f412015b3e ext4      (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks)
/dev/sdg1        /media/FC67-F788        vfat      (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks,uid=999,gid=999,shortname=mixed,dmask=0077,utf8=1,showexec)
/dev/sr0        /cdrom                  iso9660    (ro,noatime)
/dev/sr1        /media/U3 System        iso9660    (ro,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks,uid=999,gid=999,iocharset=utf8,mode=0400,dmode=0500)


=============================== sdf1/etc/fstab: ================================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point>  <type>  <options>      <dump>  <pass>
proc            /proc          proc    nodev,noexec,nosuid 0      0
# / was on /dev/sda1 during installation
UUID=eba5bf39-757e-4abe-912a-d9f412015b3e /              ext4    errors=remount-ro 0      1
# swap was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=42711eb1-7d97-4e32-99ec-0416e0c1c0ce none            swap    sw              0      0
/dev/fd0        /media/floppy0  auto    rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0      0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

======================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc: ========================

Unknown BootLoader on sdf2

00000000  00 52 02 52 04 52 06 52  08 52 0a 52 0c 52 0e 52  |.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R|
00000010  10 52 12 52 14 52 16 52  18 52 1a 52 1c 52 1e 52  |.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R|
00000020  20 52 22 52 24 52 26 52  28 52 2a 52 2c 52 2e 52  | R"R$R&R(R*R,R.R|
00000030  30 52 32 52 34 52 36 52  38 52 3a 52 3c 52 3e 52  |0R2R4R6R8R:R<R>R|
00000040  40 52 42 52 44 52 46 52  48 52 4a 52 4c 52 4e 52  |@RBRDRFRHRJRLRNR|
00000050  50 52 52 52 54 52 56 52  58 52 5a 52 5c 52 5e 52  |PRRRTRVRXRZR\R^R|
00000060  60 52 62 52 64 52 66 52  68 52 6a 52 6c 52 6e 52  |`RbRdRfRhRjRlRnR|
00000070  70 52 72 52 74 52 76 52  78 52 7a 52 7c 52 7e 52  |pRrRtRvRxRzR|R~R|
00000080  80 52 82 52 84 52 86 52  88 52 8a 52 8c 52 8e 52  |.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R|
00000090  90 52 92 52 94 52 96 52  98 52 9a 52 9c 52 9e 52  |.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R|
000000a0  a0 52 a2 52 a4 52 a6 52  a8 52 aa 52 ac 52 ae 52  |.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R|
000000b0  b0 52 b2 52 b4 52 b6 52  b8 52 ba 52 bc 52 be 52  |.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R|
000000c0  c0 52 c2 52 c4 52 c6 52  c8 52 ca 52 cc 52 ce 52  |.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R|
000000d0  d0 52 d2 52 d4 52 d6 52  d8 52 da 52 dc 52 de 52  |.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R|
000000e0  e0 52 e2 52 e4 52 e6 52  e8 52 ea 52 ec 52 ee 52  |.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R|
000000f0  f0 52 f2 52 f4 52 f6 52  f8 52 fa 52 fc 52 fe 52  |.R.R.R.R.R.R.R.R|
00000100  00 53 02 53 04 53 06 53  08 53 0a 53 0c 53 0e 53  |.S.S.S.S.S.S.S.S|
00000110  10 53 12 53 14 53 16 53  18 53 1a 53 1c 53 1e 53  |.S.S.S.S.S.S.S.S|
00000120  20 53 22 53 24 53 26 53  28 53 2a 53 2c 53 2e 53  | S"S$S&S(S*S,S.S|
00000130  30 53 32 53 34 53 36 53  38 53 3a 53 3c 53 3e 53  |0S2S4S6S8S:S<S>S|
00000140  40 53 42 53 44 53 46 53  48 53 4a 53 4c 53 4e 53  |@SBSDSFSHSJSLSNS|
00000150  50 53 52 53 54 53 56 53  58 53 5a 53 5c 53 5e 53  |PSRSTSVSXSZS\S^S|
00000160  60 53 62 53 64 53 66 53  68 53 6a 53 6c 53 6e 53  |`SbSdSfShSjSlSnS|
00000170  70 53 72 53 74 53 76 53  78 53 7a 53 7c 53 7e 53  |pSrStSvSxSzS|S~S|
00000180  80 53 82 53 84 53 86 53  88 53 8a 53 8c 53 8e 53  |.S.S.S.S.S.S.S.S|
00000190  90 53 92 53 94 53 96 53  98 53 9a 53 9c 53 9e 53  |.S.S.S.S.S.S.S.S|
000001a0  a0 53 a2 53 a4 53 a6 53  a8 53 aa 53 ac 53 ae 53  |.S.S.S.S.S.S.S.S|
000001b0  b0 53 b2 53 b4 53 b6 53  b8 53 ba 53 bc 53 00 fe  |.S.S.S.S.S.S.S..|
000001c0  ff ff 82 fe ff ff 02 00  00 00 00 90 3b 00 00 00  |............;...|
000001d0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
*
000001f0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 55 aa  |..............U.|
00000200

Unknown BootLoader on sdg1

00000000  eb 3c 90 4d 53 44 4f 53  35 2e 30 00 02 40 01 00  |.<.MSDOS5.0..@..|
00000010  02 00 02 00 00 f8 ef 00  3f 00 40 00 81 00 00 00  |........?.@.....|
00000020  3f 9d 3b 00 80 00 29 88  f7 67 fc 4e 4f 20 4e 41  |?.;...)..g.NO NA|
00000030  4d 45 20 20 20 20 46 41  54 31 36 20 20 20 33 c9  |ME    FAT16  3.|
00000040  8e d1 bc fc 7b 16 07 bd  78 00 c5 76 00 1e 56 16  |....{...x..v..V.|
00000050  55 bf 22 05 89 7e 00 89  4e 02 b1 0b fc f3 a4 06  |U."..~..N.......|
00000060  1f bd 00 7c c6 45 fe 0f  38 4e 24 7d 20 8b c1 99  |...|.E..8N$} ...|
00000070  e8 7e 01 83 eb 3a 66 a1  1c 7c 66 3b 07 8a 57 fc  |.~...:f..|f;..W.|
00000080  75 06 80 ca 02 88 56 02  80 c3 10 73 ed 33 c9 fe  |u.....V....s.3..|
00000090  06 d8 7d 8a 46 10 98 f7  66 16 03 46 1c 13 56 1e  |..}.F...f..F..V.|
000000a0  03 46 0e 13 d1 8b 76 11  60 89 46 fc 89 56 fe b8  |.F....v.`.F..V..|
000000b0  20 00 f7 e6 8b 5e 0b 03  c3 48 f7 f3 01 46 fc 11  | ....^...H...F..|
000000c0  4e fe 61 bf 00 07 e8 28  01 72 3e 38 2d 74 17 60  |N.a....(.r>8-t.`|
000000d0  b1 0b be d8 7d f3 a6 61  74 3d 4e 74 09 83 c7 20  |....}..at=Nt... |
000000e0  3b fb 72 e7 eb dd fe 0e  d8 7d 7b a7 be 7f 7d ac  |;.r......}{...}.|
000000f0  98 03 f0 ac 98 40 74 0c  48 74 13 b4 0e bb 07 00  |.....@t.Ht......|
00000100  cd 10 eb ef be 82 7d eb  e6 be 80 7d eb e1 cd 16  |......}....}....|
00000110  5e 1f 66 8f 04 cd 19 be  81 7d 8b 7d 1a 8d 45 fe  |^.f......}.}..E.|
00000120  8a 4e 0d f7 e1 03 46 fc  13 56 fe b1 04 e8 c2 00  |.N....F..V......|
00000130  72 d7 ea 00 02 70 00 52  50 06 53 6a 01 6a 10 91  |r....p.RP.Sj.j..|
00000140  8b 46 18 a2 26 05 96 92  33 d2 f7 f6 91 f7 f6 42  |.F..&...3......B|
00000150  87 ca f7 76 1a 8a f2 8a  e8 c0 cc 02 0a cc b8 01  |...v............|
00000160  02 80 7e 02 0e 75 04 b4  42 8b f4 8a 56 24 cd 13  |..~..u..B...V$..|
00000170  61 61 72 0a 40 75 01 42  03 5e 0b 49 75 77 c3 03  |aar.@u.B.^.Iuw..|
00000180  18 01 27 0d 0a 49 6e 76  61 6c 69 64 20 53 79 73  |..'..Invalid Sys|
00000190  74 65 6d 20 44 69 73 6b  ff 0d 0a 44 69 73 6b 20  |tem Disk...Disk |
000001a0  49 2f 4f 20 65 72 72 6f  72 ff 0d 0a 52 65 70 6c  |I/O error...Repl|
000001b0  61 63 65 20 74 68 65 20  64 69 73 6b 2c 20 61 6e  |ace the disk, an|
000001c0  64 20 74 68 65 6e 20 50  72 65 73 73 20 41 6e 79  |d then Press Any|
000001d0  20 4b 65 79 0d 0a 00 00  49 4f 20 20 20 20 20 20  | Key....IO      |
000001e0  53 59 53 4d 53 44 4f 53  20 20 20 53 59 53 7f 01  |SYSMSDOS  SYS..|
000001f0  00 41 bb 00 07 60 66 6a  00 e9 3b ff 00 00 55 aa  |.A...`fj..;...U.|
00000200


========= Devices which don't seem to have a corresponding hard drive: =========

sdb sdc sdd sde


--------------------
I keep it real because I think it is important that a highly esteemed individual such as myself keep it real lest they experience the dreaded spontaneous non-existance of no longer keeping it real. - Hagbard Celine

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Invisiblemagicbastard
I'm a teapot

Registered: 03/18/05
Posts: 791
Re: Installing Ubuntu to second hard drive somehow deleted the partitions on the first drive [Re: HagbardCeline]
    #14858845 - 08/01/11 09:55 PM (12 years, 9 months ago)

It looks like your XP partition is no longer recognized but that doesn't mean that your data is gone.
If its a bunch of music and movies you've downloaded, cut your losses and start redownloading when your back up.
If its irreplaceable Data, there are data recovery options available for delete/"accidental" HDD format, though the odds of recovering all data depend on what exactly the failed install did to the HDD, and if you've tried to write data to the HDD again.

I'll look into my bag of tricks and see what I can find :wink:

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OfflineHagbardCeline
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Re: Installing Ubuntu to second hard drive somehow deleted the partitions on the first drive [Re: magicbastard]
    #14858926 - 08/01/11 10:21 PM (12 years, 9 months ago)

Thanks man.  I'm trying to figure out what utilities to run, but I've been dealing with this for going on 15 hours and I hadn't slept well, so I'm fairly bogged down at this point.  I've written nothing to the disk and made absolutely certain that every I was doing was only in observation and didn't try to fix anything yet.  At least nothing more than trying the boot disk, but I just quit it when it only offered to repartition. 

I didn't run fdisk, or chkdsk even.

And the data I'm worried about is my writing.  I backed most of it up a few months ago, but I've probably written more since then than everything previous combined.  It hadn't even crossed my mind again since then.


--------------------
I keep it real because I think it is important that a highly esteemed individual such as myself keep it real lest they experience the dreaded spontaneous non-existance of no longer keeping it real. - Hagbard Celine

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OfflineSeussA
Error: divide byzero


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Re: Installing Ubuntu to second hard drive somehow deleted the partitions on the first drive [Re: HagbardCeline]
    #14859997 - 08/02/11 03:47 AM (12 years, 9 months ago)

From the XP recovery console, accessed from the XP install media, run 'fixmbr' and keep your fingers crossed.  After a reboot, if that doesn't fix it, from the XP recovery console, accessed from the XP install media, run 'fixboot'.  If that doesn't fix it, you are probably going to have to pay somebody to recover data.

The fixmbr command is pretty benign.  It will rewrite sector zero, the MBR, of the HDD with a fresh copy of a MS happy version.  The MBR has the initial boot code (for the boot loader) and the MSDOS partition table.  Windows also writes some non-standard data there to identify the geometry of the HDD.

The fixboot command is a little more risky.  It rewrites the volume partition table which is located in the first track of the volume.  If the partition data from the MBR is invalide, the fixboot command might over write data you didn't want to lose.

Be sure you reboot after the fixmbr is run allowing BIOS to pickup any new partition changes made by fixmbr.


--------------------
Just another spore in the wind.

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Offlineimachavel
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Re: Installing Ubuntu to second hard drive somehow deleted the partitions on the first drive [Re: Seuss]
    #14860595 - 08/02/11 09:04 AM (12 years, 9 months ago)

ok yes, sorry. hence the recovery console options, that isn't associated with installing or repairing windows, as I mentioned early. sorry I forgot to mention this, I guess I was just confused as I thought you had just formatted over the partitions all together and nothing was left. so the windows partition was left? and the linux one? never finished the install right? so as suess said, use the fixmbr, from recovery console. now what do you plan to do after you have retrieved your data? are you going to finish the linux install, and put all your files on linux? reinstall windows and reinstall all your files on window? or will you continue with your plan to run dual boot? some windows files aren't compatible with linux, needless to say. But I think most files will transfer, as linux has hundreds of programs that will make almost all windows files compatible in one way or another. good luck with recovery and reformatting.

btw one more thing, ask suess about this as I'm not confirmed that this is entirely true, but I'm pretty sure fixmbr will let you recover files from more then one lost partition or operating system, it may allow you to recover some linux files as well. although obviously both os's use different file systems, I'm still fairly sure that won't effect recovering lost data, as the data isn't reinstalled to an operating system with a file system partition formatted to it already, but it just pulls out your old data, obviously. you do have your external drive prepared correct? good luck :thumbup:

Edited by imachavel (08/02/11 09:13 AM)

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OfflineSeussA
Error: divide byzero


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Re: Installing Ubuntu to second hard drive somehow deleted the partitions on the first drive [Re: imachavel]
    #14860724 - 08/02/11 09:39 AM (12 years, 9 months ago)

> but I'm pretty sure fixmbr will let you recover files from more then one lost partition or operating system

The fixmbr utility only writes a new MBR (master boot record, LBA (logical block address) 0, 512 bytes) to the hard drive.  It does not fix any files, any volume partition tables, or anything else.  If something like LILO or grub got written to the HDD, then fixmbr will remove it and replace the MBR with a microsoft happy version.

The MBR is one sector long and is the first thing written to the HDD.  It contains a tiny bit of machine code that locates the primary partition, loads a few sectors of machine code from the primary partition, and passes control to the newly loaded code.  The MBR also contains room for four MSDOS style partition table entries.  On windows installs, the MBR also contains information about the geometry (sectors, tracks, etc) of the hard drive.


--------------------
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OfflineHagbardCeline
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Re: Installing Ubuntu to second hard drive somehow deleted the partitions on the first drive [Re: Seuss]
    #14862072 - 08/02/11 02:19 PM (12 years, 9 months ago)

Thanks.  I tried fixmbr, but that didn't help.  If the orginal drive had two partitions on it, do I need try it for both?

Also, looking through my binders of discs, I found what I think was a Norton Ghost backup from when I originally installed the operating system.  Wouldn't that have the partition tables and info I need to restore my drive.  I can't restore the whole thing though as it would definitely destroy my data.

The problem is I can't even view the discs for some reason.


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I keep it real because I think it is important that a highly esteemed individual such as myself keep it real lest they experience the dreaded spontaneous non-existance of no longer keeping it real. - Hagbard Celine

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Invisibleluvdemshrooms
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Re: Installing Ubuntu to second hard drive somehow deleted the partitions on the first drive [Re: HagbardCeline]
    #14862096 - 08/02/11 02:22 PM (12 years, 9 months ago)

No problem. I'm sure you have all your files backed up, right?


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You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for that my dear friend is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it. ~ Adrian Rogers

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OfflineHagbardCeline
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Re: Installing Ubuntu to second hard drive somehow deleted the partitions on the first drive [Re: luvdemshrooms]
    #14862262 - 08/02/11 02:46 PM (12 years, 9 months ago)

I have some of them, but not all or even most.  If everything was backed up, which I thought was clearly explained I had not, this thread would not exist.

I want to ensure I've no other options before reinstalling. 

So obviously, yes problem.

I need to know if I can extract the partition tables from the ghost image I did right after I first installed the OS some years ago.


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I keep it real because I think it is important that a highly esteemed individual such as myself keep it real lest they experience the dreaded spontaneous non-existance of no longer keeping it real. - Hagbard Celine

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Invisibleteknix
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Re: Installing Ubuntu to second hard drive somehow deleted the partitions on the first drive [Re: HagbardCeline]
    #14866167 - 08/03/11 07:32 AM (12 years, 9 months ago)

Boot from the Windows XP CDROM in to the β€œRecovery” prompt.
Then run:

bootcfg /rebuild
fixboot
fixmbr

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Offlinegyver42

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Re: Installing Ubuntu to second hard drive somehow deleted the partitions on the first drive [Re: teknix]
    #14868258 - 08/03/11 05:02 PM (12 years, 9 months ago)

found this on a forum hope it helps


"An easy way to have Grub2 redetect your missing Windows XP or Windows 7 partition is by installing and running startupmanager.

1. From a terminal window enter: sudo apt-get install startupmanager

2. After installation completes, you can now run the program in the terminal by entering: sudo startupmanager

3. A GUI will appear, from the drop-down menu you can see the other OS's on your machine. You can change the default OS or leave it alone. Click the CLOSE button and your done!

Now when you reboot...tadaaaa, you will see your missing Windows partition listed under Grub!"

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InvisibleBacchus
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Re: Installing Ubuntu to second hard drive somehow deleted the partitions on the first drive [Re: gyver42]
    #14868954 - 08/03/11 07:42 PM (12 years, 9 months ago)

update-grub will do the same thing and is already installed. I don't think that's the solution to this problem, though.


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Living on a no-Flash diet is way easier than you think. Give it a shot.

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OfflineHagbardCeline
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Re: Installing Ubuntu to second hard drive somehow deleted the partitions on the first drive [Re: Bacchus]
    #14869461 - 08/03/11 09:25 PM (12 years, 9 months ago)

Yeah, if you look at the bootinfoscript text I posted above, grub isn't installed.  When the installation failed, I think it was in that process.


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I keep it real because I think it is important that a highly esteemed individual such as myself keep it real lest they experience the dreaded spontaneous non-existance of no longer keeping it real. - Hagbard Celine

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OfflineHagbardCeline
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Re: Installing Ubuntu to second hard drive somehow deleted the partitions on the first drive [Re: HagbardCeline]
    #14870128 - 08/04/11 12:07 AM (12 years, 9 months ago)

Things are looking good for the home team! 

I researched all of your suggestions in trying to navigate this ordeal.  But in keeping with observational techniques at this point still, I decided to make this a learning opportunity if nothing else.  Using TestDisk, it seems to have found all the partitions intact.  I could even view all of my files.

I could write the partitions it found and completely restore the drive it seems, but I'm unsure still if it doesn't work whether or not it would compromise my data.  Apparently I could copy the data over at this point though, so I'm probably going to buy another drive first (don't have room right now for everything).  After I've copied the data, then I'll try fixing the partitions and/or MBR.

I would like thanking everybody help me achieve great success!  :borat:


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I keep it real because I think it is important that a highly esteemed individual such as myself keep it real lest they experience the dreaded spontaneous non-existance of no longer keeping it real. - Hagbard Celine

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