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**dibl** · Oct 23, 2007, 11:48 AM

Re: Has this ever happened to you??

I think the bad news is, you probably did kind of screw things up by aborting in the middle of the installation that way. If you boot your Windows installation CD, you MAY be able to choose "Repair" and re-set the boot partition with "fixboot" or "fixmbr" -- you might want to Google those and find out exactly how they are supposed to be used at the DOS prompt. It's been a long while since I inflicted that stuff on myself ... :P

However, the good news is, you didn't get too far down the road with a suboptimal plan, before you asked for help!

For Kubuntu, what you really want are 3 partitions:

6GB for "/" (the root filesystem)
0.5GB for "Linux swap"
and another partition as large or small as you want for "/home" -- your user data and settings.

So, I would advise you to download the ISO for the latest version of GParted Live CD, and burn yourself a bootable GParted CD. Get it here:

http://sourceforge.net/project/showf...kage_id=125754

Then boot your GParted Live CD, and you will be able to use a GUI interface to adjust your non-Windows partitions (leave that one alone!). You are only permitted 4 primary partitions on a single hard drive, and that turns out to be just perfect for your situation, I think. So shrink the one next to Windows to 6GB, then shrink the one next to that to 0.5GB, then delete the 5th and 4th ones and make all of that space a "new" 4th partition, and you'll be good to go.

Then, when you boot the Kubuntu CD (I personally prefer the Alternate Install CD but you can also do this with the Live CD), you want to select "manual partitioning", and then from the list of partitions you'll choose the 6GB partition for the "/" filesystem, the 0.5GB partition for "swap" and the big partition for "/home". "/" and "/home" can be formatted ext3 (or reiserfs), and swap is it's own "Linux swap" format.

At the end of the installation process, let Grub write itself to the MBR, and upon reboot you will have a boot menu offering Kubuntu or Win XP.

**tim71** · Oct 23, 2007, 05:32 PM

Re: Has this ever happened to you??

Thank you dibl,

So I guess I explained everything clearly enough in my worried state. So it is my understanding that the approx 50 gb of free space (that I opened up by deleting the orig XP 100 gb boot partition, and dividing it in two so my new install of XP would be on a 50 gb partion and I'd have 50 gb of free space for my 3 linux partitions) was being correctly partitioned into Linux partitions for Kubuntu and I stopped it. I freaked when I saw references to installing a swap on partition 5 (which I thought was one of my 100 gb NTFS partitions).

Can you tell from my Testdisk analysis in the previous post how much space is partitioned for Linux? Does it Jive with the approx 50 gb that I had free after splitting an orig partition and installing XP?
Or does it show that Linux was ignoring my NTFS partitions and writing over them?
If Linux was installing normally with no threat to XP or my (4) 100 gb partitions then could I try putting in the Kubuntu disk again and will it resume where I aborted?

When I installed Kubuntu, if I understand, it would need a partitioned space before it could write files to the drive for install, I remember clicking the default, C: (1st step of Kubuntu install) which would have been my new 50 gb with XP on it, right? not my 50 gb of free space (free space doesn't have a drive letter). I should have partitioned everything out during the windows install and let linux just reformat its partitions as needed. Live and learn.

Repair from the XP cd didn't seem to give me many options, except a command prompt to use for FIXMBR which I will try after researching it (it saved my butt earlier this year when my drive BSOD'd from either a brown out or me letting the drive fill up to capacity or both). Before I tried installing Kubuntu, and after I had just finished my clean install of XP, I was in Repair console and it had a C:\WINDOWS> prompt, now the prompt just reads C:\> (if that means anything).

I trust your experience, but should I try to go back for a do-over by looking into running FIXMBR to see if it could recover anything (but I'm not sure why it could do what Testdisk could not?). And Gparted sounds promising, too.

Do you think the best way to get my data back is to go forward with the Linux install using GParted, or should I try my luck with trying to re-establish the exact same NTFS partition table as I had in the beginning. Then B/U my data and re-approach dual booting with more caution.

Sorry if I ramble and Thanks again!

**dibl** · Oct 23, 2007, 05:47 PM

Re: Has this ever happened to you??

I don't know the Testdisk program, but I'm afraid I don't see anything in your original post that looks like a NTFS partition with Win XP on it.

The other problem with your tale is that you most certainly did NOT see anything resembling a "C:" when you installed Kubuntu -- not sure what you saw, but that kind of drive designation is strictly DOS/Microsoft stuff. The installer in *buntu doesn't show or report any such thing.

I dunno -- if you have valuable data that you need, I'd be working the FIXMBR angle and trying to get Win XP up long enough to salvage my data. Then, if it were me and only knowing what I know, I'd be using my GParted Live CD to have another shot at it. Your 100GB partition for Win XP is about 50GB more than I would need, but that's up to you. Your Linux partitions can be as I described. If you decide to start over, installing Win XP first will make life easier/simpler -- you'll end up with a dual boot menu pretty much automatically -- that is the default result.

Oz · Oct 24, 2007, 02:38 AM

Re: Has this ever happened to you??

The first thing I would do is get another disk and put XP on that. Then you can run your tools from that partition if they are installed rather than boot time. I had a similar issue years ago and OnTrack recovered my data, but couldn't retrieve the WIndows partition (I wasn't bothered by that tbh).

When you are ready to re-install Kubuntu, do a manual partition and you'll find it works fine. I have XP and Kubuntu dual booting fine, and the newest version reads NTFS partitions fine.

Good luck

**tim71** · Oct 24, 2007, 03:13 AM

Re: Has this ever happened to you??

When I booted GParted Live CD I had this display below:

Partition....Filesystem....Size...........Used.... ....Unused........Label
/dev/hda1.....ext 3.......463.90 GiB...7.47 GiB....456.42 GiB
/dev/hda2...extended....1.86 GiB.......---..........---............lba
/dev/hda5...linux-swap..1.86 GiB.......---..........---

If Kubuntu leaves all Windows partitions alone, why does it look like it made a large 500 gb partition and formatted it to ext 3.

Did I cause this by aborting the install? Or was Kubuntu hosing my partition table?

Thanks in advance for the help.

**Fintan** · Oct 24, 2007, 05:04 AM

Re: Has this ever happened to you??

I don't know where you got the "c" from either, but by choosing the first option, the installer used the whole disk, as you supposed. I don't think there is much to recover

I would follow dible's advice. Use gparted to make the following partitions:
1) windows on the first primary maybe = 25 Gig
2) Data partition = 200gig (or as much as you want) to use as a data share between win and linux, format as fat32 this has the added advantage that your data stays safe if your win or linux crashes and has to be reinstalled.
3)s wap = max 1gig (you have the space
4) /home = 6 gig format as ext3 or reiser
5) / (root) = 8gig format as ext3

This setup leaves you plenty of space to play with later and when needed.

Install winxp with your machine disconnected from the net until you get all of your firewalls, anti-everything apps setup and running. It takes approximately 20 min for a newly unprotected windows install to be infected. setup your windows so that "my folders" (or similar mine is in german) point the data partition you made with gparted.

Install Kubuntu as described above with manual partitioning and connected to the net.

Now you should be set to double boot

There is of course and depending on what you need windows for the vmware path which can give you windows without having to dualboot

.

Feel free to ask and you can always do that at a later date when you are tired of dualbooting

I hope this helps and welcome

**dibl** · Oct 24, 2007, 05:25 AM

Re: Has this ever happened to you??

Originally posted by tim71

If Kubuntu leaves all Windows partitions alone, why does it look like it made a large 500 gb partition and formatted it to ext 3.

Here's a misunderstanding, which Fintan's post highlights. If you chose (deliberately or not) the "Use Entire Disk" option at the initial installation screen, then Kubuntu's installer happily nuked your Win XP partition, along with all others. That's why you see a "large 500GB partition" -- that's what your finger on the "Enter" key said to do.

Aborting later was irrelevant to the "damage" caused by choosing "Use Entire Disk".

Did I cause this by aborting the install? Or was Kubuntu hosing my partition table?

Nope, it was already too late 5 seconds after you chose "Use Entire Disk".

**tim71** · Oct 24, 2007, 01:53 PM

Re: Has this ever happened to you??

First let me say a huge thank you to everyone here who has read this and/or helped me, Dibl, Oz, Fintan.

Dibl, that was what I needed, I appreciate your clarification on what I did. It makes sense now, on the first step of the installation it did say install to ... ST500 (or whatever my Seagate Model number is). I did select that option so lesson learned. Could there be a better way to begin my linux experience, probably. I'm trying to keep a positive outlook.

I will now begin the recovery process of trying to get my data back, which means I'll be asking other forums for help. Ontrack said it could be anywhere from $500 to $2800, both way out of my range so I'll be buying software for a DIY approach.

Please let me know what I should have done at that first command prompt so that Linux installs on a partition that I select. I guess I should have set up all of my partitions ahead of time, I was under the impression from several tutorials/videos that Ubuntu would start with some kind of partition manager to create necessary partitions. I assumed Kubuntu would be the same. If want you could point me to your favorite Kubuntu tutorial for when I try this again. Thanks again.

Oz · Oct 25, 2007, 01:33 AM

Re: Has this ever happened to you??

How I did mine was to create the partitions first - I did root and swap (30Gb and 2Gb respectively). I used partition magic boot CD but any similar software should do. If I was doing this again I would add the home mount as a separate partition as well cos future upgrades are easier.

Then during the install, it asks you where you want to put the OS - at this point choose manual. Either of the other options will change sizes or overwrite your other partitions.

The "manual" windows lists all your disks and partitions so select the two (or three) partitions you created, tick the format box for each and away you go. You can also choose whether to have the other partitions mounted or not - I selected all the non-OS partitions so my data is accessible.

Hope this helps.

Oz · Oct 25, 2007, 01:41 AM

Re: Has this ever happened to you??

Originally posted by tim71

I will now begin the recovery process of trying to get my data back, which means I'll be asking other forums for help. Ontrack said it could be anywhere from $500 to $2800, both way out of my range so I'll be buying software for a DIY approach.

If it helps, I used this software when my disk went a few years ago, and it recovered most of my data from the logical partitions. As I said earlier, it didn't retrieve my XP partition itself, but I wasn't bothered about that:

http://www.ontrackdatarecovery.co.uk...ry%2Dsoftware/

**dibl** · Oct 25, 2007, 09:47 AM

Re: Has this ever happened to you??

Originally posted by tim71

I'm trying to keep a positive outlook.

YES, do that -- you will need it more than just this one time!

Please let me know what I should have done at that first command prompt so that Linux installs on a partition that I select. I guess I should have set up all of my partitions ahead of time, I was under the impression from several tutorials/videos that Ubuntu would start with some kind of partition manager to create necessary partitions.

Yes, you have the right idea. My personal approach is "partitioning is one thing, and installing is another". I use a bootable GParted Live CD to do hard drive partitioning, even though an older version GParted is on the Live CD (or used to be -- I didn't check Gutsy). Download the GParted Live CD ISO image here: http://sourceforge.net/project/showf...kage_id=173828

Then, I prefer the Alternate Install CD to the Live CD for Kubuntu installation. The installation procedure is more step-by-step when you choose the "manual" approach. It lets you view your hard drive partitions and set the system up the way you want it with mount points, file system formats, etc. I think you can also do these things with the Live CD, but it seems less obvious to me -- the Live CD is basically set up to do exactly what it did to you, with one wrong press of the "Enter" key.

Good luck with that data recovery -- sorry you had such a rough start with Kubuntu.

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