Lost data on hard disk on installing Linux ubuntu?

Question

My friend today installed Linux on his xp based system. He followed the specified instructions but ended up formatting all his hard disk.

He is trying to recover that back so can any one suggest any recovery tools that he can use to get back atleast some of his data??

And he currently has Ubuntu installed, so the tool must be Linux compatible.

Answer 1

It needn't be "Linux compatible", since you can't possibly restore data while Linux is on top of it.

TestDisk is probably the best utility I've come across. It can restore the partition table that was previously on the drive. When you do this, any data that wasn't in the area that Ubuntu placed it's system files on should be recoverable.

TestDisk can be found on many different recovery disks (admittedly, mostly Linux, but also some DOS). It can be found on the GParted disc, which is another handy tool for making / creating / moving partitions.

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/

Running TestDisk and applying changes will destroy your Ubuntu installation. After you have restored the partitions, try booting from the GParted disc again and resizing / moving your NTFS partition to the end of the drive. You can then make a new NTFS partition at the beginning. Install Windows back onto the new partition. Then copy the files you needed from your old partition. Finally, use GParted to delete the old partition and stretch out the newer one.

Answer 2

He can not. To have lost his data he must have overwritten it with the linux partitions and installed files.