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Can't access Windows Vista - boot menu

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Re: Can't access Windows Vista - boot menu
« Reply #6 on: April 14, 2014, 01:56:12 PM »
 

gold_finger

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Quote from: N4RPS
Bad enough his Vista install is now gone as it is. No need to beat the poor fellow up about it...

Yeah, after I wrote the post I wondered if it might come across a little more harsh then I meant for it to be.  I was trying to make a point, but didn't intend for it to sound mean.


@parvind,

Hopefully you're still around.  My apologies if post came off a bit too snippy -- was not meant as a personal attack, so please don't think that.

Do try following the instructions from the post I referred to for getting your data back.  You should be able to recover much of it, but it might take some time.  After that, if you have questions or need advise on best way to install, feel free to ask.

Hope you're able to get the data back.

P.s.  As N4RPS said, don't feel too bad -- we've all had our fair share of mess-ups when first starting out -- and I'm certainly no exception to that.
« Last Edit: April 14, 2014, 01:58:53 PM by gold_finger »
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Re: Can't access Windows Vista - boot menu
« Reply #5 on: April 13, 2014, 10:53:10 PM »
 

N4RPS

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Hello!

Bad enough his Vista install is now gone as it is. No need to beat the poor fellow up about it...

I thought it was history, since he was no longer seeing it. Just needed confirmation.

Other than your now-lost data (unless you backed it up), try not to feel too bad. It happened to ME a time or few as a n00b, also.

You live and learn - from here on out, just think things like this out first - then do it manually, so you know EXACTLY what's going on. Best to have shrunk your Vista partition down first to make free unallocated space for your LL install, then installed LL in the new unallocated space...

73 DE N4RPS
Rob


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Re: Can't access Windows Vista - boot menu
« Reply #4 on: April 13, 2014, 09:08:19 AM »
 

gold_finger

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I have windows vista and in a rush I installed Linux Lite while running ISO from CD and created partition following the instructions.

1.) "In a rush" -- not a good idea to rush into doing something you aren't familiar with.
2.)  Doesn't look like you "followed instructions" properly.  You have a 320GB disk with a root Linux partition and a swap partition, approximately 95GB in size each.  Swap partitions are typically only 1-2 times the size of RAM in your computer, (eg. if computer has 4GB RAM, swap partition is normally 4-8GB in size, not 95GB).  Also, for some reason, approximately 130GB+/- is not reported as being partitioned/used right now on the drive.


I don't know how to access Windows Vista as I did not do backup.

As you now know (unfortunately), not having backups of important files is a big mistake.


I installed Grub Customizer and customized to see other operating system, but I don't see Windows Vista in the list..

That's because it's gone!

I don't know what you did, but Windows is no longer there.  You may be able to recover many of your files, but you need to immediately stop using the hard drive.  Don't boot into it!  Don't try reinstalling anything!  Don't use Linux Lite from the installed system on the drive!  The more you use the drive, the more things that may be recoverable will be overwritten and lost forever.

There are a couple of programs you could install to the live Linux Lite DVD for data recovery purposes, but from what I've seen on another forum your best bet is to follow the advise on this forum post:  http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=90&t=138913#p738610.

If you have a general idea of how much data you had on your Windows installation that needs to be recovered, you will need something that will hold that amount as the destination for the recovered files.  You can't restore the data to the same disk that it's being recovered from, so you need either another hard drive (internal or external), or a big enough USB stick to hold that recovered data.

Good luck.
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Re: Can't access Windows Vista - boot menu
« Reply #3 on: April 13, 2014, 06:33:09 AM »
 

parvind

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Here it is:

 FDISK:

Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders, total 625142448 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0002b7ae

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *        2048   195452927    97725440   83  Linux
/dev/sda2       195454974   390766591    97655809    5  Extended
/dev/sda5       195454976   390766591    97655808   82  Linux swap / Solaris

 HDPARM:

/dev/sda:

 Model=WDC WD3200BEVT-75ZCT0, FwRev=11.01A11, SerialNo=WD-WXE408NS4086
 Config={ HardSect NotMFM HdSw>15uSec SpinMotCtl Fixed DTR>5Mbs FmtGapReq }
 RawCHS=16383/16/63, TrkSize=0, SectSize=0, ECCbytes=50
 BuffType=unknown, BuffSize=8192kB, MaxMultSect=16, MultSect=8
 CurCHS=16383/16/63, CurSects=16514064, LBA=yes, LBAsects=625142448
 IORDY=on/off, tPIO={min:120,w/IORDY:120}, tDMA={min:120,rec:120}
 PIO modes:  pio0 pio3 pio4
 DMA modes:  mdma0 mdma1 mdma2
 UDMA modes: udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 udma5 *udma6
 AdvancedPM=yes: unknown setting WriteCache=enabled
 Drive conforms to: Unspecified:  ATA/ATAPI-1,2,3,4,5,6,7

Any ideas how to access C: drive
 

Re: Can't access Windows Vista - boot menu
« Reply #2 on: April 13, 2014, 01:48:53 AM »
 

N4RPS

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Hello!

The fact that GRUB did not detect your Vista partitions does NOT sound good. Go to the main menu, select System > Create System Report, open the created report, and copy-and paste the FDISK portion of the report
into the reply. This will tell us whether or not your Vista partitions still exist. Here is what mine looks like:

 FDISK:

Disk /dev/sda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders, total 234441648 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000d593a

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *        2048      206847      102400    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda2          206848   188299263    94046208    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda3       188301312   230438030    21068359+  83  Linux
/dev/sda4       230438912   234440703     2000896   82  Linux swap / Solaris

If you don't have something similar to this, you might have a problem.

Sadly, people just starting out don't know that when it comes to carving space out of a Windows install to put Linux on as a dual-boot setup, it's better (at least for ME, anyway) to make one's own decisions about where everything is going to go. I could just be paranoid, but I just plain distrust some of the auto-install features in Linux distros.

Gold_finger has posted some excellent stickies onto the forum about the finer points of partitioning...

73 DE N4RPS
Rob


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Can't access Windows Vista - boot menu
« Reply #1 on: April 12, 2014, 11:21:44 PM »
 

parvind

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Hello,
  I have windows vista and in a rush I installed Linux Lite while running ISO from CD and created partition following the instructions.

Now, I don't know how to access Windows Vista as I did not do backup. I chose "add this OS in addition to existing" while installing. So for sure, Vista is not deleted.

I installed Grub Customizer and customized to see other operating system, but I don't see Windows Vista in the list. Any help is sincerely appreciated.

Thanks,
Arvind
 

 

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