veiwing windows files from linux

[nickyb999]

i have the small problem of not being able to load vista on my laptop since i installed ubuntu my mate tells me that all the original windows files are still there i just managed to delete the boot sector for vista or sumthing.
now i want ot reload vista so i have both vista and linux available but i need some of the files from the desktop of vista before i reload it.
i was told that i would be able to view them from linux but i havnt been able to find them. (probably looking in the wrong place)
i also read that this could be a mounting problem so i found what is mounted in terminal i got this.

nick@nick-laptop:~$ mount
/dev/sda5 on / type ext3 (rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro)
tmpfs on /lib/init/rw type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,mode=0755)
/proc on /proc type proc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
varrun on /var/run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,mode=0755)
varlock on /var/lock type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,mode=1777)
udev on /dev type tmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,noexec,nosuid,gid=5,mode=620)
fusectl on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw)
lrm on /lib/modules/2.6.27-9-generic/volatile type tmpfs (rw,mode=755)
securityfs on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw)
binfmt_misc on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
gvfs-fuse-daemon on /home/nick/.gvfs type fuse.gvfs-fuse-daemon (rw,nosuid,nodev,user=nick)
/dev/sdb1 on /media/My Book type vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=hal,shortname=mixed,uid=1 000,utf8,umask=077,flush)

i dont know what any of it means but if it helps then thats cool.

[MikeTbob]

Hello and Welcome to Linuxforums.
Open the terminal again, and post the output of these commands.

sudo fdisk -l

(small L)

cat /boot/grub/menu.lst

[nickyb999]

ok i put the 1st one in terminal and got this.

nick@nick-laptop:~$ sudo fdisk -l
[sudo] password for nick:

Disk /dev/sda: 250.0 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xbd1a0e96

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 29186 30401 9767520 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 29187 30401 9759487+ 83 Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 250.0 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x8f9c798a

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 1 30401 244196001 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)


for the second i got this

nick@nick-laptop:~$ cat /boot/grub/menu.lst
# menu.lst - See: grub(, info grub, update-grub(
# grub-install(, grub-floppy(,
# grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
# and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not use 'savedefault' or your
# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.
default 0

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout 3

## hiddenmenu
# Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)
hiddenmenu

# Pretty colours
#color cyan/blue white/blue

## password ['--md5'] passwd
# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing
# control (menu entry editor and command-line) and entries protected by the
# command 'lock'
# e.g. password topsecret
# password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/
# password topsecret

#
# examples
#
# title Windows 95/98/NT/2000
# root (hd0,0)
# makeactive
# chainloader +1
#
# title Linux
# root (hd0,1)
# kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro
#

#
# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro
# kopt=root=UUID=ef6000fa-d779-452b-bfc3-d6bad0ce6f34 ro

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=ef6000fa-d779-452b-bfc3-d6bad0ce6f34

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
## alternative=false
# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
## lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false

## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the
## alternatives
## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5
# defoptions=quiet splash

## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options
## e.g. lockold=false
## lockold=true
# lockold=false

## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenhopt=

## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenkopt=console=tty0

## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
## altoptions=(recovery) single
# altoptions=(recovery mode) single

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
## howmany=7
# howmany=all

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
## memtest86=false
# memtest86=true

## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false

## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options
## can be true or false
# savedefault=false

## ## End Default Options ##

title Ubuntu 8.10, kernel 2.6.27-9-generic
uuid ef6000fa-d779-452b-bfc3-d6bad0ce6f34
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-9-generic root=UUID=ef6000fa-d779-452b-bfc3-d6bad0ce6f34 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-9-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 8.10, kernel 2.6.27-9-generic (recovery mode)
uuid ef6000fa-d779-452b-bfc3-d6bad0ce6f34
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-9-generic root=UUID=ef6000fa-d779-452b-bfc3-d6bad0ce6f34 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-9-generic

title Ubuntu 8.10, kernel 2.6.27-7-generic
uuid ef6000fa-d779-452b-bfc3-d6bad0ce6f34
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-7-generic root=UUID=ef6000fa-d779-452b-bfc3-d6bad0ce6f34 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-7-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 8.10, kernel 2.6.27-7-generic (recovery mode)
uuid ef6000fa-d779-452b-bfc3-d6bad0ce6f34
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-7-generic root=UUID=ef6000fa-d779-452b-bfc3-d6bad0ce6f34 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-7-generic

title Ubuntu 8.10, memtest86+
uuid ef6000fa-d779-452b-bfc3-d6bad0ce6f34
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

thanx for the help!!

[Jonathan183]

nick@nick-laptop:~$ sudo fdisk -l
[sudo] password for nick:

Disk /dev/sda: 250.0 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xbd1a0e96

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 29186 30401 9767520 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 29187 30401 9759487+ 83 Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 250.0 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x8f9c798a

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 1 30401 244196001 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)

You look to have two hard drives in the system sda and sdb. sda has Linux and sdb has a FAT partition. The thing is the first hard drive with Linux on is using cylinders 29186 onwards ... so 240GB of the 250GB drive is not being used. I suspect this is where Vista was installed ... You should already be able to access sdb1 ...

/dev/sdb1 on /media/My Book type vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=hal,shortname=mixed,uid=1  000,utf8,umask=077,flush)

indicates it is mounted in Ubuntu at /media/My Book ... in a terminal type

sudo ls '/media/My Book' -l

to see what it contains.

Ed: if Vista is on the first hard drive then testdisk will help you restore it. If Vista is on the second hard drive (doubt it because it is FAT rather than NTFS) then do

sudo nano /boot/grub/menu.lst

and add the following at the end of the file

title Windows
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
chainloader +1
boot

Save the file, shutdown Ubuntu and try the Windows option from the grub menu when you reboot the system.

[nickyb999]

hi ye the my book is just an external hd it doesn't matter.
sorry a bit confused as to what you want me to do.
yes vista is on the 1st hd in the 240GB not being used.

[Jonathan183]

My suggestion is that you run testdisk on the hard drive with Vista ... looks like you have deleted the partition table entry for Vista and testdisk should be able to fix that for you.
You should be able to install testdisk in Ubuntu using Synaptic Package Manager (GUI) or apt-get. I have run testdisk a couple of time but have done this from the PartedMagic CD.

Ed: I prefer to run this sort of thing from live CD - that way you only write to the hard drive you are working on when you want to rather than as part of running an OS from it.