Newbie: Mint Crashed While Installing alongside Win XP on D:\. Now Can't Access D in Windows

Gomad

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Hi all. I'm brand new to Linux, other than installing, crashing, and installing Mint 18.3 Cinn on a pen drive several times. (At least I've learned a few things what not to do so far ha)

I'm running an older system, (2006) Atholon 5050e, AMI 2009 BIOS, Win 7, 32 bit. I got Mint to run well from the pen drive, with updated kernel, drivers and configured as best I could figure out from the beginners tutorials, and everything seemed to be working well. So I took the leap and attempted to install to my D:/ drive, side by side with an old copy of Win XP installed. Thank God I didn't install in my Win 7 drive, because my D drive is hosed now.

After 4½ hours of watching the little wheel go around during the Mint install, I hit the shift key a few times and a window popped up informing me that there was an error and the install had failed. Not knowing what else to do, I rebooted. Now Mint boots up funny, with a gray scale Mint logo, whereas the normal boot up logo is green. It still boots up, and I can see the "D" drive in Linux, but it reports having no data, yet both an NTFS and a Linux partition.

I booted into Windows 7, and the BIOS sees the drive, but Windows can no longer access the D:/ drive.

Just as an FYI, I read a little about mounting and unmounting drives in Linux, and I believe I have unmounted this drive, but I'm fairly well confused at this point. I've worked with partitions and formatted drives a little, many years ago, but I'm mostly in over my head with this problem. Thanks in advance for your help.
 
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Again, welcome! Don't feel bad... learning by doing, and making mistakes, makes the knowledge sink in and stay with you better. It seems to me that the fact you can boot up on Linux and on Windows 7 makes it seem that the installation mostly went correctly. But, well, I don't really have a guess yet what is going on with your "D: drive". Let's start with a few questions.

1. Did you use the 64-bit Linux Mint Cinnamon for installing? You mentioned "32-bit" when describing your hardware, but I'm fairly sure your CPU is 64-bit capable. This is mostly just curiosity, but if you re-install Linux later you might choose the 64-bit version instead, if you didn't this time. You might be better off with the MATE version of Linux Mint... it ls a little less resource hungry. Also, how much RAM do you have?

2. Do you get the "GRUB bootloader menu" when you start the computer? Installing Linux replaces the Windows bootloader, and the GRUB bootloader menu should give you options for Linux (the default), Windows 7, and Windows XP. You said Linux and Windows 7 both run, so I am assuming that the GRUB bootloader is installed and working.... but what about Windows XP? Is that option there? And if so, what happens when you try to start that one?

3. If you don't know what I'm talking about in question #2, then how are you starting Linux Mint? Still on the USB?

We'll need to ask some more questions, but might be better to take it in smaller steps for now.

Cheers
 
Hi @Gomad and welcome to linux.org :)

You're in good hands with Stan (@atanere ).

...but as soon as I get Linux working for me, I'm done with Windows.

... from your Hello - I am in that state, no Windows, running 60 - 70 Linuxes :eek: over 2 computers, and happy as a pig in mud.

Chin up and we'll get you there (well to one Linux, for starters, lol)

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz
 
Again, welcome! Don't feel bad... learning by doing, and making mistakes, makes the knowledge sink in and stay with you better. It seems to me that the fact you can boot up on Linux and on Windows 7 makes it seem that the installation mostly went correctly. But, well, I don't really have a guess yet what is going on with your "D: drive". Let's start with a few questions.

1. Did you use the 64-bit Linux Mint Cinnamon for installing? You mentioned "32-bit" when describing your hardware, but I'm fairly sure your CPU is 64-bit capable. This is mostly just curiosity, but if you re-install Linux later you might choose the 64-bit version instead, if you didn't this time. You might be better off with the MATE version of Linux Mint... it ls a little less resource hungry. Also, how much RAM do you have?

2. Do you get the "GRUB bootloader menu" when you start the computer? Installing Linux replaces the Windows bootloader, and the GRUB bootloader menu should give you options for Linux (the default), Windows 7, and Windows XP. You said Linux and Windows 7 both run, so I am assuming that the GRUB bootloader is installed and working.... but what about Windows XP? Is that option there? And if so, what happens when you try to start that one?

3. If you don't know what I'm talking about in question #2, then how are you starting Linux Mint? Still on the USB?

We'll need to ask some more questions, but might be better to take it in smaller steps for now.

Cheers

Thanks for your time, @atanerre. I like helping people too, but in this case, I need some help. :)

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner, I'm semi-retired, and took a part time job to supplement my income, and keep me from becoming a couch potato. LoL So I'll only be able to work on this in the evening.

To start with, I can't boot from the D:\ drive. Sorry for not making that clear before. When I select D: as my boot drive in BIOS and reboot, it reports that there is no OS installed.

When I click on "computer" in Mint, it shows me both my C: and D drives, but Mint reports that the D: drive has zero data. It appears that Mint sees both a NTFS partition and a Mint partition on D, but as I stated, when I boot to D, I get a message that no OS is installed. So I'm thinking the install didn't go well.

1. I installed the 32 bit version, because my system info in Windows reports that it is a 32 bit system, and I did try the 64 bit version but got an error. (can't remember exactly what it was, but it didn't like the 64 bit version). My CPU is an AMD Atholon 5050e, circa 2006.

a. I have 4 gig of ram, and using onboard Nvidia GeForce 8200 video. I installed the recommended Nvidia update, (304 I think) but the resolution was way off and I panicked and reverted to the generic drivers that Mint installed for me. I noticed that I now have the Nvidia app, but haven't attempted to use it.

b. And yes, I'm still running Mint from the pen drive.

2. I don't think I get the GRUB bootloader, because I don't get any boot options when I boot up. If I select my C:drive (Samsung 500 gig with Win 7 installed) it boots fine into windows. But if I select the D drive in BIOS (WD 1.5 T) as my boot drive, it reports that no OS is installed. I can select the pen drive in BIOS, which has Mint installed, and it boots, but slowly, and the Mint logo is different now (grayscale until full bootup) and during boot I see some lines of data at the top for a few seconds, (somethign about cash, but it goes away quickly. I also see a box in the upper left hand corner after that, during Mint boot, that scrolls probably 10 or so lines of data. But then it disappears quickly and boots into Mint, and everything seems to be working fine in Mint.

3. Yes, still booting Mint from the USB drive.

Recently, I installed a copy of Mate, just to look, but everyone says Cinammon is the "stuff" so I installed Mint again. If I get this problem fixed, I'll certainly take your advise and give Mate another try.

Thank you very much for your help! I have lots of stuff on that D: drive, which I had backed up on a USB HD, but I boinked that too, trying to use GParted to partition it for a Mint install. I probably should have stopped there, but I figured the install to my HD might go better. But that's another problem I'll ask for help with if I can get this one fixed. (sheepish grin).
 
As a side note, when I boot to Mint, it reports that mint will boot in 10 seconds. Then it counts down and boots. During that time I can hit a key and select booting options, but no other drives or OS's are presented as options to boot to. WIn XP is not recognized on the D: drive.
 
Hi @Gomad and welcome to linux.org :)

You're in good hands with Stan (@atanere ).



... from your Hello - I am in that state, no Windows, running 60 - 70 Linuxes :eek: over 2 computers, and happy as a pig in mud.

Chin up and we'll get you there (well to one Linux, for starters, lol)

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz

Hello Wiz, and thank you for the encouragement. I think you have the coolest user name. I would love to visit down under someday. Maybe if I hit the lotto? :)

I'm all ears for Stan's help. I've read a bit on the forum, and you guys are gods if you ask me. :)
 
Hi again. I'm about 18 months away from retirement.... and I'm greatly looking forward to being a couch potato! Don't burst my bubble! :eek::D:D

Well, let's go slow. Tomorrow is my last off day and then I start 12-hr day shifts, so even the evenings will be limited for me, but I know my friend Wizard will jump in to help also. He's actually better at this stuff than I am anyway.

So, your Linux installation did fail. I see that more clearly now. About the only successful part from your description is that it created a partition on your D: drive. But, it's also time to teach you some new lingo... because it can be very important in the installation process. In the Windows world, your C: drive is your first HDD, very likely marked on the motherboard as HDD0 (HDD Zero, because computer people think they're funny and don't start with 1). In the Linux world, that hard drive is called /dev/sda. The "dev" means "device". In Windows, your 2nd physical hard drive, your D: drive, is very likely marked HDD1 on the motherboard if it has its own cable, but it may be cabled together with the 1st drive in either a master/slave configuration or using Cable Select. Either way... it is a physical drive, and in Linux that one will be /dev/sdb.

If you only had one hard drive... you still might say you had a "D: drive".... but that would be a partition. But we know yours are separate because you told us they are different brands (Samsung and WD). Even the different sizes did not tell is for sure, but different brands leaves no doubt. Linux would also tell us more clearly. In Linux, partitions are identified with a number appended to the drive.... so, /dev/sda1 is the first partition on the first drive, and /dev/sda2 is the second partition, and so on. You're probably catching on to this by now... it isn't too hard, but it confuses new Linux users. And the primary lesson to all of this is that you do not want to do ANYTHING to harm your /dev/sda drive.... or your Windows 7 could be toast. That drive has its own Windows bootloader installed and working, and you are able to boot on it from your BIOS Boot Menu. If you start to get really nervous at any point about what we're doing, you can unplug that drive to protect it.... but then Linux will look at your other drive as /dev/sda instead of /dev/sdb.

But, some things you describe aren't making total sense to me. (It might be me, not you. I'm tired.) Even in a failed installation scenario, if Mint created a Linux partition on your D: drive... it should not have erased the data in the NTFS partition. If it was going to do something like that, it would have erased the NTFS altogether, I think. So that might be a good sign, or at least I hope so. I'm hoping that your XP data is still intact, and maybe you can recover that, or maybe even make it boot again. What I'm not sure about is when you say the Mint "Computer" icon shows this drives as being empty. So, let's confirm that with Gparted (just don't make any changes) and see if you can show us some screenshots.

Boot the Linux Mint USB and run Gparted. When it opens up, it should be showing your /dev/sda (Windows 7) drive. There is a dropdown box in the upper right corner that you can use to select /dev/sdb instead, and of course that should be your Windows XP and Linux drive. The dropdown selector also shows you the total drive size, so this should make it clear that you are looking at the correct drive.... /dev/sdb = 1.5 TB = D: drive = WinXP.... right? If you use the ALT + Prt Scr (Print Screen) keys, it should make a screenshot of the Gparted window that you can save. It might be easiest to logon to linux.org right then to come here and upload that screenshot, since I'm not sure how hard it might be to transfer it off to another pen drive, or your external HD, or whatever. But if you have trouble with the screenshot, then write down the values that Gparted shows you... especially for any NTFS partitions and how much Used space they have. If the sda and sdb don't match the C: and D: --- then we'll need to check this more carefully! We can't mix these up!

Whew! That's a lot of chatter just for that, huh? But I hope that explaining it as I go will also help you as you make the transition into Linux. I also want to be very careful not to make anything worse. As you've already found out, installing an operating system is a lot different than installing a simple program.

A couple of last comments for tonight. I still think your CPU is 64-bit. Here is just one of many places that indicates it is AMD64. But a way to check while you are still running on the Mint USB is to open a terminal (Control-Alt-T is a quick shortcut) and enter this command:
Code:
lscpu | grep op-mode
Just for clarity, that is LSCPU but you must use lower-case, and the next character is the "pipe" which is located by a Shift+backslash (on my keyboard.... some could be different). The pipe is a straight vertical line, sometimes shown as two lines. After you enter the command, it will report back to you either 32-bit or else 32-bit, 64-bit.

4 GB of RAM is great.... Linux should run fine for you. Mint is a good distro, but I just seem to see a few more issues with Cinnamon than Mate, especially with graphics, but its your choice. The two main things are to find a distro that works well with your hardware (sound, wireless, graphics, etc) and that you are comfortable using. The comfort part sometimes takes getting used to because there are many differences from Windows.

In the Member Introductions, you said you wanted to get away from Windows. If Gparted shows your XP drive is still holding data, and if we can get that moved over back to your backup external HD, would you want to install Linux only on that hard drive? If you want to keep XP, do you have the installation CD/DVD for it? I'll also have to do some checking if XP has the same tools as Win 7 for restoring the bootloader. XP was a good system, but I haven't used it in a very long time.

OK, enough for now! I'm probably wearing you out! :confused::D

Cheers
 
Hi again. I'm about 18 months away from retirement.... and I'm greatly looking forward to being a couch potato! Don't burst my bubble! :eek::D:D

Well, let's go slow. Tomorrow is my last off day and then I start 12-hr day shifts, so even the evenings will be limited for me, but I know my friend Wizard will jump in to help also. He's actually better at this stuff than I am anyway.

So, your Linux installation did fail. I see that more clearly now. About the only successful part from your description is that it created a partition on your D: drive. But, it's also time to teach you some new lingo... because it can be very important in the installation process. In the Windows world, your C: drive is your first HDD, very likely marked on the motherboard as HDD0 (HDD Zero, because computer people think they're funny and don't start with 1). In the Linux world, that hard drive is called /dev/sda. The "dev" means "device". In Windows, your 2nd physical hard drive, your D: drive, is very likely marked HDD1 on the motherboard if it has its own cable, but it may be cabled together with the 1st drive in either a master/slave configuration or using Cable Select. Either way... it is a physical drive, and in Linux that one will be /dev/sdb.

If you only had one hard drive... you still might say you had a "D: drive".... but that would be a partition. But we know yours are separate because you told us they are different brands (Samsung and WD). Even the different sizes did not tell is for sure, but different brands leaves no doubt. Linux would also tell us more clearly. In Linux, partitions are identified with a number appended to the drive.... so, /dev/sda1 is the first partition on the first drive, and /dev/sda2 is the second partition, and so on. You're probably catching on to this by now... it isn't too hard, but it confuses new Linux users. And the primary lesson to all of this is that you do not want to do ANYTHING to harm your /dev/sda drive.... or your Windows 7 could be toast. That drive has its own Windows bootloader installed and working, and you are able to boot on it from your BIOS Boot Menu. If you start to get really nervous at any point about what we're doing, you can unplug that drive to protect it.... but then Linux will look at your other drive as /dev/sda instead of /dev/sdb.

But, some things you describe aren't making total sense to me. (It might be me, not you. I'm tired.) Even in a failed installation scenario, if Mint created a Linux partition on your D: drive... it should not have erased the data in the NTFS partition. If it was going to do something like that, it would have erased the NTFS altogether, I think. So that might be a good sign, or at least I hope so. I'm hoping that your XP data is still intact, and maybe you can recover that, or maybe even make it boot again. What I'm not sure about is when you say the Mint "Computer" icon shows this drives as being empty. So, let's confirm that with Gparted (just don't make any changes) and see if you can show us some screenshots.

Boot the Linux Mint USB and run Gparted. When it opens up, it should be showing your /dev/sda (Windows 7) drive. There is a dropdown box in the upper right corner that you can use to select /dev/sdb instead, and of course that should be your Windows XP and Linux drive. The dropdown selector also shows you the total drive size, so this should make it clear that you are looking at the correct drive.... /dev/sdb = 1.5 TB = D: drive = WinXP.... right? If you use the ALT + Prt Scr (Print Screen) keys, it should make a screenshot of the Gparted window that you can save. It might be easiest to logon to linux.org right then to come here and upload that screenshot, since I'm not sure how hard it might be to transfer it off to another pen drive, or your external HD, or whatever. But if you have trouble with the screenshot, then write down the values that Gparted shows you... especially for any NTFS partitions and how much Used space they have. If the sda and sdb don't match the C: and D: --- then we'll need to check this more carefully! We can't mix these up!

Whew! That's a lot of chatter just for that, huh? But I hope that explaining it as I go will also help you as you make the transition into Linux. I also want to be very careful not to make anything worse. As you've already found out, installing an operating system is a lot different than installing a simple program.

A couple of last comments for tonight. I still think your CPU is 64-bit. Here is just one of many places that indicates it is AMD64. But a way to check while you are still running on the Mint USB is to open a terminal (Control-Alt-T is a quick shortcut) and enter this command:
Code:
lscpu | grep op-mode
Just for clarity, that is LSCPU but you must use lower-case, and the next character is the "pipe" which is located by a Shift+backslash (on my keyboard.... some could be different). The pipe is a straight vertical line, sometimes shown as two lines. After you enter the command, it will report back to you either 32-bit or else 32-bit, 64-bit.

4 GB of RAM is great.... Linux should run fine for you. Mint is a good distro, but I just seem to see a few more issues with Cinnamon than Mate, especially with graphics, but its your choice. The two main things are to find a distro that works well with your hardware (sound, wireless, graphics, etc) and that you are comfortable using. The comfort part sometimes takes getting used to because there are many differences from Windows.

In the Member Introductions, you said you wanted to get away from Windows. If Gparted shows your XP drive is still holding data, and if we can get that moved over back to your backup external HD, would you want to install Linux only on that hard drive? If you want to keep XP, do you have the installation CD/DVD for it? I'll also have to do some checking if XP has the same tools as Win 7 for restoring the bootloader. XP was a good system, but I haven't used it in a very long time.

OK, enough for now! I'm probably wearing you out! :confused::D

Cheers

Hi Stan, thanks for your help.

Relax, buddy, I sat on the couch for 8 years before getting bored, so don't worry. I needed a rest from my (unnecessarily) stressful job in the Semiconductor industry, and if you want to go sit on the couch, you go right ahead. ha ha I'm sure you deserve it.

You're not wearing me out, my luck is just not good lately. Wednesday I came home to a power failure, (fortunately only lasted a few more hours) and Thursday I had a hockey game to watch (Go Az Coyotes! last team in the league) and last night I got home, drank a beer, ate some of my homemade beef soup, and watched a movie and fell asleep on the couch. So today I'm ready to hit it. LoL

I'm up to speed on the drive info now. Thanks for the detailed explanation. I'm a retired electronics engineer so I'm used to learning new things, and especially as well as you explain it. Thanks.

The screen shot didn't work for me, (don't know where to find it after hitting "alt print screen") so here's the Gparted info you asked for. I'll put the category in quotes, although you probably already know what is what.

(partition) /dev /sda1 (file sys) ext4 (size) 1.36 TiB (used) 22.12 GiB (unused) 1.34 TiB

Next line:

(partition) unallocated (file system) unallocated (size) 10.34 MiB (used) - (unused) -

The drop down box in the right hand corner lists:

/dev /sda (1.36 TiB)
/dev / sdb (465.76 GiB)
/dev / sdc (57.28 GiB)
/dev /sdd (1.82 TiB)

Note that /dev /sdc is my pen drive with Linux install.

I should also note (sheepishly) that before I attempted to install Linux alongside Win XP on my D: drive, I tried to use Gparted to make a partition on a USB hard drive that is labeled F: in Windows 7, but I think I boinked that somehow too, because F: is now inaccessible in Windows too.

It is a 2 TiB drive, and it is still plugged in, but I have no idea if Linux is seeing this drive too. Aren't you glad you are trying to help me now? LoL

I ran grep op mode and it reports: 32 bit, 64 bit, so does this mean I can run the 64 bit Linux? I would much prefer to do so, but I'll wait to see if I can get my drives back before I do anything else. And you can rest assured that I will do NOTHING unless you tell me to do it. I will be your huckelberry. LoL

Thanks again Stan, I really! appreciate your time and expertise. God bless you for being so kind.

Steve
 
Another note Stan:

You asked if I want to install on the XP drive, but I bought a brand new WD 1TiB drive so I can play without affecting my other drives. So I can install that anytime. It's still in the box.

I still have the Win XP install disk.
 
Stan, I just want you to have all the info you might need, so I did a little more looking, (only) and here's what I discovered:

I believe the WD and Samsung drives originally had only one partition each -- the entire drive. The WD 1.5 TiB used to by my C:/ drive, until Windows update crashed, and I somehow ended up reinstalling Win 7 to my Samsung drive, because I think the Windows update made the WD drive inaccessible, and I unwittingly installed to the Samsung drive. Duh.

Consequently, I don't have any idea what may have happened to the Win XP, which was installed on the Samsung drive, as Windows reports that drive only having one partition, but it may still be there. (see below).

I'm sorry for the confusion, but I just figured this out by trying to boot to the different drives.

Here are the results of that test:

When I try to boot from the WD 1.5 TiB drive, I get a dos screen that says "Missing Operating System"(this is the drive Win update crashed)

When I boot from the Samsung drive, it boots into windows 7. So obviously that's where Win 7 is and now my C: drive in Windows. If I'm following you, this would be my /dev /sdb in Mint, and the WD 1.5 TiB is /dev /sda. That makes the GoFlex 2 TiB USB HD /dev /sdd and the pen drive /dev /sdc. How am I doing?

When I attempt to boot from the Seagate GoFlex USB 2TiB external HD) I get a dos screen that says "Windows did not start normally" yada yada yada and offers me the option to boot into safe mode, w/network, or w/command line. This drive used to be the drive I sent my backups to, and also the drive I attempted to partition using Gparted and then install Mint to, (before attempting to install to D:, and which failed because (as I recall) Mint couldn't find this drive after running Gparted.

So, I selected "Start Windows Normally" and hit return, and for a very brief second, I saw the Windows XP logo, (woo hoo) but it disappeared quickly and the system rebooted itself. What is curious, is I don't recall ever installing XP on this drive, so it may be seeing some "Windows Old" data from a backup, perhaps? It then returned to that same screen, "Windows did not start normally" but the keyboard would not respond to up and down to select an option, and "Start Windows Normally" was highlighted, so I hit return and nothing happened this time. I had to power down.

Moving on... when I boot into Win 7, if I click on "Computer," I see the following drives listed:

C:/
F:/
G: removable (this is the pen drive with Mint installed)

Local Disk C; reports 365 GB free, of 465 GB. This obviously the Samsung drive since it is 500 GB, and the drive Win 7 is running from. If I right click, "properties" it reports 150 GB used, 315 GB free.

Local Disk F: reports 0 bytes used 0 bytes free Capacity 0 bytes.

Note: F: used to be the "GoFlex 2 TiB USB HD where I placed my backups before the update crashed the system, and before I attempted to partition this drive with Gparted and install Mint to it. (this was the first install attempt. The second was to D; which is clearly not working) I'm pretty sure Win 7 was running from the Samsung HD at that time, and in my confusion about which drive was which, I probably told Mint to install to the WD drive and that's probably why it failed.

If, while in "properties" for either Local Disk C or Local Disk F:, if I click "hardware," Win 7 reports (in this order) a floppy drive (which I don't have) The Samsung drive, the Sandisk pen drive, the Seagate (GoFlex HD) and the WD HD. All report to be working properly.

Are we having fun now? :)

Thanks again Stan. Am I making sense?
 
Last edited:
Stan, now I'm probably wearing you out. :)

I just clicked on the different drives in the drop down list in Gparted, and it was enlightening.

I've already told you about /dev/sda previously.

If I click on /dev/sdb from the drop down list, I see:

(partition) dev/sda1 (file system) NTFS (size) 465.75 GiB (used) 150.13 GiB (unused) 315.63 GiB
(partition) unallocated (file system) unallocated (size) 2.49 MiB

If I click /dev/sdc I see that this is obviously the pen drive with Mint installed on fat 32 partition, so I won't post the data.

Clicking /dev/sdd I see:

(partition) dev/sdd1 (!) (file system) NTFS (label) Seagate (size) 574.59 GiB (used) -- (unused) -- (flags) boot

Note: A "Seagate" icon appeared on the left side of my Mint desktop after attempting to partition the "Seagate Goflex USB HD. it is no longer there.

If I right click "information" for this partition, I get the following:

Status: Not Mounted

(!) Warning
Failed to load runlist for $MFT/$DATA.
highest_vcn = 0xec2f, last_vcn - 1 = 0xed3f
Failed to load $MFT: Input/output error
Failed to mount '/dev/sdd1': Input/output error
NTFS is inconsistent. Run chkdsk /f on Windows then reboot it TWICE!
The usage of the /f parameter is very IMPORTANT! No

Below this partition is listed:
(partition) /dev/sdd2 (file system) ext 4 (mount point) /media/mint/Linux1 (Label) Linux (size) 1.26 TiB (used) 20.41 GiB (unused) 1.24 TiB
 
Whew! You've been busy! I'm at work (today and tomorrow) and just using my phone, so I'm not going to try to analyze all that until I get home. But I know you're absorbing some good info from all this, and you can see why I do not want any mix-ups with your Windows 7 drive... if it ain't broke, let's don't fix it! :D

Without looking at the details more carefully, it seems like you may need to do some manipulation between the XP drive and the external to try to make sure we save all your stuff, if we can. If there is space available, maybe save everything to one drive, then format the other fresh and move everything back to it, and then format the other, if you get what I'm trying to say.

Anyway, duty calls, so I'll check back with you later.

Cheers
 
Whew! You've been busy! I'm at work (today and tomorrow) and just using my phone, so I'm not going to try to analyze all that until I get home. But I know you're absorbing some good info from all this, and you can see why I do not want any mix-ups with your Windows 7 drive... if it ain't broke, let's don't fix it! :D

Without looking at the details more carefully, it seems like you may need to do some manipulation between the XP drive and the external to try to make sure we save all your stuff, if we can. If there is space available, maybe save everything to one drive, then format the other fresh and move everything back to it, and then format the other, if you get what I'm trying to say.

Anyway, duty calls, so I'll check back with you later.

Cheers

Thanks for the reply Stan. Yes, I'm an overachiever. LoL But I'm in no hurry, and I very much appreciate your time. Both Win 7 and Linux are cruising along, and your plan of attack sounds workable. You would be my best friend in the whole world if I can get my data back, so take your time, let me know if I need to clarify anything, and most of all, don't work too hard my friend.
 
Just an FYI, I found: Menu/Accessories/Disks. This looks like an interface similar to Gparted, with friendlier tools.

Don't worry, I won't push any buttons until directed to do so. :)
 
Hey Steve! I'm still studying your drive arrangements, and we will definitely want to confirm things before making any changes to your system. Let me see if I can summarize the situation (though brief summaries are not my strong suit). Maybe that Wizard fellow with bless us with a spell or incantation, or something! :D

What I was initially saying about your C: drive = /dev/sda seems wrong from what you've shown more clearly. Your C: and D: seem reversed such that C: is /dev/sdb and D: is /dev/sda. And you already spotted that too... the drive sizes really help us to see that. (It would be a lot harder if the drives were the same brand and size!)

As you continue to look at your system, be sure there are no partitions that we are not taking into account! The 2 most common you'll see are NTFS (Windows) and ext4 (Linux). I don't think I saw any others in your reports.

We'll ignore your pen drive (/dev/sdc) as it is running Linux properly and does not affect anything else. But remember that if or when we make changes, this drive may also show up differently (like /dev/sdb or /dev/sdd depending on what we do).

OK, let's try to summarize (using Linux drive terms alphabetically):

/dev/sda = WD 1.5 TB. This is your Windows D: and says, "No OS installed" when trying to boot. You show (post #8) an ext4 partition (Linux) in /dev/sda1 that is 22 GB, and the rest of the drive (1.34 TB) is unused. We will also ignore the small "unallocated" partitions that each drive has... that is normal. Windows and Linux cannot use the same filesystems (ext4 or NTFS).... so what you have reported here is that there is NO WINDOWS INSTALLED on this drive at all. It won't boot from the BIOS Boot Menu because there is no Windows present, and it won't boot Linux for unknown reasons (but probably you did not set up the bootloader correctly when you tried to install Linux on this drive). If there are no other partitions (/dev/sda2) to consider, then there is nothing left to recover here since most of the drive is unused. We want to carefully be sure of that, but when we are, then we can format it for storage or use it to install a working Linux later.

/dev/sdb = Samsung 500 GB. This is your Windows C: and boots up on Win 7. You describe this drive (post #11) but I think you incorrectly call it /dev/sda1 instead of /dev/sdb1... this is NTFS (Windows) filesystem that has 150 GB used and 315 GB unused. You did not list any other partitions for this drive. 150 GB is a pretty good size, so I'd guess that you have a good number of programs installed and/or a lot of files stored (photos, videos, or whatever). You may want to consider backing up your most important stuff, or as I mentioned before, you may want to pull this drive from your system while you tinker around with Linux and hopefully clean up the other hard drives.

/dev/sdd = Seagate GoFlex 2 TB. This is your external backup drive. At some point you had Windows XP installed on this drive because you see the XP Logo when you try to boot on it, although it is either gone or damaged. Linux shows the boot flag enabled which is a leftover from the XP installation. You show 2 partitions on this drive.... /dev/sdd1 is NTFS (Windows) and using 574 GB (that's quite a lot). This partition has problems, but they will hopefully be repaired after a format. The other partition, /dev/sdd2, is ext4 (Linux) and shows about 20 GB used and 1.2 TB unused. The NTFS, ext4, and unused space all add up to about the 2 TB total, so I don't expect there are any other partitions.

Plus you have a new-in-the-box WD 1 TB hard drive that we can use, if needed.... but maybe we can get by without bringing it into the mix right now.

OK, all good? Sound right? Please call me out if I got anything wrong here! I'll be embarrassed, but I'll get over it. :D (And I have certainly been embarrassed enough times before too!)

So, this might be a lot of copying... but this is what I would probably do (if I don't think about it too much more and change my mind):

1. I would format /dev/sda (D) using Windows and the NTFS filesystem. Windows XP doesn't seem to be there to save, and no need to keep the failed Linux install. If you remove your Windows 7 drive for safety, you can still format this drive with Gparted using NTFS, but please be sure you have the correct drive. I think it will remain /dev/sda.... but check!

2. I would copy the 574 GB NTFS partition from the Seagate external drive to the WD 1.5 TB after it is formatted clean. This seems to be all you have left of your backups and the dead XP installation. If you want redundancy, you could also copy this large NTFS partition to your new-in-the-box drive. You may get errors in the copy operation because of the issues that partition is showing. Before you begin you might want to follow the error report and run "chkdsk /f" on that drive from your Windows 7. If you get errors on the copy operation, you may have to break it down into smaller chunks until you find something that may be corrupted and refusing to copy, but maybe it will all go okay. No need to copy the failed Linux installation. After all the copying is complete, I would format this drive with NTFS, using either Windows or G parted. If chkdsk didn't fix the file errors, then I hope the format will. If the format seems to go okay, I would then bring back all the backup files that were (temporarily) copied to the WD drive in step #1. That will then make this drive the one to use for backups again (and I'd unplug it so no confusion later when installing Linux). It should no longer show the XP Logo if you tried to boot on it.... just "No OS installed".

Hmmm, let me clarify just a couple of points:

When I say "copy a partition".... that really means to copy all the files and folders in that partition. There is a way to actually work with partitions (Norton Ghost, Clonezilla, etc).... but that's not what I mean.

When I say to "format the drive".... I would first delete/remove ALL partitions so that the entire drive becomes "unallocated space" before the format. After the format, both Windows and Gparted will still leave that small bit of unallocated space at the end of the drive, and in some cases (especially with Windows) there may be a special "Microsoft Reserved Partition" at the beginning of the drive. This is normal and acceptable.

After all the above, the final step #3 would be to successfully install Linux on the WD 1.5 TB drive. You don't really have to reformat it again after you get the backups off of it as the Linux installation will format it and set up the needed partitions. But, let's turn the installation into a new round of commentary on here when we get to that point.

And this commentary might not be finished.... maybe you want to do things differently than I described? Use the WD 1.5 TB as a backup and put Linux on the external Seagate instead? You can do that too. I'm not sure exactly why your Linux installs failed, but I think it was due to the bootloader not being installed correctly. And what about XP... re-install it too? You might look at the files on the Seagate and see if you think that the XP install is there, but I'm not sure if we can get it to boot as it is.... it would take more investigation.

Okay, friend Steve... you can soak up all that info with a few cold beers and see if it makes sense. I've got to work again tomorrow (12-hr shifts) and I'm going out for a late dinner/drinks with wife and friends after work.... so if I have anything to add tomorrow night, it will likely be short (and possibly slurred). Am I wearing you out yet??? :eek::D:D

Cheers
Stan
 
Stan, I've been worn out for years so I don't think you can do any damage in that regard. :) I honestly didn't expect to hear back from you for a day or two. I worked 12 hour shifts the last 20 years of my career, and it's harder the older you get. So thanks again for your time, but please don't stress about getting this done. I'm just very grateful for your help, and therefore considerate of the time you've already spent trying to help me, a complete stranger. Do what you can, when you can, and we'll get-er done eventually. No rush at all. Linux is working great and I watched the Coyotes absolutely embarrass the Blues last night from the pen drive, so I'm a happy camper.

I'm going to go over your synopsis with a fine tooth comb, and if I discover any discrepancies in your summary we'll discuss them before I do anything stupid (again), because as we all know by now, obviously I don't know what the heck I'm doing. :eek: And I think I'll hold off on the beers until I'm done pushing buttons, because some famous last words are: Hey watch this --- hold my beer!

Thanks again for your time, Stan.
 
All the folks here enjoy helping and "spreading the word" about Linux. We're all pretty passionate about it.

But we're human too and can make mistakes sometimes. And that's why it is also so important for you to check and double check... it's your data, and none of us want you to lose even a bit or byte if we can help it.

Lucky day at work today so far... we're broke down, and it's not my job to fix it. Woo hoo! :D

Cheers
 
Woo Hoo!

Stan, if I’m using the wrong lingo, please correct me so I’m on the same page as you. I’ll raise my hand when I catch up. :)

Let’s summarize:

Yes, most of the 150 GB on the 500 GB Samsung drive (now C: in Windows) is “stuff” I’ve saved over the years, and this is the drive I’m most concerned with restoring access to the data.

However, the 1.5 TB WD drive (which used to be the C: drive prior to the update crash) “may” or may not have some email data that I would like to preserve if possible. If I can recover the data on the Samsung drive, it may be there instead.

The 1.5 TB WD drive was working fine, running my original Win 7 install on C:, until the Windows update crashed the system, and I believe that after Windows rebooted itself after installing the update, this drive became inaccessible at that time. (This was the update that was supposed to fix the “Meltdown and Spectre” viruses), and I didn’t realize that the Samsung drive had defaulted to my C: drive when the WD drive became inaccessible, (and the Samsung drive is ultimately the drive I attempted to “recover” several times (unsuccessfully) with the Win 7 install disk, (thinking this was the WD drive, and perhaps this failed because Win 7 may have never been installed on the Samsung drive). Consequently, I unwittingly installed Win 7 to the Samsung drive, thinking it was the WD drive. Duh. I didn’t realize this mistake until I started troubleshooting the Linux install problem with you and looking at drives and formats and partitions. I now realize just how far in over my head I was. Which proves there are three kinds of people in the world: those who make things happen, those who are content to watch things happen, and those who wonder what the heck happened. I’m in that third category with this problem. Duh.

So unless the Windows update actually reformatted the WD drive, is it possible that the boot sector is corrupted, and everything is still there? Regardless, obviously Windows update rendered this drive inaccessible, which proves to me that Bill Gates IS the anti-Christ. I’ve read that there are a lot of Windows users people who have gotten the “blue screen of death” after this update, because Microsoft panicked and rolled it out before testing it adequately. The question is, if you think we can get either Windows or Linux to talk to this drive, can we recover the data on it? That would be my first choice, but I can roll with the punches if necessary.

I have both Gparted and “Menu/Accessories/Disks open on my desktop, and I took some screenshots, and I’ll try and upload those for you to look at, and then we can go from there.
Screenshot from 2018-01-21 09-14-02.png
Screenshot from 2018-01-21 09-14-43.png
Screenshot from 2018-01-21 09-15-21.png
Screenshot from 2018-01-21 09-15-48.png
 
Here's another screen shot. When I right click /dev/sdd1, "information" this window opens:

Screenshot from 2018-01-21 09-44-12.png


I believe this is the Seagate "Goflex external drive."
 
Here's another screen shot. When I right click /dev/sdd1, "information" this window opens:

I believe this is the Seagate "Goflex external drive."

Yes, the properties tells you that is a Seagate brand... the only one you have.
 

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