Accicental reformat? Windows XP gone after Ubuntu installation

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SherriAnne

New Member
I posted this question in Ubuntu's forum, after being unable to find Windows XP. The tech there asked me to type "sudo -l" in the terminal of Ubuntu. This was the output:

Model: ATA ST3160815A (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 160GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 1049kB 158GB 158GB primary ext4 boot
2 158GB 160GB 1520MB extended
5 158GB 160GB 1520MB logical linux-swap(v1)

He stated that I reformatted my disk, and needed to remove hard drive and use a forensic tool to retrieve lost files (whatever that is). I was told the apps TestDisk and/or PhotoRec wouldn't help because they are unix-based, and I need windows-based tools.

I am a complete novice and have no idea how to retrieve my lost files from Windows. I'm afraid to touch anything now for fear of screwing it up even more. Can anyone walk me thru a solution?
 
Ideally what you want to do is hook up the hard drive you want to retrieve files from as a secondary drive on a system that has an OS installed already. Then from there use one of those recovery apps.

The main thing is to avoid writing anything onto the hard drive that way you stand a much better chance of retrieving everything you lost.
 
OK, can I do that via my laptop? Does it matter what OS it has? It has Vista, and I'm trying to recover XP from a disc that is formatted with Ubuntu.
 
i do not think you can do this process from the laptop, you must plug both drives into a computer and boot from a cd that has a cloning program on it.
 
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