Hi,

I got a Dell Latitude E6400 running with both Windows (XP-SP3) and Linux (Ubuntu 9.04) partitions. After a serious OS crash (Dell error 0146; Windows error 0x7E), I am not able to have access to both partitions. It seems that Windows OS screwed up with my hard disk volumes, which prevents me to boot Windows and Linux as before when starting the computer.
I was however able to access and recover Windows and Linux files booting from a Ubuntu live cd.

I would like to know:
1) how to recover my Linux partition when rebooting,

2) in case I would have to replace my hard drive (which seems very likely), what files, and where from, should I back up from my Linux partition in order to ease next software installation (e.g. source list, ...).
I had a lot of nice softwares installed (e.g. Amarok, image editing, matlab...), but it took me an enormous amount of time to get them all (me kind of novice in Linux). I would not like to redo the whole stuff.

Thanks by advance,
denis

1a) You could use a Linux live CD that has a utility called testdisk to attempt to recover data on the disk drive.

1b) You could use a Linux live CD that has a utility called ddrescue to try to copy a partition from the original disk to an external disk partition.

2a) If you need to replace the hard drive then you may not be able to recover any files from the original disk drive. This is why we make backups when the computer is working properly.

If I were you I would try to reinstall Windows, then reinstall Linux. If the disk drive won't allow you to install an operating system then I would replace it without spending any more time working with it.

2b) It is probably a waste of time to attempt to save some files from a running Linux system and then copy them onto a new system. You will only cause problems related to your applications not having the correct startup configuration.

The easiest thing to do is to reinstall Linux from scratch, then install your applications as the need to use them arises. This will break up the time that you spend installing applications into small sessions and it will allow you to use the computer before it is completely configured.

OK thanks.
If I am able to reinstall Windows, how will I be able to recover my Linux partition? Is there anything to reinstall or play with from e.g. a live cd?
Cheers,
ds