Hi everyones,
I've lost my windows partition (windows 2003) after I've download too much data on my data partition while working with linux. I don't have my file boot.ini anymore. I still have my windows disk installer but I don't know how to retrive my windows partition without reinstalling it. I would like to retrieve as much files as I could (such as my itunes library, matlab licence, ...).
I do not have my windows option in my grub menu (I have dual boot with ubuntu 10.04).
Someone knows if it is possible to repair my windows partiton ?
Is there someone having a boot.ini file (windows 2003) ? What other files sould I have to get my windows partition working?

Thanks!!

Were you booting windows with the windows bootloader?
Were you booting Ubuntu with Grub or the windows bootloader?
How many hard drives, specifically are both Ubuntu and windows on the same drive? Was the "data" partition a shared partition? Where was it in relation to windows, contiguous? Are you still able to boot Ubuntu? If you run update-grub from Ubuntu, you should get a windows boot option in a new menu but that doesn't mean you will be able to boot it. Doesn't your windows installation CD have a Repair Computer option?

You should be able to save your windows files from Ubuntu and copy them elsewhere if you need to reinstall.

Hi yancek,
Thanks for the reply,
I have dual boot with grub2. I have 2 hard drive (my C: and my D.
dev/sda1 : ntfs
dev/sda2 : extended

Hi yancek,
Thanks for the reply,
I have dual boot with grub2. I have 2 hard drive (my C: and my D.
dev/sda1 : ntfs (windows)(24 Gi)

dev/sda2 : extended (26 Gi) {
----dev/sda5 : ntfs (data)
----dev/sda7 : ext4 (my linux)
----dev/sda8 : linuxswap
----dev/sda6 : linuxswap (I know, 2 linux swap is not useful, I will delete one of them)
}
Not allowed (23 Gi)
Here is the organization of my partitions:
sda1 - sda5 - sda7 - sda8 - sda6 - "not allowed"

the update-grub doesn't recover my windows option, I think some important files are missing.
How can I know if I have a repair option on my windows cd ?
I have 4 installer cd for windows 2003. I don't see any file named "repair" or something similar.

Do you have any idea how I sould proceed next ?
Thanks!!

You have two physical hard drives? The partition information you list all refers to sda which means one hard drive??

The windows installation disk should/might have a Repair option. When you boot your windows 2003 CD, do you see any option to Repair My computer?? I've never used it so I'm not sure?

Two (NTFS) partitions would be reported as two "volumes" by Windows - hence the C: and D: designations.

By "lost" I assume the OP means there are errors on the logical NTFS partition and it can no longer be read. If this is so it will need to be chkdsk'd from Windows. To repair the Windows, you'll need to boot the install CD then select "R" when it tells you to. There used to be an option to "refresh" (my term) an install, and only restore the executables - don't know if that is still possible. Else you might be up for a full re-install.

Perhaps take the disk out and see if you can chkdsk it on another Windows system first, so you can get your data backed up.

Boot up Ubuntu, open a terminal, and post the output of:
This will list all of your hard drive partitions that Ubuntu sees. Windows partitions will be listed as NTFS partitions. If your Windows partition is still there, you should be able to mount it in Ubuntu and recover any files that you need to recover.
Also, see this for mounting your Windows partitions in Ubuntu:
http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/mountwindows

Hi, Thanks for the quick reply.
sorry, I have 1 hard drive.
I tried my installation cd for the repair option with windows and my computer doesn't boot on my cd (after asking bios to boot on the cd drive). I have a group licence (edition entreprise) and all I have is 4 cd named pack1, pack2, one with my product key and a forth one containning outlook.
I don't know what I'm gonna do, but thanks for the information

You never indicated whether you were still able to boot Ubuntu?
If you can, post the output of the command suggested above by tommcd.
I'm not clear on your last post. Are you saying your CD drive no longer works? Do you get any output after inserting your windows install CD?

you should be able to mount your windows partition from linux,
just copy and paste your data to a USB drive if you cant boot into windows.

in my PC i just click the Windows partition and i can read and write data to that partition.

Hi,
Thanks again for your help.
Here is the output of fdisk:

Disque /dev/sda: 80.0 Go, 80026361856 octets
255 têtes, 63 secteurs/piste, 9729 cylindres
Unités = cylindres de 16065 * 512 = 8225280 octets
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Identifiant de disque : 0x79b779b7

Périphérique Amorce Début Fin Blocs Id Système
/dev/sda1 * 1 3188 25607578+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 3189 6642 27744224+ f W95 Etendue (LBA)
/dev/sda5 3189 5070 15112472+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda6 6504 6642 1116486 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda7 5070 6437 10978304 83 Linux
/dev/sda8 6437 6503 535552 82 Linux swap / Solaris
And Not allowed : 23 Gi

I have 1 hard drive. I was working with a program that generate 6 Gi of data. I tought I could direct them on my D:/Data (sda5) but then I lost windows. I'm not sure I understand why I lost windows because my files to start windows are on my C:/ (sda1), I didn't send any files on my C: with linux. Previously, I used my D:/Data with windows to save files. But in kubuntu, I was able to see that partition (with free memory space, 14 Gi free) and thougth I could save a large file (6 Gi). But then, I lost windows. I don't have a file Boot.ini in my windows files. I'm a little confused about my situation.
I bought a toshiba computer in 2007 (with an enterprise license of windows) and just knew that they did not include the repair dvd along with the computer.
All I have is 4 cd that do not boot. After trying to boot on the windows cd, I have a black sceen for 10 seconds (I hear my cd drive working) and then I have my grub menu. I'm able to boot my kubuntu livecd, so I know that my cd drive still work. I still have my linux and I'm able to boot on linux.
A few minutes ago, someone told me he can sell me a copy a the repair dvd (10$).
I will do a backup of my files and try the repair dvd.
Thanks for your support!!

I don't understand how filling the D: drive would do that either.
Did the boot entry (for Windows) disappear from the boot menu at the same time, or some time earlier ?. That sounds like update-grub has run, and you would only expect that when you had done a software update from Ubuntu.

Hi,
My windows option disapeared from the grub menu right after I filled my D:/Data while on linux. I updated my grub menu 2 days agon and still don't have my windows option on grub. I'm still a little confused about it, and I will try my repair dvd and hope for the best.
Thanks,

Your Windows partitions are /dev/sda1 and /dev/sda5
You should be able to mount them in Ubuntu like this:
This will allow you to recover any need files from /dev/sda1. Just change sda1 to sda5 in the mount command if you want to mount /dev/sda5.
Since you have lost Windows from your grub2 menu, you can create a custom boot entry for booting Windows in your /etc/grub.d/ directory like this:
Create a file in /etc/grub.d/ directory named: 31_Windows.
Inside the file put these lines:
Then make the file executable with "sudo chmod +x 31_Windows"
Then run "sudo update-grub" to update your /boot/grub/grub.cfg file. This should enable you to boot Windows.
However, since Windows disappeared from your grub menu after you updated grub, this may not work. Your Windows boot directory on /dev/sda1 may have become corrupted somehow. This may explain why updating grub lost the ability to boot Windows. However, it will not hurt anything to try booting Windows by creating a custom boot entry in your /etc/grub.d/ directory.