Linux Format forums

Alex01UK

Help removed my win 7 partitian and replaced with linux mint debian. is it possible to get it back?

tia from Alex Toad.
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Ram

JohnParr · Joined: Fri May 18, 2012 2:33 pm Posts: 9

If you need to recover photo's or other personal files there are applications that can do that on parts of the disk that have not been written to by the new installation. There is probably one of these applications in the mint repository (dont know for sure, haven't used Mint) if not a google search with something like "Photo Recovery Software" should find something.

Most laptops have a facility to reinstall windows if you follow the right process at system boot. It's possible this will still work but you may have damaged this function too.

I'd fire up gparted first to see what partitions you have now. If you are lucky the windows partition is still there and just needs the MBR fixing.

dandnsmith · Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 6:35 am Post subject:

That original install is probably now lost!

Most of those recovery software things offer to recover pics, but not general stuff (and I've tried a few when trying to get back some users files for them).

I've also investigated the recover OS via a key at boot on some installs - if you overwrite the original, the functionality is then lost, and can be impossible to restore. The best thing is to take an image before doing anything as drastic a deleting the installation.
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nelz · Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 12:22 am Post subject:

Alex01UK · Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2012 10:38 am Post subject:

Thanks for the advice guys. I've run gpart and only my Mint and Ubuntu Studio patrtitions are still there and there is no free space. I made sure I did everything right. Tried to resize my Ubuntu, created space on my hardrive, created a partition formatted it and tried to install Mint on it.

What actually happened, was I removed the first partition with my windows restore partition and removed my windows partition and put Mint on the space that they occupied. I've got backup dvds for my windows (although I've never read how to do it) shortly after it was brand new with all my software installed on it. And all my pics and music and videos have been backed up.

The irony now, is I have a perfect Mint install; it'll even play dvds! I believe though, that I need to install Windows onto the first partition on the drive, so I have to wipe Mint to get Windows back, and the only reason i need windows is to run Virtual Dj. oh well...

tia from Toad.
_________________
''I am what I am, because
we are what we are.''

TheLiquidator · Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2005 10:31 pm Posts: 81

If you only want Windows to run a single application, and you prefer to use Mint for everything else, you might find it worth investigating either virtualbox (in the Mint Repo) or VMware Player. Both are zero cost programs that will enable you to create a virtual machine i.e run Windows within Mint. Might be worth a go.

On the other hand....

http://www.mixxx.org/

Alex01UK · Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2012 10:33 pm Post subject:

lok1950 · Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2012 11:29 pm Post subject:

The only real constraint on virtual machines is how much memory your willing to assign to it VB works just fine without a specialized CPU.

Enjoy the Choice Smile

TheLiquidator · Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2005 10:31 pm Posts: 81

You don't need any special hardware to run virtualbox (I run a virtual Win XP installation in Virtualbox on a 6 year-old Centrino Laptop running kubuntu 12.04 and it's passable). The faster your PC the better.
So long as the backup DVD you made will qualify as a Windows Installation disk then the following should work.
1. Install virtualbox (it's already available in your package manager) and then start it.
2. Hit the "new" button to go through the virtual machine creation wizard. When it comes to the partition select the "dynamic"(at least I think that is what it is!) option so the partition will expand to provide the space needed.
3. When prompted, enter your windows install DVD. You will probably have to go through the activation process.

If all has worked, you should have a "virtual" windows installation within virtualbox. You can then get to work slimming it down, removing all the stuff you no longer need (as almost everything is now provided by Mint of course!)

The beauty of a VM is that if something goes wrong it can be deleted and you can start again. With the VM switched off you can then simply copy the image to a backup drive for a perfect backup.

Windows will run a bit slower than it would do on a direct install - that's logical of course. However to start it within VB is a lot faster than having to shut Mint down and reboot, especially as you can save the VM state making it restart in seconds.

Having said all that, you will often find that if you can get a piece of software that will do the job natively in Linux that will often be better than rebooting or running in a VM. That's why I suggested you might like to take a look at mixxx. It should actually be available in your package manager - it is in mine. worth giving that a go.