Biggest Friggin' Emergency Ever - CRITICAL

[Omega]

I am right now very much pissed off. It looks like I am totally screwed. When I installed openSUSE from a disc burned from the ISO, it appears I have lost every other file!!! Vista is gone, Kubuntu is gone. I don't understand. I don't get to choose OS's when I start up, and everything is a big disaster. I have lost apparently every file, and my disk space now apparently has roughly 20GB used up, instead of 110GB that should be. I shouldn't be posting this here, but I got no where else to turn. Military, the glest guide, everything I worked for, thousands of songs, videos, and more. The software, videos, and music has to be worth at least a few thousand dollars, and now it's completely gone! What can I do?!? Am I screwed?

Not only does this OS suck, but I can't get Vista back. I at the very least need my vista back, as I can't even CONNECT TO THE INTERNET on my laptop, and am just so underly confused. I don't have any installation disc, since my vista was pre-installed on my laptop. I have lost thousands of hours of work, and just recently got a new video from iTunes (which I have lost as well). I am confused. Why didn't this work like Kubuntu? Why did it F***ing delete everything?!? WHY ME??? Isn't it supposed to have dual-boot or something?

AM I SCREWED? Help! (so sorry about military, and my last back up was in febuary, which is still useless since I no longer have vista to load my back up).

[Omega]

Kubuntu worked perfectly fine. I can't figure  out why Vista was over written by this. Others have had success. I don't suppose anyone knows a method of file restoration?

[silnarm]

You did install OpenSUSE on a fresh partition, yes?

Everything will still be there... you just need to configure lilo or grub, whichever OpenSUSE is using...

[John.d.h]

it's next to impossible to dual-boot with

Next to impossible?  Surely you jest!

You did install OpenSUSE on a fresh partition, yes?
Everything will still be there... you just need to configure lilo or grub, whichever OpenSUSE is using...

The fact that you can't get to Windows OR Kubuntu suggests to me that it's on a new partition, because each of those should have been on its own partition and SUSE wouldn't install over BOTH of them.  However, on the off chance that you installed it over your Windows partition, then you're probably boned.  While most data tends to stick around after it's deleted, formatting is a lot more permanent.  I don't know enough to say for sure whether or not you could get it back.

[Omega]

You're going to have to explain in linux newbie terms. I haev no experience at all with linux.

Here's what I did:
-Burned the ISO to a disc, and yes, I did it 100% properly.
-Inserted disc while running vista, used the auto run, following instructions until it said it needed to restart.
-Restarted and got a 'choose OS' screen, chose the option, which was something like 'openSUSE (install)'.
-Followed step by step instructions, only really filling in things like name, password, timezone, etc;
-Chose GNOME desktop, if that helps
-Once it was done, waited through a long install
-Everything installed, managed to continue without reboot. Got the desktop screen, but got a little freeked when I saw the large ammount of free HDD space
-Checked the OS menu after a reboot, no vista

@John: I can't understand how everything is gone too... I was using the new version (11) that I downloaded only a few days ago. Should there have been a dual boot option (like kubuntu) or something? I never got an option, but assumed that there was no alternative anyway (or that that would be the default).

Should I try a professional (ie: take it in to future shop and see if they can restore anything? That's where I bought it, though its far too late for returns, and I doubt I could get a new install disc for vista.) However, I don't have really any money at all (maybe $90 CAN is all I have, and currently not employed).

Grrr... I doubt its possible to sue someone, is it? Or did I wave away such rights on some legal disclaimer?!?

*I never realized how much I liked Vista until I went without it. Permanently*

[silnarm]

Try looking here...
http://www.susegeek.com/general/howto-edit-boot-loader-to-addmodifydelete-entries-in-opensuse/

They indicate that if windows partitions are found OpenSUSE should have added them to the boot loader.... so I get the nasty feeling you may have installed over your windows partition... Though I certainly hope not, if you've lost Military, I'll be most disappointed... it was almost done!

In Gnome, what do you see under 'Places', specifically the middle section ('computer') ?

[gameboy]

Shit I grieve for man, this one big problem, you could try to recover your files with a file recovery program, search off the internet you might get something. And try not install some new stuff, or your old stuff gonna be overridden.
Hope You Get Your Files Back, Man. 

[Yggdrasil]

just have a look in the partition table:

run the following in terminal (Alt+F2 and type gnome-terminal or look in menu) and post the output:

Code: [Select]

sudo fdisk -l
because you want to run it as root (sudo) it asks for your password.

if this does not work run:

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ls -l /dev/ | egrep 'sd|hd'

and maybe opensuse auto mounted your partitions:

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mount -l

post all the outputs and we will see.

[John.d.h]

@John: I can't understand how everything is gone too... I was using the new version (11) that I downloaded only a few days ago. Should there have been a dual boot option (like kubuntu) or something? I never got an option, but assumed that there was no alternative anyway (or that that would be the default).

??? Err... wish I knew.  Various versions of *buntu were all I ever installed, and I always used the Wubi installer.

[Jamesgamer]

And try not install some new stuff, or your old stuff gonna be overridden.

I hate to add to the stress of the situation, but this is important: try not to add any files to the disk, or you may lose some files.
If it's a desktop (not a laptop), you can ... detach the hard drive when you aren't using it to prevent writing any files.... I think.

Try posting on some other forums also; see if you can get other help.

Besides that, idk... sorry.

PS: Sueing: Not sure, but seems like it would be possible. =D

[hailstone]

Dual booting with Windows is easy. The problem is that Windows will override the boot sector without installing a boot menu to choose other operating systems. If you have Windows installed first then install Linux it should autodetect Windows, depending on the distro, and add it to the boot loader.

@omega:
I can see two places where things could have gone wrong.
1. Setting up your disk : in which case you should use a live cd like PartedMagic and try to recover what you can. (I haven't used it before but it has tools that are recommended in a linux.com article on file recovery)
2. The boot loader wasn't setup. A much better scenario and you can try use yast to add the Windows partition. Configuring the Boot Loader with YaST

Do the commands recommended by Yggdrasil to see if your partitions are there before doing anything else.

Sueing is not likely to get anywhere since there is a disclaimer in the license.

USE OF OPENSUSE 11.1 IS AT YOUR OWN RISK.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE OPENSUSE PROJECT (AND ITS LICENSORS, SUBSIDIARIES, AND EMPLOYEES) WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES...

I feel your pain though; I have most of my life on the computer and would hate for something to happen to it. Hope this helps.

[Omega]

Well, no success so far for me. I have set up an action plan in the likely event in which I cannot get windows back. Firstly, I'll answer your questions:

@silnarm: I tried this, and the only paritions shown are:
Xen -- openSUSE 11.1 - 2.6.27.7-9
openSUSE 11.1 - 2.6.27.7-9 (this is the checked (default?) one)
Failsafe -- openSUSE 11.1 - 2.6.27.7-9

Seeing there's three, why is this??? Could they ALL have gone over my OS's?!?

Under places, there is just 'Home', 'Documents', 'Network Servers', 'Desktop', and 'file system'.

@archmage: while your rambling doesn't help me one bit, I do agree with error messages. Problem is I never got an error. openSUSE just believes everything went perfect, and while windows could argue with that, its just a LITTLE bit gone...

@Yggradasil:  First method didn't work. Second method returned four values: 'sda', 'sda1', 'sda2', 'sda3', 'watchdog'. The third thing posts a few paragraphs of a help  file telling what other code I can do to perform things (I'd show you, but its a lot of text, and I can't seem to connect to the web!!! Help?!?).

@james: Yeah, I know about that. However, I accidently added roughly 3 gigs of data before I noticed the large amount of open space on the computer. For now, I'm refraining from doing anything other than trying to (1) connect to the internet (which is so far unsucessful), and (2) restore my files. I'm downloading some linux data restorers.

My plan is to recover as much as I can, if anything, then reinstall vista. However, I got no CD!!! Is it possible to make one with my dad's Vista? I remember something about that on XP, but don't know anything. After, I have a lot of programs to download, and I'll put up my most recent backup (feb 2009! ugh. I've learned my lesson there)... Also, I remembered that a little while ago, I gave my frienmd my entire glest and gae directories. I forgot to remove the testing version of military. If he still has the disc, I can get most of the models (I'd be missing a couple) and then I wouldn't need to abort military (whew). However, he isn't the most organized person, so lets hope he still has the disc! Don't get your hopes up. I still dont have a plan for if he doesnt...

BTW: HELP NEEDED:  Where can I get an install disc for vista?!? I have my serial number, but thats all. My dad has vista, but its very old since he never updates. How or where can I get vista's installation disc (must be a boot disc that can be inserted, then have my computer rebooted and get a special menu. I know how to burn iso's (or did on windows, but can't be too hard on linux) so if anyone can help...? Remember that I am on my DADs computer, older vista, with no torrent programs and slower than slow internet. If anyone knows a link, could you download, compress as small as possible, and reupload? Bigger than um... 30MB is a bit much... (2hrs for that!)

@hailstone: must check out that parted magic. Unfortunately, It doesn't look like the commands I got give me any hope. Reinstallation and file recovery are my best bet.

I feel your pain though; I have most of my life on the computer and would hate for something to happen to it.

Yeah, and most of mine is there (or was). Everything from thousands of songs (I DJ some of the school's dances, donno whats going to happen there, since I only backed up about 600) to tons of programs I can't live without, most which are windows only, and will need me to reinstall. I also have pretty much everything I have ever worked for in virtual form, even 'scrapbook/yearbook' sort of things that I thought would be nice to look at once I was older. Guess It's time to play the old fashion chip and learn to use paper. Too bad, as now no one but me will know my life from 10-15 (my parents have a couple hundred pictures, but they are few and formal in those ages.

[Yggdrasil]

@silnarm: I tried this, and the only paritions shown are:
Xen -- openSUSE 11.1 - 2.6.27.7-9
openSUSE 11.1 - 2.6.27.7-9 (this is the checked (default?) one)
Failsafe -- openSUSE 11.1 - 2.6.27.7-9

These are not partitions, but rather different modes you can start opensuse with (different kernel configurations). Should be the same you see on boot.

@Yggradasil:  First method didn't work. Second method returned four values: 'sda', 'sda1', 'sda2', 'sda3', 'watchdog'. The third thing posts a few paragraphs of a help  file telling what other code I can do to perform things (I'd show you, but its a lot of text, and I can't seem to connect to the web!!! Help?!?).

what's the message if you try the first one? btw the argument is minus + small letter l (like linux), _not_ one.
ok, so you have one harddrive (sda) with 3 partitions (sda1, sda2, sda3). Sadly we do not see which kind of filesystem and if you mounted them. The first and the last one do that.
it's also minus + small letter l in the last command.

I checked silnarm's link and on the first image there is also an entry partitioner. Seems to be a GUI. Just have a look, don't partition anything.

[Jamesgamer]

BTW: HELP NEEDED:  Where can I get an install disc for vista?!? I have my serial number, but thats all. My dad has vista, but its very old since he never updates. How or where can I get vista's installation disc (must be a boot disc that can be inserted, then have my computer rebooted and get a special menu. I know how to burn iso's (or did on windows, but can't be too hard on linux) so if anyone can help...? Remember that I am on my DADs computer, older vista, with no torrent programs and slower than slow internet. If anyone knows a link, could you download, compress as small as possible, and reupload? Bigger than um... 30MB is a bit much... (2hrs for that!)

I think you can ask microsoft to replace it; do a google search or a search on microsoft.com

[Omega]

Well, data recovery UNSUCCESSFUL! . I tried it on linux with THREE softwares (well, I only got two to work, since one was source)... On (somewhat) brighter news, I was able to reinstall Vista using my dad's disc, but now I have the bare minimum!

I can no longer sleep, cannot achieve my max resolution, no games, no screen savers. It looks like I lost my graphics driver. I found the link to download it, but it's ~85MB, so it'll have to wait. Hopefully that's why I can't sleep, because that is crucial on a laptop. May also be because of the loss of my Toshiba Power Saving utility. But hey, I can connect to the web again! However, I am still on IE (temporarily...) for now, since firefox is not the most important download.

I tried two trials for data recovery on windows, and the only files recoverable are junk that seems was deleted during the windows install process. I doubt taking it in would work. Still, what do you guys think? Should I try a professional? The software I used, despite being a trial, was full functionality (but no restore, just a way to check if they are recoverable, which they weren't) so how can a professional do any better?!? I don't want to spend money on nothing, though I'd gladly pay for my files back. What would you guys recommend?

Unfortunately, I think I was unable to recover files from linux because it uses some other file system (starts with 'e' but not worth commiting to memory) and all my files were (formerly) NTFS. And after converting back to windows, the file system still had to be deleted before it could be formated, which is probably why it was unsuccessful. Of course, it HAD been formated twice (once by linux, once by windows) and had two OS's installed on it, so I doubt any information survived. Better hope that my friend still has his CD...

[Omega]

Bah, there's just so many drivers that are needed, I'm completely swamped. This is multi-gigabyte data, and I don't have any access to broadband anywhere around. I think I'm going to have to order a recovery disc from Toshiba (this has a plus of getting the backup utility that came with my system back). Since I lost the utility that came with my computer, I am unable to use my backup (in the future, I'm going to use SyncBack, which I downloaded, and looks good).

Of course, if any of you have Toshiba computers which have the backup utility preinstalled, if you could upload that utility to me, I would like to see if it backed up the drivers as well. Of course, its no big deal, since its probably a good idea to get some recovery discs anyway. Honestly, how hard is it for computer manufaturers to include one little disc with their computers?!? They're selling computers at prices ranging from $300 - $2000 and they can't include one little DVD? God...

And now I have to make a (small) payment to get mine, which will take who knows how long to get to me. I'm going camping on Friday for three days, so hopefully I can get it by then. Of course, I gotta call tomorrow... Too bad they don't have EMAIL!

[ElimiNator]

Why don't you order from NCIX? They sell computers there and you get to pick the parts. I got my computer there for $750.00 (around there.) and all good cards lots of memory and a big hard drive.

[Omega]

I don't want a new computer. Nothing wrong with mine. I found a good external HDD for sale that's $150 for a 500GB drive with backup and password software already installed. Nice a colorful too. However, I got no money, so it'll have to wait...

I managed to reinstall windows to factory settings so that I have all my drivers. Apparently that wasn't a backup disc I made (f***) but rather a RECOVERY DISC! Oh well, at least I found out how to use it, and got my computer working properly (before, the graphics card didn't have its driver, so I couldn't do anything really).

I also found that I gave my sister some programs from my computer a long time ago. Unfortunately, I never gaver her all my programs, since she doesn't have internet, and doesn't use her computer like I do. However, I am still lucky enough to get blender back. Oddly, now it says I need to install python. Odd, I don't recall having to do that last time, so why this time? I understand blender uses it, but why'd it work last time?!?

Got back some other programs like iTunes as well, as well as FDM, notepad++,  and paint.NET. Once I get python, I am capible of modeling again.

However, it all depends on wether or not my friend still has his disc. Problem is, I won't see him until early august... MAH!

[Coldfusionstorm]

Well, ive never tried a OS deleteing stuff without your knowlede, you said that it mentioned some other file systen, if you have one harddisk, and you chose to installe the ext3, filestystem, then it means a Format....wich bacially means your screwed. anyways, IF you ONLY have ONE harddisk, and installed a Linux Distro, im pretty sure you just ruined your partion tables, wich is bad mojo. and will require a recovery program. and i HAVE TO WARN YOU! IF YOU DID THIS!, then EVERY signle file that you save opun you harddisk, have a risk of PERMANTLY delete your old files. SO get a recovery program, USE A OTHER COMPUTER FOR THIS! and a external Driver USB stick. w/e, what is important here, is that you keep disk  writes down to a absolute minimum. thats your best shot. Good LUCK!

[Omega]

I don't think this can be solved. I'm just going to lock it now...