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I successfully created a full user data and system snapshot with timeshift in rsync mode. A while back I thought this method of data backup will be recoverable on a new and same system installation (Ubuntu). But I'm facing a unique problem and every search I've made seem to give a mixed answer. What happened...

I dual booted my Windows with Ubuntu and later decided I longer need Windows. So followed the instructions here to delete my Windows partition.

This lead to a "BootDevice Not Found" error during boot which I posted a question here "BootDevice Not Found" after deleting Windows partition on a dual boot using Gparted but I haven't found a solution yet. I also made a few searches and found this particular question Invalid partition table after windows removal which is closed related to my case but none of the solutions helped me.

I'm now wondering if it will be possible to recover the full timeshift snapshot I made onto an external drive on the same system disk or a new one. If it's possible, how can I go about it? Thanks!

EDIT: The system is Ubuntu Desktop 20.04 and was dual booted with windows 10 on HP Probook 4530s

Cyril
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  • @guiverc Thanks, it's Ubuntu Desktop 20.04 and was dual booted with windows 10 on HP Probook 4530s – Cyril Jan 22 '24 at 02:14
  • @guiverc Got it, i just editted the question to include the details. My assumption is the deleted Windows partition had control over booting, which I didn't expect because the drive had a fat32 /boot partition at the middle which I didn't delete and I thought that controlled the booting – Cyril Jan 22 '24 at 02:21
  • Is your machine a legacy BIOS/MBR type system (where your BIOS settings control which drive is used in booting, and that drive MBR is booted by your machine firmware) or uEFI? (where again the machine firmware controls which drive ESP will be used; if your Ubuntu boot was on a different drive to windows; your deletion of windows may have also included removal of the ESP which contained both windows & Ubuntu boot details.. If I'd deleted your windows using your Ubuntu system, I'd expect Ubuntu to boot afterwards; were you using grub to select which operated?? or a windows tool? – guiverc Jan 22 '24 at 02:24
  • @guiverc I think my machine is Legacy BIOS type system and by default I see an option in the BIOS settings "UEFI Boot Mode" which is toggled off. Ubuntu was on the same drive as windows and the windows partition was deleted in Ubuntu using the Gparted software. Yes, I was using grub to select which operating system booted before this issue came up. – Cyril Jan 22 '24 at 02:57
  • The only time I did a timeshift restore, I restored a old clone (only thing I had) and then did the restore. It worked great. I didn't have user data in it though, only the system. I was recovering from a drive failure of the system drive. You could try a clean install and then the timeshift restore, assuming you have good backups. – Organic Marble Jan 22 '24 at 04:54

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