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So, I decided to try out ubuntu on a dual boot with windows. The way I did everything was:

I shrunk my OS drive in windows disk manager, then using live boot Ubuntu and gparted I made 3 partitions for root, home and swap from the unasigned space. I proceeded to install Ubuntu with the "something else" option where i set up everything and it worked. I started using it etc. But, I wanted to test different DEs so they took up space in my root partition which was 20 gb, and I read I can just expand it using free space somehow. So because I was on windows I used its drive management tool to shrink some more space for it.

Before I did anything I saw that all the space I used for my ubuntu stuff was still labeled as unallocated. I didn't think much of it and just shrunk some more space that merged with the rest. Then I wanted to follow some tutorial to add space to the root using gparted from a live boot, but there I saw that my partitions also became just one block of unasigned, which before wasn't the case in here.

I got worried and tried to boot my ubuntu but GRUB didn't really work. It only showed "Minimal BASH like line editing is supported" and stuff. I tried to fix GRUB but gave up.

Now I'm wondering:

  1. What the hell actually happened?
  2. Is the unasigned data now actually a merged mess of free space and linux data or something?
  3. Or was it just wiped and I can use the data normally like empty space, make new partitions again and install Ubuntu again?

As you can see am a total noob, was too bold with messing around with all this and got lost, so I am sorry if the post doesn't contain all of the important info and such.

I was using Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS

user68186
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Haky
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  • Your data is safe as long as you remember where your partition originally was and did not create any new partition on top of it. You need to find the command that allows you to "create" (not really, but effectively just mark the location again) a partition at a specific offset and size. Do not use any tools like gparted that will "erase the filesystem signature" when they create partitions – Daniel T Feb 01 '24 at 18:50
  • Does this answer your question? Deleted Partition Recovery – Daniel T Feb 01 '24 at 18:59
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    Windows does not understand the partition format used by Ubuntu (ext4). It looks like Windows marked those ext4 partitions as unallocated when you used the Windows partition management tool. Welcome to Ask Ubuntu. This is a question answer site, meant for asking one question at a time. If you can remember the start and end sectors of each of the three partitions then you should be able to recover them. Otherwise Install Ubuntu again and restore your personal files from backup. – user68186 Feb 01 '24 at 19:35
  • I recommend that you follow the default installation method and do not create Ubuntu partitions on your own. This is easier and safer for noobs, and don't lead to the kind of problem you faced. One does not always know (or can determine) how much space to allocate to system and home partitions. – user68186 Feb 01 '24 at 19:40
  • Okay, thanks for the explanation. So if i start the installation now, will it be able to use the data that these partitions used and sort of overwrite it, to ultimately bring me to pretty much the same state? I didnt have any personal data on these partitions, i was just learning and playing with ubuntu so i dont mind starting over, i just want to know if i didnt mess up anything bigger – Haky Feb 01 '24 at 20:05
  • What I feel i need to know is if i can just proceed with installing it again without doing anything else. Like no cleaning up or uninstalling the old ubuntu and its files – Haky Feb 01 '24 at 20:14
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    I think you can proceed with installing again, since you say Gparted listed the whole area as unallocated after Windows screwed it up. The default "Install side by side Windows" option will create a single system partition, also called / and keep everything there. That way you don't have to decide how much space you need for apps and how much space you need for personal files. – user68186 Feb 01 '24 at 20:19
  • Thanks a lot! I appreciate that you explained it in-depth and made it understandable. It's comforting for me to know what actually happens when doing the auto install and such. Thank you for your time once again – Haky Feb 01 '24 at 20:59
  • The "Minimal BASH like..." error has been addressed here in Ask Ubuntu: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1104855/how-to-make-grub-menu-appear-instead-grub-minimal-bash-like-in-booting/1105737#1105737 – WinEunuuchs2Unix Feb 02 '24 at 01:12
  • @WinEunuuchs2Unix That boot-repair solution will only work if the Linux partition still exists, which is not the case here. As usur68186 said, a reinstall is best for this user – Daniel T Feb 02 '24 at 01:50
  • @DanielT You are probably right. However user gave up trying to fix Grub so I would fix Grub first and then see what happens. – WinEunuuchs2Unix Feb 02 '24 at 02:39

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