How do I recover all the partitions listed in testdisk?

Question

While trying to reinstall ubuntu alongside Windows 8.1. I chose the option erase and reinstall which formatted my hard disk. I used deep search in test disk on a live usb and got to the following screen :

Now originally in Windows I had an Windows 8 OS partition, a Lenovo partition, 2 partitions called New Volume which I had created.

Now how do I proceed such that I can boot from Windows and access all the above partitions? Also, why are there so many HPFS-NTFS partitions?

I've found that those partitions on the list which don't have [partitionname] next to them say that they're damaged when p (file list) is pressed. Also, PBR_DRV seems to contain files for lenovo one-key recovery.

When I request the file list of the partitions with [] next to them, they seem to list all the folders I had in them pre-disaster.

Answer 1

If you proceeded with the full Ubuntu installation, chances are it's overwritten enough data on your Windows partition that you'll never be able to recover it to the point where it will boot. You might, however, be able to recover some user files from the disk. You're more likely to be able to succeed with this task by using PhotoRec than by using TestDisk; however, the last I heard, PhotoRec did a poor job at recovering filenames. I've heard that some Windows-specific recovery tools can do a better job at recovering filenames, but I don't have pointers to specific products.

Once you've recovered your files, if you want to boot Windows, you'll need to re-install it. Contact your manufacturer for a recovery disc set or check out this superuser.com question and answer for information on getting legal Windows 8 images online. (That question is about Windows 8, not 8.1. I'm not sure if exactly the same procedures work for 8.1.)