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My issue is a little bit different than anything I've found so far on the forums. I had successfully installed Ubuntu on my Windows 8.1 hp laptop using the manual partitioning method (not the "install alongside windows 8" way). Today my Ubuntu was being weird and the mouse was blinking and all the text was resizing over and over again, and my shutdown button actually popped up the "lock" and "log out" options instead of the "shutdown" and "restart" options.

So I rebooted Ubuntu using LiveUSB and installed it again, and a message showed up saying "Ubuntu 14.04 detected", and the 2 options were "install Ubuntu 14.04 alongside Ubuntu 14.04" and "erase Ubuntu 14.04 and do a clean installation of it (or something like that)". I thought the second option would only affect my Ubuntu partition, so I selected it. Then I restarted my computer and found that my entire hardrive now was taken up by Ubuntu.

Is there a way for me to get back my windows partition? Would installing windows with LiveUSB and then restoring it with the backup I created work?

akivjh
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I might have great news for you. It is possible, although not likely, that your windows installation actually survives and that you in fact have THREE installations, two of which are 14.04. The way to find out is to load Disk Utility the next time you are booted to ubuntu and count how many NTFS and EXT4 partitions you have.

gyropyge
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Unfortunately your windows is gone for sure. No matter what option you selected after you rebooted using LiveUSB you were doomed to lose your Windows.

I have seen guides out there for installing windows after Ubuntu, but I am not sure they applied to Windows 8. Honestly, if it were me, since you are on a fresh install of Ubuntu anyways, I would just use recovery partition or whatever you got and then do your backup to get windows back and then re-install Ubuntu along side windows. Or by using the method you originally did and if you have the issue again just diagnose the issue and maybe can get fixed without a re-install.

One thing I am unsure of if you do do the manual route again, and decide to upgrade to a new version of Ubuntu later, you may run into problems again.

Edit: If you do have files on the windows partition that are not part of your backup, it could be possible to get those files back, but you will need to make no changes to the Ubuntu machine. Below is a askubuntu link about the same thing.

recover using testdisk

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geoffmcc
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  • but how do I know if I have a recovery partition? My 3 partitions on my hard drive are: "537 MB EFI System", "992 GB Linux Filesystem", and "8 GB Linux Swap". Is the EFI system partition somehow related to my original windows? – akivjh Dec 31 '14 at 02:05
  • shoot. I didn't think of that. When you re-installed, you may have also wiped out the recovery partition. On my HP laptop, pressing F11 when turn on accesses recovery partition. First thing I did before putting Ubuntu on my laptop is I burned the recovery partition to DVD's and then locked them up in a lock box. HP allows you to burn the media once. If you did that, your in luck. Or if they provided you with any type of CD. You may also be able to order one from HP. – geoffmcc Dec 31 '14 at 02:17
  • yeah I tried the F11 system recovery option and it just started Ubuntu back up :/ – akivjh Dec 31 '14 at 03:06
  • yeah, its gone. Unless you made a backup of it you may need to call HP and order a recovery cd. Unless you can think of other ways of getting your hands on windows 8 – geoffmcc Dec 31 '14 at 03:08
  • quick question, if I buy windows 8.1 online, will I be able to just fresh install it or is it not possible to install windows on my system anymore? – akivjh Dec 31 '14 at 03:38
  • i really couldnt say, but the cheapest option i think would be to just get the recovery cd from HP. You already paid for Windows. Might as well just pay the $20-50 (im guessing) for a recovery disk from HP. – geoffmcc Dec 31 '14 at 03:47