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I am new to Ubuntu and switched to it from Windows 10. When I was switching I backed up my files and transfered them to Ubuntu to /home after I've installed the OS. While installing Ubuntu I didn't put my home directory on my other hard disk and I didn't like that all of my files were saved on my SSD. So I did the stupid thing and I went to reinstall Ubuntu (chose the option that does not erase my files) but I have put my home directory on my HDD. I formated my HDD while installing but I didn't format my SSD where the old /home directory was saved. Now I have a /home directory but it's saved on another disk and I don't see any files from my old /home directory. I no longer have the backup and I need my old files. I am desperate and I hope someone can help me get my old files back.

Thanks

woozie
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    Possibly the old /home directory is still there and the new home partition is just mounted at that location, effectively hiding the old content. You could try unmounting it (sudo umount /home), but that will probably not work while it is in use. In that case just boot from the live CD, mount your main "/" partition from the SSD somewhere and your new home partition from the HDD somewhere else and move your files from the main partition's home directory to the one on the SSD (not the home directory of the live system, there they will be lost after rebooting!). – Byte Commander Aug 04 '17 at 12:27
  • Could you please guide me a bit through the process of booting from a live cd. I have it here but am unsure what to do once i get to the gnu grub – woozie Aug 04 '17 at 12:51
  • Simply chose "Try Ubuntu without Installing" instead of "Install Ubuntu". Then it will boot into a live Ubuntu system from which you can mount your HDD partitions. – Byte Commander Aug 04 '17 at 12:55
  • Ok i'm in. Now i see my hdd volume with its home directory(the new one) and i see my SSD volume and its home directory but it is unfortunately empty. – woozie Aug 04 '17 at 12:58
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    Too bad. Maybe you can try and recover something using the standard methods for deleted files? https://askubuntu.com/q/3883/367990 Make sure you don't boot from or write anything to the disk you want to restore files from though. Every write access can destroy remainders of your files. – Byte Commander Aug 04 '17 at 13:16
  • I've tried everything. But am I supposed to see anything in the home folder on my SSD? I just got in and saw Computer which is the try ubuntu partition, my SSD volume with a home directory but it has absolutely nothing, not even Desktop Documents and other default directories and then the HDD. I didn't mount anything because I don't know how to proceed. – woozie Aug 04 '17 at 13:22
  • You may be getting confused as to where your files are. Try this. Boot to the Ubuntu Live DVD in Try Ubuntu mode. Open a Files (Nautilus) window. Look at the left pane. You should see a line that contains your SSD, and another that contains your HDD. Click once on the SSD, then the Home folder that you see there, then your username folder, and you should see Documents/Music/etc folders where your files should be. – heynnema Aug 04 '17 at 13:30
  • I did exactly that and sadly it is empty and doesnt even have my username. Well it seems the files are gone.. – woozie Aug 04 '17 at 13:44

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