Score:0

NON OS (windows) files deleted/ hidden with OS uninstaller

cn flag

I had a dual boot system with Windows 10 and Ubuntu 20.04. One partition was dedicated to keep files which could be accessed from both the OSes. Then I removed the windows by formatting the partition containing Windows however the entry was still available in Grub. So i decided to use OS-Uninstaller to uninstall windows completely. I downloaded and used the said utility in Ubuntu and it gave me a success message. However, after this I am unable to access files in the common partition. When I access the partition in Linux it shows me its full size with only around 500MB space used. When I access the partition using Windows diskmanagement (I installed windows again) it shows that around 50GB is used. Output of $sudo parted --list is as follows:

Model: ATA WDC WD10SPZX-22Z (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    Type      File system     Flags
 3      1077MB  262GB   261GB   extended                  lba
 7      1077MB  50.0GB  48.9GB  logical   ext4
 5      50.0GB  62.0GB  12.0GB  logical   linux-swap(v1)
 8      62.0GB  157GB   95.3GB  logical   ext4
 6      157GB   262GB   105GB   logical   ntfs
 4      262GB   1000GB  738GB   primary   ntfs            boot

My question is: Have i accidentally lost my files? or are those files somehow hidden? If deleted is there a safe way to recover those files?

I hope I have made myself clear. I am not attaching any logs because I dont know what is need to trouble shoot the issue.

Guidance will be highly appreciated.

David avatar
cn flag
Sorry I think you killed the files. Always make back ups before doing anything that involves disks or operating systems.
new2Ubuntu avatar
cn flag
I am crying out loud after this comment.
David avatar
cn flag
It has happened to us all at some time.
new2Ubuntu avatar
cn flag
Is there any way to recover those files? some of the files were of extreme import.
David avatar
cn flag
Not that I know of, maybe in the next few days someone will read your question and have some ideas. There is of course professional services that MIGHT be able to recover some or all of the files.
new2Ubuntu avatar
cn flag
thank you for the guidance. I have updated my Question. I expect around 70Gigs of data.
Score:0
my flag

Use Testdisk utility:

  1. sudo apt -y install testdisk -- to install testdisk
  2. sudo lsblk --for the partition name
  3. testdisk -- in the terminal, to start the utility & go from there
  4. When the entire process finishes and you are okay with the findings, press C to restore the recovered files at any directory of your choice.

Hope this helps.

new2Ubuntu avatar
cn flag
thank you for the suggestion. Will try and update.
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