have I lost all the data on my computer?

Question：Hi!
Yesterday I installed a Linux distribution on my laptop, in order to have both Windows XP (Service Pack 3) and Linux as operating systems. After installing Linux, I left 15 GB of free space to use them as a the D: partition for Windows (C: is the partition where I had program files and all my documents, some of them important).

So, I use the Windows XP CD to boot my computer and, when I get to edit partitions, I saw 15 GB unpartitioned space. That was ok. But, unfortunately when I wanted to make it D: ...NTFS..., at the next step... there were 60 GB of unpartitioned space!!! (the capacity of my hard disk minus 15 GB).

Nothing happened, no noise from the computer as it was working on something, no question asked ("Do you want to lose everything you did in the past X years on your computer?")... it was instantly, not even a second... therefore, I suppose the data is there, but the thing that says the computer where to find the paritions is broken. When I restarted the computer and ejected the Windows Boot CD there was nothing to boot from. Neither Linux, nor WinXp... it's so meaningless...

Can I have all my data back?
Thank you in advance.
PS: I should repeat that I think the data is still there... there was no formatting or something like that. PSS: sorry for spelling errors

Answer 1：

XP Newsgroups:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/newsgroups/reader.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.windowsxp.general

Above link is to XP Newsgroups.

There is a list of the various XP Newsgroups down the left-hand column there.

You will get the assistance that you need there.

These are Vista Forums.

Have a look with Knoppix, and see what is there:

http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html

 

Download/Save the above Knoppix Live CD ISO file.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm

 

Download the Vista Burning software from the above link.

 

After installing above ISO burning software, right-click on Knoppix ISO file > Copy Image to CD.

 

Knoppix does not install on your PC; just uses your PC's resources, RAM, Graphics, etc.

 

Change the Boot Order in YOUR computer/laptop to make the CD/DVD Drive 1^st in the Boot Order.

 

Plug in a Flash Drive/Memory Stick, BOOT with the Live CD, and you should be able to read your Hard Drive.

When the desktop loads, you will see at least two hard drive icons on the desktop (one for your hard drive and one for the USB drive).

 

Click on the hard drive icons to open them up and figure out which drive is which.

 

Right-click the USB drive icon and choose "Actions > Change read/write mode" so you can write to the drive (it's read-only by default for security reasons).

 

Now find the files you want to back up and drag and drop them to the USB drive. When you are finished, shut down the system and remove the USB drive.

Cheers

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Mick Murphy - Microsoft Partner