installing ubuntu in vista problems

[katya_sehgal]

thank you.
i shall re-read and understand and then revert. I do have data in the f drive, the one I created.

[katya_sehgal]

First backup the partition table with this from the Ubuntu liveCD terminal. Copy the file partssda.txt to another device as a backup. This is inaddition to full backups of any important data.

sudo sfdisk -d /dev/sda > partssda.txt

Then download this program that will analyze your partitions and suggest corrections.

To convert a partition from primary to logical, at least one free (unallocated) sector must exist between the partition and the one that precedes it.
Fixparts - Repair broken partition tables (not overlapping issues) & delete Stray gpt data from MBR drives
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1705325
http://www.rodsbooks.com/fixparts/

I think the rodsbooks site explains the process but if you have questions post (copy & paste) the output from the fixparts program and we may be able to help.

This is what I typed and got: Is this alright? Does this ' back up'? How do I copy partssda to another device. In windows I have backed up important data and software.

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo sfdisk -d /dev/sda > partssda.txt 
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ ^C
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ ^C
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ clear

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo sfdisk -d /dev/sda > partssda.txt
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$

If I run the software you have suggested, would it delete anything anywhere? The additional F drive I had created contains much of the data.

C and D drive are the naturals.
E is cd rom drive
F is my creation through Acronis and it contains data.

I wonder if 'delete Stray gpt data from MBR drives' is a warning.

[katya_sehgal]

From fix parts

I do not recommend using FixParts for routine partitioning tasks such as deleting partitions, changing the active/bootable flag, or changing type codes. Although the program can do these things, these features are provided as conveniences when repairing more serious problems.

Since I am unaware about ubuntu and terminals, I am going just by indications.

Thanks oldfred.
I may also be inclined to delete /dev/sda5 first - but that's based on it being your new F: drive in Windows - and hopefully still empty.

F drive is not empty. C and D came with the system. E is cd drive and F is my creation, in the case something happens to C.

Also, please check the posts above with regards to partition table backups.

[Quackers]

The command

sudo sfdisk -d /dev/sda > partssda.txt

having been run should have created a text file in your home folder called

partssda.txt

This file is a written record of your partition table and can be copied somewhere for safe keeping.

I suspect that 4 primary partitions were already being used by your system, originally.
When you split C: into C: and F: you created a 5th partition. This 5th partition can not legally exist, so your system made one of your primary partitions an extended partition and changed one of your NTFS (Windows) partitions (probably F into a logical partition - along with the Dell Datasafe partiton.

It may be that no other partitioning program will "see" your partition layout due to the illegality of sda3. Therefore you may have no choice but to use Fixparts to delete sda5 and then try to fix the other inconsistencies.

Good luck

Edit Actually, are all partitions "seen" in Windows Disk Management screen?

[katya_sehgal]

I get that there was no 'straight' solution for the program. Has it been documented anywhere? It may not be isolated and may discourage others from adopting Ubuntu... Like a few people to whom I proposed Ubuntu.

To QUACKERS

c - basic NTFS Healthy
d (recovery) - basic ntfs healthy (primary partition)
f (I created this) - basic ntfs healthy (logical drive)

thanks for your time. anything I may do?

The command

sudo sfdisk -d /dev/sda > partssda.txt

having been run should have created a text file in your home folder called

partssda.txt

This file is a written record of your partition table and can be copied somewhere for safe keeping.

I suspect that 4 primary partitions were already being used by your system, originally.
When you split C: into C: and F: you created a 5th partition. This 5th partition can not legally exist, so your system made one of your primary partitions an extended partition and changed one of your NTFS (Windows) partitions (probably F into a logical partition - along with the Dell Datasafe partiton.

It may be that no other partitioning program will "see" your partition layout due to the illegality of sda3. Therefore you may have no choice but to use Fixparts to delete sda5 and then try to fix the other inconsistencies.

Good luck

Edit Actually, are all partitions "seen" in Windows Disk Management screen?