cant mount hdd with ubuntu usb

[ryan35]

I have old laptop and os is xp. I cant boot it so i tried run ubuntu from usb and i did it, but problem is i wanted to access hdd so i can save images but i cant, i have this error:

http://imgur.com/EPG7i62

[sudodus]

Welcome to the Ubuntu Forums

There can be several reasons why you can't read the HDD.

A. It is physically broken. Let us hope this is not the case. You can check if the connections are good (move the plugs a little to make sure it is good electrical connection to the HDD).

B. The file system is damaged.

1. In this case it might help to run

chkdsk /f

from Windows. You can boot from a Windows install disk, from a Bart PE or Windows 7 PE USB drive and run that command. If the damage is fairly small, it may work. (I have managed to repair Windows systems a few times that way.

2. If chkdsk /f does not help 'enough' to make Windows run again, you might be able to read the partition and save your personal files after booting again from the Ubuntu pendrive.

-o-

If you post the output of the following commands, it will be easier to help.

I select advanced mode, mark the text and click the # icon at the top of the editing window in order to put the output text within

[CODE]sudo fdisk -lu[/CODE]

tags to make it look like this

sudo fdisk -lu

and this

sudo parted -l

Please do the same with the output from the commands

[ryan35]

I cant boot it with windows repair console or windows xp.
I tiped that 2 commands and i took 2 pictures:
http://i.imgur.com/NDJ3CD7.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/VE7d5R7.jpg

[sudodus]

It is much easier to mark and paste text from the terminal window to the editing window of the Ubuntu Forums than to take photos and upload them. Mark the text pressing the left button and drag the mouse. Middle click to paste it. But the information is there in the pictures, so here we go.

The pictures show four primary partitions on the internal hard disk drive /dev/sda. My guess is that the first one contains Windows XP. The second one might be a data partition, but the third hidden fat32 partition and the fourth EFI partition indicate an attempt to install Windows 7 or Windows 8. So the second partition might contain that second Windows. Do you know anything about the history of the computer?

It looks like it should be possible to mount the partitions. If you can not do it automatically with the file browser, you should be able to do it manually with terminal window commands (when Ubuntu is booted from the USB drive).

Open a terminal window and run this command to mount the first partition

sudo mount -t auto /dev/sda1 /mnt

and use the file browser to explore it (in the directory /mnt).

Unmount it with

sudo umount /mnt

and run this command to mount the second partition

sudo mount -t auto /dev/sda2 /mnt

and use the file browser to explore it (in the directory /mnt).

[ryan35]

its working but there is another problem, i cant move images to my usb. When i go right click to image or folder i can move it to Home or Desktop. How to move it to usb?

[sudodus]

I'm glad it works for you

You need to mount your USB drive so that it has read and write permissions.

- What USB drive is it? The pendrive that you boot from or some other USB drive (pendrive or HDD)?

- Where and how is it mounted now (by automount I suppose)?

When the target USB drive is mounted (the one you want to copy to), run this command and post the output (mark and paste is easier than to take a photo). See my previous post.

cat /etc/mtab

[ryan35]

Am on another computer, this is desktop pc. laptop is uber slow so making pictures is easier then login from laptop and upload it from there. (sry but its really easier).
I see it has automount option on. I have usb that i boot ubuntu and another usb with 4gb.
http://i.imgur.com/fXgXDyL.jpg

[sudodus]

On your boot drive

/dev/sdb1 is mounted on /cdrom with read/write permissions. The drive size is 16GB, and the image of the iso file is less than 1 GB, so there should be a lot of space to copy files to that place. You see it as /cdrom in the file browser.

And there is a fuse system which is also read/write (is it a Windows network)? Maybe you can copy a lot of files this way. Check how you see it in the file browser.

[ryan35]

I mounted first partition and i did that command but doesnt work or i didnt understand what to do http://i.imgur.com/V36ZIjS.jpg

[sudodus]

/dev/sdb1 is already mounted and can been seen with the file browser. You need not mount it. Browse to the directory /cdrom. If you have two browser windows open, you can drag and drop files from the Windows directory to that /cdrom directory.

But let me ask you now: What do you want to do with the computer? (I mean after you have saved the most important personal files.)

- Do you want to make Windows work again?

- Do you want to wipe Windows and install some kind of Ubuntu flavour operating system?

- Or do you want both? (most complicated, but should be possible.)