After installing BT4 it seams I lost my windows XP

[todor]

Hi,
I'm really in trouble, I installed BT4 today, even I'm not sure what exactly installation I did, but after restart I can't see any other OC, besides Linux/Ubuntu of BT...

does it mean I have lost my Windows? Is it possible after installing BT windows to go away?

[Archangel-Amael]

Classic example of why you shouldn't mess with things you don't fully understand.
I would suggest you use this as a learning opportunity.

[todor]

So it means I've really and permanently lost my windows, right? F..ck!

But is there any way to recover some of the data on my hard drive?

[ki1022]

Well, if you installed over your existing Windows installation you are basically screwed.

If you only mis-configured your boot-loader or messed up your partition table, it might be salvageable. No offense, but I would ask someone with more knowledge to take a loot at it so you don't lose your chance of getting your data back.

[micole]

does it mean I have lost my Windows? Is it possible after installing BT windows to go away?

First short answer: Maybe.
Second short answer: It is possible to delete everything when installing BT.

First long answer: Your windows partition may still be there, but BT didn't put the pointer into the grub loader. (Very unlikely). You can use a command like this: FDisk to view your partitions and see if windows is still there. Don't get your hopes up though.

Second long answer: Duh. (If you have never played with Linux before I would put money down that you deleted windows)

[lupin]

It might be possible to retrieve some of your files from your Windows volume even if you have overwritten your Windows partition (as long as only part of it was overwritten). The bad news is it will probably be beyond your ability to do this recovery yourself. You might be able to get something back by using a file carver like foremost or scalpel to analyse the raw disk, but either tool is not really suitable for those without detailed knowledge of file recovery. You can try using the Plainsight boot CD to see if that will work for you, or try some other basic recovery tool.

You really do need to know what you're doing before you install any Operating System, especially if you already have an installed system you want to keep working...