Ubuntu destroyed my Windows Partition

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Alright I have just installed Ubuntu on one of my computers. There is a 40GB & 60GB Hard Drive inside the computer. I added the 40GB into the computer to be used as a Ubuntu Drive. I specifically told Ubuntu to install on the 40GB during installation. So it gets rid of everything and leaves me with nothing.
Of, and I JUST INSTALLED A FRESH COPY OF XP LAST WEEK. AND IT TOKE 5 HOURS TO INSTALL EVERYTHING ON WINDOWS!! ! I ALSO HAVE GAME DEVELOPING TO GET BACK TOO & THE PROGRAM I USE ONLY RUNS ON WINDOWS!! !!

bummer!
i had this happen to me, but luckily in my case it was the same OS.
i was still hacked off tho because, like you, i specifiy told the setup to install it on the BLANK drive

That happened to me. Windows wouldn't boot. I just installed vista and selected the "keep files" setting.

I want to ask this. I have the WIndows CD & how do I install Windows w/o screwing up linux.

You. Windows doesn't have any way of handling linux partitions.
I'd suggest you just run Linux in VMWare or VirtualPC (it's free from MS) and mess around with linux.
Then get a cheap computer and put linux on that. Or get a new computer for windows, and put linux on your older computer.

yeah, that happens, on vista it destroyed by boot stuff and I got blue screen of death

As I recall xp has a partitioner on start up. if you already have a partition for it you can just select that?

There used to be a program called Partition Magic. Do they still have it out there? It used to be able to install multiple OS's on the same drive

Did it actually destroy Windows, or did it just break your MBR? I've broken my MBR a few times, but you can fix that pretty easily and your OS is still there. You can't, to my knowledge, install Windows without destroying Linux because Windows wants the whole HD. It's easier to install Linux next to Windows.

If you need something in Windows right away, just put XP in VirtualBox for now.

Sorry to hear Ubuntu isn't treating you well. If you need help, you know where to ask.

No, last time I installed xp pro I chose to make two partitions so that I would have a C and D drive. My programs and files and documents are all on D in case I have to reinstall. This was a year before I tried linux. Windows can play friendly.

The correct way to install both Windows and Linux would be to install Windows FIRST.

If you decide to install Windows last then it WILL take over the MBR for itself and ignore the Linux installation.

I use a third party piece of software to partition and for a boot manager.

If you think Linux has destroyed your Windows installation, I would suggest booting Ubuntu and check what size the partition is. If it's the entire hard drive, it will have taken out Windows with it. I am always weary of EVERY OS I install, I check where it's going, how it's going to interact with the hard drive, and if it will modify the partitions in anyway. Sometimes I spend 5 minutes checking everything to be sure.

Really though, you should back up Windows installation to the form of an image so everything is exactly the way it is before as though you never touched it.

You can only have 3 installations of NT if you install Linux as well. 2000, XP, Vista and Linux. This is because Windows wants the primary partition and Linux is happy to use extended partitions or primary....

I checked my Windows Hard Drive and there is nothing on there no. However the Hard Drive is still classified as NTFS.

It's possible that it's been made unreadable- same thing happened to me when I killed Vista's MBR with Ubuntu. Try booting from the recovery disk, and if that fails, you know Windows is gone.

If the partion is still marked as NTFS then that means it is good. That says that the FAT table is good and nothing has been damaged. Your MBR is possible wrong and needs correction.

The correct way to ensure that all partions are ok during a ubuntu installation is to choose the manual part of the install program (hard disk partions etc..) not the automatic one.

What you have here is also classical boot sector error due that fact that you have Windows on diffrent hard drive. To properly dual boot Windows and linux you need to put both on the same hard drive. You can do the other, but then you have to let grub handle the boot up.

I've never had trouble with that.