I downloaded Ubuntu 14.04 and installed it via a bootable USB drive.
I wanted dual-boot for Windows and Linux.
I already had installed Windows 8 in C: partition. Now I installed Ubuntu in D: partition (with F: partition as swap area)
I'm unable to access D: and F: drives from Windows.
What do I do now?
I have my very important files in F: drive. How to recover or access it?
Please help me. Thanks :)
It appears that you did not repartition the drive, but chose an existing Windows partition as swap space in the Ubuntu installer. This means your NTFS partition will be corrupted (mkswap was run on it). mkswap does not do a full format, so you should be able to recover the majority (perhaps all) of your files.
Boot Windows and run Microsoft Checkdisk (chkdsk) on your F: drive. You might need to change the partition type from 82 (Linux swap) to 07 (HPFS/NTFS/exFAT) if it does not recognise the drive as being a Windows drive.
If that does not work, try TestDisk
The MFT (Master File Table) is sometimes corrupted. If Microsoft's Checkdisk (chkdsk) failed to repair the MFT, run TestDisk. In the Advanced menu, select your NTFS partition, choose Boot, then Repair MFT. TestDisk will compare the MFT and MFT mirror (its backup). If the MFT is damaged, it will try to repair the MFT using the backup. If the MFT backup is damaged, it will use the main MFT.
If both MFT and MFTMirr are damaged and thus cannot be repaired using TestDisk, you might want to try commercial software like Zero Assumption Recovery, GetDataBack for NTFS or Restorer 2000.
Did you install Ubuntu in UEFI mode or Legacy BIOS mode? If you have installed Ubuntu through legacy mode, then you won't be able to access Ubuntu when UEFI is enabled and vice versa.
Also, if you assigned your F: partition, i.e /dev/sdxy as your swap area, Ubuntu has to format that partition for using it as swap. You won't be able to get back your data (unless you did backup it or perform a data recovery).
Make sure GRUB is properly installed and configured.
