Q:

How do I recover documents from a broken Ubuntu installation?

I installed Ubuntu on a hard drive that had Windows XP installed so I could dual-boot the two operating systems. Everything was fine but now I can't boot into XP or Ubuntu. I had some important documents in the Ubuntu partition and the hard drive is still working, so how can I recover those files from a working Ubuntu installation? Where should I look for the broken Ubuntu installation?

A:

Go to another computer, simply download an actual Ubuntu image and make a bootable USB stick described on homepage from ubuntu.com. Boot from these USB stick and choose "Try Ubuntu". Now put a clean second USB stick or HDD into another USB port and save your documents from your computer HDD.
PS: It does not work, if you have encryption enabled by installation.

