Windows 7: Win7 problem after format and recover (lost disk space) urgent!!!!

i have Windows 7 home edition 32bit given with my pc installed.
after a while i installed ubuntu 10.10 dual/boot and allocated 20GB as a partition to it.
dual boot worked fine i could use both os without problem
at some time i had some virus problems in win 7 and decided to format disk and reinstall.
i have no Windows 7 installation disk but a Windows 7 recovery disk given with the pc in order to use in these situations.
when i used the recovery cd before reinstalling windows i formatted disk (using the recovery cd to do it).
the rest of the install worked all right. however the problem is that now the 20GB of hard disk space allocated to ubuntu are lost. windows recognizes only the rest space and does not show any other partition. i also used easeus partition magic tool but got the same result.
what do i have to do to be able to use all disk space.
do full HD format with some option? and how?

Right click on your My computer icon on the desktop > Manage . It will open the computer management window. Maximize the window, click on "Disk management" in the left hand side pane, and post a snipshot ot the resulting windoe , for a better understanding of the present situation .

Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Seven Forums

Ubuntu uses a different format structure for the disks and partitions , so usually the ubuntu partitions are not generally shown in windows. But it is visible in the disk management window, without any drive letter assigned to it .

EDIT : If you want to access the linux partition from within windows, you may try this program : http://www.techiequest.com/diskinter...-from-windows/

Here is the My Computer/disk management screen shot. Sorry in Greek only.
Note that E: and G: are USB sticks not partitions. Only C: and the boot.

EDIT: I know Linux uses Ext2/3 type filesystem. But the partition should be visible. I even tried
partition programs that read several formats. to no avail..

Thanx for ur reply..

What is the mystery? You formatted the HD which wiped out everything including your Ubuntu 20gb, as should be expected. Even if you hadn´t formatted it as you say, running the Recovery Disks would have likely wiped out your Linux partition if you didn´t carefully select another option.

In the future use Disk Mgmt to shrink Windows 7 to make install space for Linux, although I would use a separate HD if possible if you plan to use GRUB which can corrupt Windows 7 beyond repair.

For operations which Disk Mgmt cannot do use free Partition Wizard bootable CD, not Partition Magic which will ruin Windows 7.

Check in Device Manager, that the drivers are installed for Disk 1.

The format should as the word says format the whole disk
and after all available space should be ready for any filesystem you like

if the partition is erased where is the space to recover it. Since it erased it it was at
least somehow visible to Windows 7 why is it not now after format??

Anyway i think the format i did was only quick and maybe with full format on whole disk regardless of partitions should bring the space back. The problem is how to do it
without taking the HD off the computer and into other computer??

Thanx.

Mate foo123, I guess the hard disk drive under discussion is a 320 GB one, right ? Such a drive provides 298 GB storage space, that is the size of your Disk0 . So no space is lost , no more space is recoverable . For a better study, read Where Are All My Gigs? .

As the unavailable capacity is similar to the other partition that you made, it makes you think that you are losing storage space; but it is not the fact. You are using your full storage.

i think u r correct. i figured that it might be the address space and/or the
1000 1024 BYTE discrepancy. However i wasnt sure enough.

Thanx a million..

Sorry for your time..

Until next time..

You are welcome, mate !