Hard drive not found and lost all files

The CD Drive Properties shows that the type, size and volume are unknown.

Did you install with Wubi, or did you you resize NTFS and install a true install of ubuntu?

The Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop Edition was used after backup of data files at that time and reformatting the hard drive. The trial install was not used, but the full install option was used.

The Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop Edition supplied on the CD-ROM was used to install Ubuntu. Does this mean that the NTFS install was done , please?

You should be able to boot to liveCD and access you Ext4 partitions. Why do you not have a backup?

Briefly an icon appeared at the top right of the desktop, to the left of the Network Manager Applet icon. This icon had the title CRASH REPORT. The icon has disappeared now. Also even after getting the network connected, Firefox can't find the server of required web page. Please help with this problem. Thank you very much.

This question was expired because it remained in the 'Open' state without activity for the last 15 days.

Thank you for your kind suggestion to open the question. This problem has continued and I would be most grateful for your kind help to recover use of my PC's hard drive.
Kind regards
Edmond

The problem had gone unexpectedly for a few days but it has now returned. The Drive Configuration again shows that Primary Master Drive is an Unknown Device. Although there is no Slve Drive this too was shown as Unknown Device. The Secondary Master and Slave Drives were shown as CD-ROM Device. The PC boots with the Ubuntu CD from the CD-ROM, but all the previous contents of the hard drive cannot be accessed. Kindly help and advise me regarding this unexpected problem with my PC.

Thank you for your kind suggestion to open the question. This problem has
continued and I would be most grateful for your kind help to recover use of
my PC's hard drive.
Kind regards
Edmond

-----Original Message-----
From: Launchpad Janitor
Sent: Monday, July 09, 2012 10:21 AM
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: Re: [Question #201240]: Hard drive not found and lost all files

Your question #201240 on ubiquity in Ubuntu changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+question/201240

    Status: Open => Expired

Launchpad Janitor expired the question:
This question was expired because it remained in the 'Open' state
without activity for the last 15 days.

--
If you're still having this problem, you can reopen your question either
by replying to this email or by going to the following page and
entering more information about your problem:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+question/201240

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Try foremost or scalpel. Why did you install such an old release??

I started with the Ubuntu 10.10 version on CD. Then with regular updates, my next option should be Ubuntu 11.10. I had Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) installed. However my intel graphics hardware is not supported for the upgrade to Ubuntu 11.10. To avoid problems after the offered upgrade to Ubuntu 11.10 I decided to keep using present the Ubuntu 11.04 version.

Kindly explain for my benefit what you mean by the instruction "Try foremost or scalpel." I would appreciate your further help. Thanks very much.

If you boot to live CD, can you access the partition?

I could not get the hard disc recognised. The live CD could only give the Ubuntu trial and even then no web pages could be accessed. I checked the IDE connections between the hard drive and the motherboard and booted the PC successfully from the hard drive. This indicates that there may have been a very slightly loose connection, at the motherboard socket, with the ATA connector. Thanks for the help.
Kind regards

I could not get the hard disc recognised. The live CD could only give the Ubuntu trial and even then no web pages could be accessed. I checked the IDE connections between the hard drive and the motherboard and booted the PC successfully from the hard drive. This indicates that there may have been a very slightly loose connection, at the motherboard socket, with the ATA connector. Thanks for the help.
Kind regards