Getting rid of Linux from dual boot system
in [Laptops]
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From: Roger Mills on 7 Feb 2010 10:36 I have a laptop which started off with Win XP, and I added Ubuntu Linux in a dual-boot config in order to have a play with it. Having found that there are too many things which Linux *doesn't* do (mainly running Windows-only applications) I would like to get rid of it, and revert to just Win XP. Can this be done, and if so, how? It was the Linux installation which created the dual-boot setup. Every time I start the system, I get a menu with several Linux options, and Win XP at the bottom - and have to scroll down to this every time, otherwise it boots into Linux by default. I would like to get rid of this menu so that it goes automatically into XP, and so that I can recover the disk space used by the Linux partitions. Help! If this is not possible, is there a way in which I can - at least - make XP the default so that I don't have to scroll down the menu each time? TIA -- Cheers, Roger _______ Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom checked.
From: BillW50 on 7 Feb 2010 11:34 Roger Mills wrote: > I have a laptop which started off with Win XP, and I added Ubuntu Linux in a > dual-boot config in order to have a play with it. > > Having found that there are too many things which Linux *doesn't* do (mainly > running Windows-only applications) I would like to get rid of it, and revert > to just Win XP. > > Can this be done, and if so, how? It was the Linux installation which > created the dual-boot setup. Every time I start the system, I get a menu > with several Linux options, and Win XP at the bottom - and have to scroll > down to this every time, otherwise it boots into Linux by default. > > I would like to get rid of this menu so that it goes automatically into XP, > and so that I can recover the disk space used by the Linux partitions. Help! > > If this is not possible, is there a way in which I can - at least - make XP > the default so that I don't have to scroll down the menu each time? > > TIA All of this is possible Roger. And for me, a real piece of cake. But I don't know what tools you have like boot disc or anything. Nor do I know your experience level is either. But basically you just restore the MBR on your drive first. Then just Windows will just boot (and now you know it is safe to remove the Linux partitions). Then remove the Linux partition(s) and resize your Windows partition. Here this explains it pretty well. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=508927 -- Bill Asus EEE PC 702G4 ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC Ubuntu 9.10 Netbook Remix
From: Don Phillipson on 7 Feb 2010 12:11 "Roger Mills" <watt.tyler(a)googlemail.com> wrote in message news:7t84vaFu0vU1(a)mid.individual.net... > I have a laptop which started off with Win XP, and I added Ubuntu Linux in a > dual-boot config in order to have a play with it. > > Having found that there are too many things which Linux *doesn't* do (mainly > running Windows-only applications) I would like to get rid of it, and revert > to just Win XP. > > Can this be done, and if so, how? It was the Linux installation which > created the dual-boot setup. Every time I start the system, I get a menu > with several Linux options, and Win XP at the bottom - and have to scroll > down to this every time, otherwise it boots into Linux by default. Two features signal the Linux OS additional to XP 1. The Boot Manager that invites the user to choose between OSs. 2. (Probably) two partitions formatted for Linux which WinXP cannot read. If you reformat the Linux partitions for FAT32 or NTFS (XP default) they will be emptied of Linux files and become available to write and read WinXP. You may find it convenient first to repartition your multiple Linux drives as a single Windows drive. I forget how to wipe out the Boot Manager. FIXMBR seems likely. -- Don Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada)
From: Roger Mills on 7 Feb 2010 16:18 In an earlier contribution to this discussion, BillW50 <BillW50(a)aol.kom> wrote: > Roger Mills wrote: >> I have a laptop which started off with Win XP, and I added Ubuntu >> Linux in a dual-boot config in order to have a play with it. >> >> Having found that there are too many things which Linux *doesn't* do >> (mainly running Windows-only applications) I would like to get rid >> of it, and revert to just Win XP. >> >> Can this be done, and if so, how? It was the Linux installation which >> created the dual-boot setup. Every time I start the system, I get a >> menu with several Linux options, and Win XP at the bottom - and have >> to scroll down to this every time, otherwise it boots into Linux by >> default. I would like to get rid of this menu so that it goes >> automatically >> into XP, and so that I can recover the disk space used by the Linux >> partitions. Help! If this is not possible, is there a way in which I >> can - at least - >> make XP the default so that I don't have to scroll down the menu >> each time? TIA > > All of this is possible Roger. And for me, a real piece of cake. But I > don't know what tools you have like boot disc or anything. Nor do I > know your experience level is either. But basically you just restore > the MBR on your drive first. Then just Windows will just boot (and > now you know it is safe to remove the Linux partitions). Then remove > the Linux partition(s) and resize your Windows partition. Here this > explains it pretty well. > > http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=508927 Many thanks - that looks fairly straightforward. Meanwhile, I'd done a bit of Googling and found various suggestions about deleting the Ubuntu partitions and then booting from a Win98 installation disk (I'm sure I've got one somewhere!) and running fixmbr from that. But I like the idea of fixing the MBR first, and *then* deleting the Ubultu partitions, and making the Windows partitions larger. I'll have a go some time soon - but not today. My laptop with this dual-boot setup is currently my only working PC because my desktop machine is out of action and needs either fixing or replacing - so I'll wait until I haven't got all my eggs in the same basket just in case the worst happens! -- Cheers, Roger _______ Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom checked.
From: BillW50 on 7 Feb 2010 16:46 In news:7t8p0lFnr0U1(a)mid.individual.net, Roger Mills typed on Sun, 7 Feb 2010 21:18:03 -0000: > In an earlier contribution to this discussion, BillW50 > <BillW50(a)aol.kom> wrote: >> Roger Mills wrote: >>> I have a laptop which started off with Win XP, and I added Ubuntu >>> Linux in a dual-boot config in order to have a play with it. >>> >>> Having found that there are too many things which Linux *doesn't* do >>> (mainly running Windows-only applications) I would like to get rid >>> of it, and revert to just Win XP. >>> >>> Can this be done, and if so, how? It was the Linux installation >>> which created the dual-boot setup. Every time I start the system, I >>> get a menu with several Linux options, and Win XP at the bottom - >>> and have to scroll down to this every time, otherwise it boots into >>> Linux by default. I would like to get rid of this menu so that it >>> goes automatically >>> into XP, and so that I can recover the disk space used by the Linux >>> partitions. Help! If this is not possible, is there a way in which I >>> can - at least - >>> make XP the default so that I don't have to scroll down the menu >>> each time? TIA >> >> All of this is possible Roger. And for me, a real piece of cake. But >> I don't know what tools you have like boot disc or anything. Nor do I >> know your experience level is either. But basically you just restore >> the MBR on your drive first. Then just Windows will just boot (and >> now you know it is safe to remove the Linux partitions). Then remove >> the Linux partition(s) and resize your Windows partition. Here this >> explains it pretty well. >> >> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=508927 > > > Many thanks - that looks fairly straightforward. Meanwhile, I'd done > a bit of Googling and found various suggestions about deleting the > Ubuntu partitions and then booting from a Win98 installation disk > (I'm sure I've got one somewhere!) and running fixmbr from that. But > I like the idea of fixing the MBR first, and *then* deleting the > Ubultu partitions, and making the Windows partitions larger. > > I'll have a go some time soon - but not today. My laptop with this > dual-boot setup is currently my only working PC because my desktop > machine is out of action and needs either fixing or replacing - so > I'll wait until I haven't got all my eggs in the same basket just in > case the worst happens! -- > Cheers, > Roger Yup, fixing the MBR first is the smart thing to do first. As Linux is now unbootable and Windows is bootable. And yes, a Windows 98 Start floppy has FDISK which does the job with "FDISK /MBR" very well. If you don't have one, a XP install CD will work too. Here is the directions to get there. http://helpdeskgeek.com/how-to/fix-mbr-xp-vista/ That link I listed earlier, shows a program that will do the same thing too. So there are three options right there. Plus there are many more options I could talk about too. Yes, very good idea to wait until you have another computer up and running. ;-) -- Bill Asus EEE PC 702G8 ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC Windows XP SP2
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