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Remove Ubuntu

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by dorierez

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From XP Pro, I install Ubuntu on the HD but realized that there is not enough room left. I removed it through Add/Remove in control panel but when I boot Ubuntu is still there and I'm asked which OS I want to boot from.
How do I clean that?

11 replies

by rob miners

Fixmbr - Repair Master Boot Record

Site
http://www.ambience.sk/fdisk-master-boot-record-windows-linux-lilo-fixmbr.php

Download
http://www.ambience.sk/experiments/MbrFix.exe

Command to run if you only have one Hard drive in your System. If you have two hard drives check the instructions by clicking Fixmbr from explorer and it will create a html file for perusal.

Press Winkey + r and type in cmd and press Enter. Navigate to where you copied MbrFix and then type the following commands and press Enter after each command.

MbrFix /drive 0 savembr Backup_MBR_0.bin

MbrFix /drive 0 restorembr Backup_MBR_0.bin

MbrFix /drive 0 fixmbr /yes

The first command will backup the MBR to test if it is working, along with the second command. The third command will rewrite the MBR.

Insert your XP CD and when you see ?Press any key to boot from CD? press a key. Now wait for the XP installer to finish loading up and you will be presented with the option to press R to Repair.

Press R.
The next screen will ask you which Windows? installation you would like to log on to. Normally the following will be listed:
1: C:\WINDOWS

Press 1, then Enter to continue.
You may now be asked for the Administrator password. If you know this type it and press Enter. If you don't know the Administrators password it may be blank. Just press Enter or type your username and password.

At the command prompt type these commands:

fixmbr and press Enter

fixboot and press Enter

Once you are back to the Recovery Console remove the XP CD and restart your PC.

by dorierez

I hope you had those instructions saved somewhere! I have only 1 HD and not sure what my instructions are + I have no XP CD. The computer came without one from the IT Dept years ago and they say they can't provide me one now.

by slayer_

I had this exact same issue, Hirens boot CD fixed it up, it has a fixmbr built into it as one of the tools. I have 6 HDD's in my system, it didn't wreck any of them

by rob miners

be experimenting with a System that I haven't access to Recovery Software for. If I did have to experiment I would use a Virtual Machine.

If you haven't got an XP CD then follow the first set of instructions that I provided in the above post.

by dorierez

1st I'm happy to have given you your 1st thumb up!
Trouble is I'm a bit of a novice. Went to the 1st link and there are instructions that start with "To open it type -

gksudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst"
Unfortunately it does not seem to tell where to go to "open it". Can you help?
Thanks

by dschlesak

The instruction is referring to the UBUNTU command terminal. If you go to the second link you will find the complete instruction manual for GRUB. Make sure that you look in the section on Windows to find where the GRUB config file is located. You will also find instruction on how to modify the config file so that the UBUNTU references are eliminated and that Windows loads as the default operating system. The first entry under this thread shows you how to remove GRUB altogether. I would leave GRUB installed so that you can use it later if you wish to have multiple installations of differing operating systems. Each time you install a new operating system, the GRUB config file is modified to give you a menu of the different operating systems to choose from for the boot. You may read up in the GRUB manual about the features and benefits of GRUB and decide if you wish to keep it or replace it.

by dorierez

All the instructions seem to be directed at programmers. I'm just a computer user and at my age, all this is slightly over my head. If I could be shown how to find Grub, I would probably be able to go on myself with all the instructions you have given me...
My 2nd question still stands. It does not seem to show anywhere how to get into editing.
Can you help 1 more time?

by rob miners

Download MbrFix to c:\

Press Winkey + r and type in cmd and press Enter.

now type cd\ and press Enter.

now type MbrFix /drive 0 savembr Backup_MBR_0.bin and press Enter.

now type MbrFix /drive 0 fixmbr /yes and press Enter.

now type exit and press Enter.

Restart the System for it to take effect.

by dschlesak

If you wish to restore the Windows MBR follow the instructions given by Jacky Howe below. That might be the way to go if you are going to have Windows only on that computer. If you wish to retain GRUB,
I would load UBUNTU from the distribution CD (not install but just boot from the CD) and use a text editor to modify the GRUB menu file. The menu file is usually located in /boot/grub
The one from my laptop looks like this:
(I have two partitions 40GB for windows and 80GB for Ubuntu)
#############################################
# menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)
# grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),
# grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
# and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not use 'savedefault' or your
# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.
default 10

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout 10

## hiddenmenu
# Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)
#hiddenmenu

# Pretty colours
#color cyan/blue white/blue

## password ['--md5'] passwd
# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing
# control (menu entry editor and command-line) and entries protected by the
# command 'lock'
# e.g. password topsecret
# password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/
# password topsecret

#
# examples
#
# title Windows 95/98/NT/2000
# root (hd0,0)
# makeactive
# chainloader +1
#
# title Linux
# root (hd0,1)
# kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro
#

#
# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro
# kopt=root=UUID=d003b67c-027d-435f-808f-a3ed284d2399 ro

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=d003b67c-027d-435f-808f-a3ed284d2399

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
## alternative=false
# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
## lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false

## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the
## alternatives
## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5
# defoptions=quiet splash

## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options
## e.g. lockold=false
## lockold=true
# lockold=false

## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenhopt=

## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenkopt=console=tty0

## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
## altoptions=(recovery) single
# altoptions=(recovery mode) single

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
## howmany=7
# howmany=all

## specify if running in Xen domU or have grub detect automatically
## update-grub will ignore non-xen kernels when running in domU and vice versa
## e.g. indomU=detect
## indomU=true
## indomU=false
# indomU=detect

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
## memtest86=false
# memtest86=true

## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false

## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options
## can be true or false
# savedefault=false

## ## End Default Options ##

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic
uuid d003b67c-027d-435f-808f-a3ed284d2399
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=d003b67c-027d-435f-808f-a3ed284d2399 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic (recovery mode)
uuid d003b67c-027d-435f-808f-a3ed284d2399
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=d003b67c-027d-435f-808f-a3ed284d2399 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.27-11-generic
uuid d003b67c-027d-435f-808f-a3ed284d2399
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-11-generic root=UUID=d003b67c-027d-435f-808f-a3ed284d2399 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-11-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.27-11-generic (recovery mode)
uuid d003b67c-027d-435f-808f-a3ed284d2399
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-11-generic root=UUID=d003b67c-027d-435f-808f-a3ed284d2399 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-11-generic

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.27-9-generic
uuid d003b67c-027d-435f-808f-a3ed284d2399
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-9-generic root=UUID=d003b67c-027d-435f-808f-a3ed284d2399 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-9-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.27-9-generic (recovery mode)
uuid d003b67c-027d-435f-808f-a3ed284d2399
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-9-generic root=UUID=d003b67c-027d-435f-808f-a3ed284d2399 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-9-generic

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.27-7-generic
uuid d003b67c-027d-435f-808f-a3ed284d2399
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-7-generic root=UUID=d003b67c-027d-435f-808f-a3ed284d2399 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-7-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.27-7-generic (recovery mode)
uuid d003b67c-027d-435f-808f-a3ed284d2399
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-7-generic root=UUID=d003b67c-027d-435f-808f-a3ed284d2399 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-7-generic

title Ubuntu 9.04, memtest86+
uuid d003b67c-027d-435f-808f-a3ed284d2399
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

# This is a divider, added to separate the menu items below from the Debian
# ones.
title Other operating systems:
root

# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
# on /dev/sda1
title Microsoft Windows XP Professional
root (hd0,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1

#############################################

You will notice that I have set the default to 10 since my Windows is on line 10 of the menu when it loads. That makes the windows as the default system that is loaded after 10 seconds (timeout 10).

here is what james_in_denver recomended:
http://forums.fedoraforum.org/archive/index.php/t-28423.html
This assumes at least a rudimentary knowledge of the "vi" text editor.

from windows, not easily, there used to be a program that would read and (sometimes) successfully write to linux partitions.

The best bet is this.

Boot off of your first install disk.

At the boot prompt enter "linux rescue"

answer all prompts.

you will get a command line prompt which will look like this "#"

just type in "vi /mnt/sysimage/boot/grub/grub.conf"

vi hints use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move the cursor.
type in "i" for insert mode, EVERY KEYSTROKE YOU ENTER will then be entered into the file until you hit the key. Then you will be back at "cursor movement mode".

In "cursor movement mode" you can enter ":wq" (the colon means vi command, "w" means write, "q" means quit.) don't worry, if you really mess it up, hit to make sure you are in "cursor movement mode" then enter ":q!" (again, the colon means you are entering a vi command, q means to quit WITHOUT saving the changes, and the "!" means yes, I really want to do this....)

good luck......

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