Removing dual-boots

[oblivion]

My netbook dual-boots between Win7 and Ubuntu. Been that way for a couple of years, works fine.

But I have a lot of Windows stuff, a lot of time and effort invested in it, and Ubuntu only rarely gets used. So I want the space back.

I think I can probably use Paragon's Hard Disk Manager suite to remove the partitions and redistribute the space (I have a primary and an extended partition. The extended partition contains all the linux-relevant partitions and an NTFS partition that I set up to be shared between the two OSes. So undoing all that it going to be fun and I'll probably do it a bit at a time, for safety.)

However, Grub has moved into the MBR and I can't work out how I'm going to make it go away.

The general answer courtesy of Google is to boot from the Win7 installation disk, start the recovery console and use fixboot.

I can't do that. I don't have a Win7 installation disk or a DVD drive.

I can't even work out how to install the recovery console. I'm obviously being stupid today.

Any ideas?

[skwire]

When I built my new computer a few weeks ago, it didn't have an optical drive either so I built a W7 installer on a USB stick and used that instead.  Perhaps that's an option?

[Renegade]

You could just delete everything you don't want/need on the Ubuntu partition, free up as much space as possible, then sacrifice it as "wasted" and just ignore it then get the repartitioning done. It's a crappy solution, but it might be a time saver. You could then later do the grunt work of research at your leisure.

[40hz]

Look here.

It's easy. I was gonna write the procedure up, but then I saw several people already had.  You'll find easy instructions and a link to Vista/Win7 recovery ISO downloads at the above.  

Tux will be sorry to see you leave!

Usual caveats about backing important things up first applies.

[oblivion]

Perfect - thanks!

I shall be sorry to leave too -- I've enjoyed watching ubuntu evolve, but I'll probably make some space on my desktop machine for it instead.

[40hz]

^Cool!

Next time try Linux Mint Cinnamon.

It's Ubu based but I think you'll like what they've done a lot more. Especially if you're on a regular screen and don't even want to consider Unity.

 

[Carol Haynes]

You need to boot into Windows 7 advanced boot options (F8 as Windows starts).

Use a command prompt and use:

FIXMBR to write a new MBR

then

bootrec /rebuildbcd

to rebuild the boot system in Windows

There are full instructions at:

http://pcsupport.abo...cd-store-windows.htm

but it doesn't include rewriting the MBR first.

[40hz]

Addendum:

I just noticed the link to get the recovery disks charges $20 for a copy - supposedly because of "licensing requirements." That sounds like a crock to me.

Anybody you know with a copy of Windows 7 can create a boot/recovery disk for you - as you probably can yourself.

Go to Control Panel then System and Maintenance and click Backup and Restore.

On the next screen select Create a system repair disc and do as told.

In some cases, the necessary utility files might not have been installed (to save space) when windows was put on your machine. If such is the case, you'll be prompted to insert a full Windows installation DVD first. If you don't have one, you'll have to get a friend to make a recovery disk for you.

If you're really stuck I'm sure a fellow DoCo member can help you out with either a disk or an ISO.

[40hz]

it doesn't include rewriting the MBR first.

-Carol Haynes (February 02, 2013, 10:55 AM)

Yeah...I'm not so sure it's really necessary to rewrite the MBR. I've just done the "fix" piece and it's worked.

I suspect completely doing the MBR is an extra safety measure in case the Linux installer somehow buggered the existing MBR as far as Windows was concerned.

In the past, I have seen perfectly functioning Windows machines have some of Microsoft's utilites complain the the MBR is not "standard."

T'was a time when partitioning and formatting a drive with GParted (to save huge amounts of time) used to do that. But I don't know if that's still the case. Either way, I'm in the habit of still doing all my initial disk setups using GParted but, if loading Windows afterwards, I'll always do a Microsoft 'fix' on the disk first before I start the installation. Just in case.

Possibly/probably isn't necessary anymore - but old workflows and work habits die hard.

[oblivion]

Addendum:

I just noticed the link to get the recovery disks charges $20 for a copy - supposedly because of "licensing requirements." That sounds like a crock to me.

-40hz (February 02, 2013, 11:58 AM)

You're probably right.

Anybody you know with a copy of Windows 7 can create a boot/recovery disk for you - as you probably can yourself.

If I borrow an optical dvd writer from somewhere, yes, I can.

I've got a note of Carol's instructions (thanks, Carol!) I have a full image of the system and bootable recovery media (that will enable me to restore the backup) and I still have the recovery partition on the hard disk that will give me a factory restore, from which I can reinstall Paragon and recover again -- albeit replacing my dual-boot system with the same dual-boot system -- so I think I have my belt, braces and a parachute all in place.

Wish me luck: I'm goin' in.

[oblivion]

Just resizing partitions now but it all looks good. One note: it was "bootrec /fixmbr" as the first step and the second step was scary - it claimed that it could see 0 Windows partitions. I rebooted anyway and it all worked perfectly :-)

Thanks to everyone for all your help!

-- Tim

[oblivion]

I'm sure it's a coincidence, but techsupportalert.com have published this helpful article today.

It includes links to legitimate downloads of Win 7 ISOs.

Oh, and as a final addendum to the previous note, the partition resizing went perfectly too.

[40hz]

Like I said, it's easy - even if it can be a little scary the first time you do it.

To Microsoft's credit, they have made significant improvements to their system toolkit since the 'glory days' of WinXP.

Glad it went well for you.

Onward!