201756 uninstallHowtoremoveUbuntuandputWindowsbackon?

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HowtoremoveUbuntuandputWindowsbackon?

IhaveabsolutelynoexperiencewithLinux,andIdesperatelyneedtogetmycomputerbackupandrunningagain
withWindows.

HowdoIremoveUbuntuandreinstallWindows?

windows uninstall

editedApr3at17:51 communitywiki
19revs,12users46%
JosevKing

2 Ifollowedthisguide,specificallyBIOSboot,andwasabletogetWindows10installedoverUbuntu.usandfriends
Aug18'15at2:49

1 PutaWindowsSystemInstallerDVDin.>Click systeminstall .>(#Youmayneedtoclick"Advanced

optionsonthisstep".)Clicknextuntil disklist isshown.>Click"Advancedoptions".>(#Formatand
deletemaybesafer Selectdrive click"format"then"delete"or"delete".Nowyouarereadytoinstall
windows(clicknext).Wolfpack'08Jan22'16at21:34

1 Andnoneoftheaboveisontopic)YouremoveanOSbyinstallinganother.SoUbuntuisnotanissuehere.Get
anofficialWindowsandfollowTHEIRinstructions.RinzwindAug9'16at14:07

5 Thereisnoneedtoremoveanoperatingsysteminordertoinstallanother.Followtheinstructionsfor
installingWindowsfromtheWindowsinstallationmedia,andtellittooverwriteeverything.Inmyopinion,how
todosoisoutofthescopeofthiswebsite.thomasrutterAug11'16at23:28

Note:manyoftheanswersonthisquestionareaboutremovingUbuntufromdualbootbutkeepingWindows
(whichisabitcomplicated),whileotheranswersareaboutremovingUbuntufromsingleboot(whichiseasy:just
formatthediskwhileinstallingWindows).Thequestionisnotclearifit'saboutdualbootorsingleboot.wjandrea
2daysago

14Answers

ToremoveUbuntu,youwillneedaWindowsRecoveryCDorInstallationCD,oraUbuntuLive
CD.

Note:Ifyoudon'thaveaWindowsInstallationorRecoveryCDavailable,youcandownloadthe
Windows7ISOfile(contactDigitalRivercustomersupportassaidinMicrosofthelppage).You
cannotinstallWindowswithoutagenuinePurchasedProductKeythough,astheseISOfilesare
100%legalandwillonlyinstallasanEvaluationcopyfor30dayswithoutaproductkey.

ToremoveGRUB:

1.GrabaWindowsrecoverymediaorinstallationCDandbootfromit.Youshouldseethisona
recoverymediaCD.

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201756 uninstallHowtoremoveUbuntuandputWindowsbackon?AskUbuntu

AndyoushouldseethisonaninstallationmediaCD.Click"Repairyourcomputer"and
youshouldseeascreenlikethefirstimage.

2.OpentheCommandPrompt,thentype bootrec/fixmbr intotheCommandPrompt.

3.RebootandbootintoWindows.ThenfollowthestepsbelowtoremovetheUbuntupartitions.

(ImagesfromHowtoGeek )

Ifyoudon'thaveaWindowsrecoveryCDoryouareconstrainedtodownloadandburntheISO
filesmentionedbefore,youcanuseBootrepair.Itisatoolthatfixesmostboot
problems(WindowsorUbuntu).IsuggestusingaWindowsCDifpossible.

Tousebootrepair:

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201756 uninstallHowtoremoveUbuntuandputWindowsbackon?AskUbuntu
1.BootfromaUbuntuliveCDorUSB
2.Typetheselinesintheterminalonelineatatime.
sudoaddaptrepositoryppa:yannubuntu/bootrepair
sudoaptgetupdate
sudoaptgetinstallbootrepair

3.SearchforBootRepairintheDashandlaunchit.

TofixyourcomputerwithBootrepair,simplyclickthe"RecommendedRepair"button.Then
followthestepsbelowtoremovetheUbuntuPartitions.

TodeletetheUbuntuPartitions:

4.GotoStart,rightclickComputer,thenselectManage.ThenselectDiskManagementfrom
thesidebar.

5.RightclickyourUbuntupartitionsandselect"Delete".Checkbeforeyoudelete!
6.Then,rightclickthepartitionthatisontheLeftofthefreespace.Select"ExtendVolume".
GothroughtheWizardandFinishit.

7.Done!

AnothernotefromTanner:Ifyouareusinganextendedpartition,youmighthavetoremovethe
bigextendedpartitiontomakethespaceunallocated.

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201756 uninstallHowtoremoveUbuntuandputWindowsbackon?AskUbuntu
editedApr13at12:24 answeredMay28'12at23:18
Community EmersonHsieh
1 4,823 5 27 54

7 Ratherthanacrosspostedanswer,thisanswerisactuallyeditedtoaccountforthe(substantial)differences
betweenthetwoquestions.+1EliahKaganMay29'12at0:40

4 Youmaywanttoaddthatyouhavetodeletethepartitionstwicetomakeitunallocatedbeforeyoucanextendthe
volume.TannerJul13'12at18:04

SoIfollowedthesesteps.ButwhenIdeletedthepartitions,itshowedupasfreespace(notunallocated).The
extendoptionoftheleftpartitionisnotavailable.TruMay14'13at6:32

1 Thanks.IntheendIusedathirdpartydiskmanagementutilitytomergethevolumes.TruMay16'13at5:50

1 Theline"youcannotinstallWindowswithagenuinepurchasedproductkey"hasaminorerror.Theword"with"
shouldread"without".(Can'teditthisasthechangeistoosmall.)user111667Jun23'14at10:50

1.BootaliveCD/DVD/USBwithUbuntu
2.Choose"TryUbuntu"
3.DownloadandinstallOSUninstaller.
4.Startthesoftwareandselectwhatoperatingsystemyouwanttouninstall.

5.Apply
6.Whenallisover,rebootyourcomputer,andvoila,onlyWindowsisonyourcomputerorof
coursenoOS!

editedJul31'16at9:33 answeredJun19'12at2:46
karel Atem18
29.5k 10 70 84 1,310 9 17

3 Hey,howcanyouremoveasOSbeingatthemomentunderthatOS?Howstep6mayexistifafterstep5there
shouldbenoanyUbuntu?GreenJul1'13at19:02

2 @Atem18What#Greenaskedis:WhathappensifIdothisonanondualbootsystem?(uninstalltheonlyOS
currentlyrunning)LucioJul25'13at16:45

4 Green,thetoolisusedfromalivesession.Lucio,iftheharddiskcontainsonlyoneOS,thenthetoolwon'tallowto
removeit.LovinBuntuJul31'13at22:14

4 @LucioifthereisonlyoneOSonthecomputer,thenasimpleformatingwilldothejob.Atem18Aug2'13at
13:40

1 TomakemyWindowsharddrivebootableagainIhadtobootwiththeWindowsDVDandthengotoRepair
computer,Command,andthenrun bootrec/fixmbr andthen bootrec/fixboot .NowIcanfinallybootinto
WindowswithoutdependingonGruborUbuntuoraworkingsecondharddrive.sammygAug3'13at20:30

Firstdownloadbootsect.exeintotheDownloaddirectory.

pressthe windows key,type cmd.exe andontheresult(Thecommandprompt)startitasan

"Administrator"byrightclickingonthecmdicon,andselect RunasAdministrator .

Inthenewcmd.exewindow,cdtoyourdownloaddirectory.forexample cdC:\Users\Lalu
Patel\Downloads ._assumingyourusernameis"LaluPatel".

Thenenterthiscommand. bootsect.exe/nt60ALL/force/mbr .Restartyoursystemtoseethat,

Windowsisautomaticallyloadingwithoutgrub.

TheninWindows

1.OpentheControlPanel(AllItemsview),andclickontheAdministrativeToolsicon.then
closetheControlPanelwindow
2.ClickonComputerManagementin AdministrativeTools ,thenclosetheAdministrative
Toolswindow.
3.IntheleftpaneunderStorage,clickon DiskManagement .seethis .
4.Selectthethepartitionwith unknown type.itistheUbuntupartition.RightClick>Delete
partition.
5.NowtheformerUbuntupartitionbecomesanunallocatedspace.

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201756 uninstallHowtoremoveUbuntuandputWindowsbackon?AskUbuntu
6.Selecttheleftpartitionofthenew unallocatedspace .
7.Rightclickonthepartition>clickon ExtendVolume .
8.ClickontheNextbutton.
9.TypeinhowmanyMB(1GB=1024MB)youwanttousefromtheunallocatedspaceto
extendtheselectedpartition(step5)into,thenclickontheNextbutton.seethis .

Note:Ifyouwanttousealloftheunallocatedspacetoextendinto,thentypeinthe
maximumavailablespaceshownfortheunallocatedspace.
10.ClickontheFinishbutton.You'redone.

Source:bootsect,diskmanagement

editedMay19'15at20:11 answeredMay15'12at13:45
kleinfreund Anwar
132 11 45.1k 15 117 204

1 @lalupatel,Youcanacceptthisasananswer,ifitdoeswhatyouwant.AnwarMay16'12at13:43

3 Youshouldn'thavetodownload bootsect.exe ifyouhaveaWindowsrepairCDandifyoudon'thaveone(you

should)it'seasyenoughtocreateone.bcbcMay26'12at16:29

@bcbc:Therearesituationswherethisisnotsoeasy(boughtalaptopwithoutWindowsrecoveryCDandthehard
diskcontainingtherecoverypartitionbroke...).tienneMay15'15at8:07

@tiennedoesthiswork:windows.microsoft.com/enca/windows7/I'dpreferthattodownloadinganexefrom
dropboxthatmayormaynotbethecorrectversion.bcbcMay15'15at15:20

1 WorkedonWindows8!ThankscdontsDec16'16at2:02

Ifyoudon'thaveaWindowsCDanddeletedtheUbuntupartition

Scenario:

YouwanttoremoveUbuntu,anddeletedtheUbuntupartitionfromwithinanotherOS.Now,
yourcomputerwontboot("nosuchpartition")andyoulackaWindowsRecoveryCDtofixit.

1.CreateaUbuntuLiveCD/USB.
2.BootfromyourUbuntuLiveCD/USBbyselectingitintheBIOSbootoptions.
3.OnceUbuntuloads,openaTerminal( Ctrl + Alt + T ),andrunthesecommands:

sudoaptgetinstalllilo
sudoliloM/dev/sda

Note:youmayhavetoreplace /dev/sda withthemainharddriveyouinstalledUbuntuand

Windowsto.
4.YoucanthenrebootintoWindows.

answeredFeb17'14at10:39 communitywiki
minerz029

Greatanswer!SincetheuserprobablyalreadyhasthelivediskheusedtoinstallUbuntu,hedoesn'thavetolookfor
awindowsdisk.The liloM optionisquickandefficient....alsoitworkswithallcurrentversionsofWindows.
L.D.JamesJun26'16at23:59

Thanksalot,workedperfectly!AbhirikshmaJul13'16at15:21

Thanksalotforthis.Itcomplements@Atem18'sanswertoreducetheentirerestorationprocesstousinganUbuntu
liveCDandinstallingjusttwoprograms lilo and osuninstaller .kakomaApr18at21:00

Actuallythesolutiontothisisveryeasy,anyonecandoit.Firstthingsfirst.Downloadsomething
calledEasyBCD(there'safreeversion,youhavetodownloaditintoWindowsasit'sa.exe)
http://neosmart.net/download.php?id=1runthroughthesetup.

1.LaunchEasyBCDandgotothesixthbuttondown,EasyBCDdeployment.Sinceyou'rea
WindowsXPuser,selectWritetheWindowsXPBootloadertotheMBRthenpressthebig
redbuttoncalled"WritetoMBR"
2.Nextheaduptothesecondbuttoncalled"EditbootMenu"andselectthefirstoption"Skip
thebootmenu"andclicksavesettings.Congrats,younowhaveWindowsXPbootloader
back,anditwillautomaticallybootintoWindows,butwearen'tdoneyet.Youstillhave
Ubuntuonyoursystem,wewanttochangethat.
3.OpenupdiskmanagementandfindyourUbuntupartitionandtheUbuntuSwapPartition(I
assumeyouknowhowbigitis,[theswapisabouttwogigs,shouldberightnexttotheLinux
partition]).Deletetheswapfirst,andthendeletetheUbuntupartition.Ifdoneproperlyyouwill
getUnaccountedspaceforHDandtheswapwillbecome"FreeSpace"timetoalsofixthat.
4.NextrightclickontheFreeSpacepartition(swapspace)anddeleteitagain,itshould
becomepartoftheunaccountedspace.Nowyoudon'twanttojustleaveallthatempty
spaceonyourHD.RightclickonyourWindowspartitionnow,andclickextendthevolume.

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201756 uninstallHowtoremoveUbuntuandputWindowsbackon?AskUbuntu
ItshoulddefaultintothemaximumsizeofyourHD,(whichyouwantsoXPhasallthe
space.)andclickcontinue.Thereyougo,it'lldoit'sthingandWindowsXPshouldnowhave
yourentireHD,Ubuntuwillbegone,andyouWillhavetheXPbootloaderback.Hopethat
helpedforyou!

(VideotutorialfromTechHarvestdoingbasicallythesamethingbutonWindows7
http://youtu.be/AAWBZq04Izc )

answeredMar6'12at22:43
Midnight
156 2 12

1 Thankyou.Ireviewedthisoptionanditlookedpromising.HoweverIchosetotryoutthesuggestionsfrom
Pestilenceasitdidnotrequireadditionalsoftware.Iwasthinkingwhyaddtomyissuewithmoresoftware...whenI
mustalreadyhavethetools..ifonlyIknewhowtousethem.IdidalsousetheMicrosoftConsoleDiskManagement
featuretodeletetheswapandUbuntupartition...soTHANKYOUfortheidea.eastavinMar20'12at19:08

Thewayto"delete"Ubuntuistodeletethepartitionit'susing.Thatwillmakethepartition
availableforreformattinganduseinanotherOS.

IfyoucanstillrunWindows,useitsdiskmanagertodeletetheUbuntupartition.Youcouldthen
formatittouseinWindows,orexpandanexistingpartition.

YoucanalsoboottheUbuntuLiveCDandchoosethe"TryUbuntu"option.Afteritloads,findand
rungpartedandremovethepartition.

IfWindowsandUbuntuarebothgoneandyouwanttoreinstallWindows,youcanrepartitionand
reformatduringtheinstallation.

edited2daysago answeredMay8'12at1:31
wjandrea jonc
3,045 3 13 31 246 1 4

2 Sincethebootloaderdoesn'tseemtobeworking,youmayalsoneedtorestoretheMBR(masterbootrecord)after
removingUbuntu.YoucanusuallydothatusingaWindowsinstalldisc,ifyouhaveitinsertedwhenyoubootup.
MariusMay8'12at1:34

YouneedtorestoretheMBRthatwasoverwrittenbygrubwhenyouinstalledubuntu.Intheold
days,youranfdisk/MBRonyoursystemdisk.ThewaytodoitinWindowsXPistorunthe
"WindowsRecoveryConsole"whichcanberunfromtheinstallationdiskorinstalledtothehard
driveandrunfromthere.

TheinstructionsforinstallingtheRecoveryConsolearehere:http://support.microsoft.com/?
kbid=314058

However,sinceyoudon'thavetheCDyou'llneedtotryinstallingitfromwhatyouhavealready.
Openuptherundialogue(win+r,orstart>run)andenterthis:

%windir%\i386\winnt32.exe/cmdcons

Thenyouwillhavetorebootintowindowsandselecttherecoveryconsolewhileit'sbooting.
FromthereyouwillneedtorunFIXMBRwhichisdocumentedhere:
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en
us/bootcons_fixmbr.mspx

Oncethisisdonesuccessfully,yourcomputerwillbootstraightintowindowsagain.

answeredMar7'12at2:40
pestilence
1,045 9 10

Thanks.Thiswasgood.IfoundmyRecoveryDVDs&RecoveryToolsCD.ThelatterstartedtheMicrosoftRecovery
Console.ItthenaskedtostartminiNTorI386sobasedonyourcommandlineIchoseI386.IthenenteredFIXMBR
withnooptions.ThenEXIT.MicrosoftthenpromptedtochooseSystemRestore,DestructiveReoveryorTURNOFF
andIchoseOFF.WhenIpoweredupagainitbootstraightintoXP&didaCHKDSK.MyXPagainworksasitdid
beforemyUBUNTUexperiment.THANKYOU.NexttimeIwillinstallitinWindowsXPsoIcanusetheadd/remove
featureratherthanthismanualmethod.@MarcoeastavinMar20'12at19:03

Ifyou'reintopaidsoftwareIhighlyrecommendAcronis .Paragonisalsogood.Ithasalotof
interestingoptions.Itallowsyoutodoeverythingyouneedtoinordertodothis.Theorderof
operationsis:

1.GetlivemediathatwillletyouperformalltheseoperationswithoutanOSorMBRbackup.
Seeacronislink.
2.DeletetheUbuntupartitions(probablyanythingthat'snotNTFSorFAT32)
3.Resizeyourwindowspartitiontofillthedisk
4.Applychangesandpossiblyrebootdependingonwhichversionofwhichsoftwareyouhave

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201756 uninstallHowtoremoveUbuntuandputWindowsbackon?AskUbuntu
5.Runthe'fixbootproblems'wizardinAcronis.It'smagic.

Alternately,youcouldusesupergrubdisk .Directionsontheirwikiincludescreenshotsandstep
bystepdirections.

editedApr6at21:17 answeredMar7'12at4:31
wjandrea RobotHumans
3,045 3 13 31 20.2k 3 53 93

Ihadalookatthis.SeemedlikeagreatideabutIwaslookingforsomethingtothejobwiththecommandsalready
availabletomeviaXPorUbuntu.eastavinMar20'12at18:59

YoucangointotheDiskManagementutilityanddeletetheUbuntupartition.RightclickMy
Computer,selectManage,DiskUtility.Onceyoudeletethepartition,rightclickMyComputer,
selectPropertiesandgototheAdvancedtab.GointotheStartUpandRecovery,setWindows
asthedefaultoperatingsystemandsettheTimetodisplaythelistofoperatingsystemsto0and
clickOk.

answeredJan24'12at20:50
Marco
39 1

Ifollowyouradviceinthefirst2sentences.Howeverinyour4thsentenceyousaytosetWindowsasthedefaultOS...
ThiscannotbetheproblemthatcausesUBUNTUtobootfirstasitiscurrentlysettoWindowsasbeingthedefault
OS.thereissomethingelsethatisoverridingthisthatwasinstalledbyUbuntu11.10...whatcouldthatbe?
eastavinJan29'12at15:58

IfyoucanbootUbuntutheLiveCD,choose"TryUbuntu"option.Thentryinstallingitagainby
choosingmanualpartitioning,Itisthelastoptioninthe'Prepareyourdisk'step.Reinstallitinthe
samepartitionyoutriedbefore.

FirstdeletetheoldUbuntupartition,(youcanrecognizetheoldUbuntupartitionbylookingat
thepartitiontypecolumn,itshouldhavethetypeas ext4 or ext3 )
Thencreateanewpartitionbyclicking'Add'button.Inthenewdialogchangethe"Donot
usethepartition"with ext4 ,placea'tick'markat'format'checkbox,andinthebottom
selectlist,select / ,thenclickOK.
Checkthat,youchoosethebootloaderinstalldeviceas /dev/sda (ifyouareinstallingonthe
localharddisk).Thenproceed.
Seeifanyerrormessageappears.Ifitcompletessuccessfully,itshouldgiveyoua
messagewithtwooptions"KeeptryingLiveCD"and"RestartyourComputertousenewly
installedsystem".Restartyourlaptop.

Ithinkitshouldwork.

editedJun28'12at15:30 answeredMay8'12at2:42
Anwar
45.1k 15 117 204

Whyaretheresomanyanswersthatseemtohavenothingtodowhatsoeverwiththequestion?Hasanadmin
messedupandmergedtheanswersfromtwounrelatedquestions?thomasrutterAug11'16at23:31

@thomasrutteryes.Iwasmerged.Theanswerwasoriginallyveryrelevant.Anddownvotinganswerbecauseit's
mergedisnotalogicalactionAnwarAug12'16at4:50

AsimplermethodBurnanrBootCDandbootfromit.Whenthemenushowsup,selectyour
Windowspartition.

WhenWindowsloads,inthediskmanagement,rightclickonthebootpartitionandapplytheboot
flag.Restart.

Hopefully,thiswillwork.

Ifitdoes,deletetheLinuxpartitionfromthediskmanagement.You'redone.

answeredJul14'12at7:19
AkshitBaunthiyal
1,998 2 10 18

FromWindows7,installeasyBCD.exe(youcanfinditatwww.softpedia.com)

Runit,andselectRepairMBR

ThendeletesomepartitionsmadebyUbuntu'ssystem.

editedApr6at21:20 answeredMay15'12at13:43

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201756 uninstallHowtoremoveUbuntuandputWindowsbackon?AskUbuntu
wjandrea hardianto
3,045 3 13 31 153 3 9

Idon'tunderstandwhyyouthinkthepersonaskingthequestionhasWindowsinstalled.Theyareaskinghowto
installWindows?thomasrutterAug11'16at23:32

BootfromaliveUbuntumediaandwipethepartitiontable(andMBR)outwith ddif=/dev/zero
of=/dev/sdYbs=512count=1 whereYisthedrive.thiswillbe/dev/sdainasingledrivesystem.
Thiscommandwillblastthefirstsectorofthedrivefullofzeroseliminatingthepartitiontable.
InstallthenewOSyouwanttoinstallasifthedrivewerenew.

Note:youmayhavetoincreasethebs(blocksize)orcountfactorsonaGPTdisk.Ihaven't
beenabletofindexactnumbersbutchangingcountto8orbsto4096shoulddothetrick.

editedFeb25'15at15:52 communitywiki
2revs
ElderGeek

1.StartwithaworkingliveCD/USBofUbuntuandchoose"TryUbuntu"
2.CheckthatithasaworkingInternetconnection
3.RunGPartedanddeleteallpartitionsfound.RerunGPartedtocheckthatit'sok.
4.Openterminal( Ctrl + Alt + T )andtype:
sudoaptgetupdate
sudoaptgetinstallmbr
sudoinstallmbr/dev/sda

5.RebootandinstallWindowsnormallyfromoriginalinstallationCD/DVD

edited2daysago communitywiki
3revs,3users53%
ciampix

IfyouhavetheWindowsinstallationmedia,justusethat.TheWindowsinstallerwillletyouformatthedisk,removing
Ubuntu.wjandrea2daysago

protectedbyCommunity Jul25'13at14:39
Thankyouforyourinterestinthisquestion.Becauseithasattractedlowqualityorspamanswersthathadtoberemoved,postingananswernowrequires10reputation
onthissite(theassociationbonusdoesnotcount).

Wouldyouliketoansweroneoftheseunansweredquestions instead?

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