Gaming Linux question

[overslept]

Hey guys, I know you're pretty skilled with Linux.

After being on XP for several years, I decided to try Ubuntu. I downloaded and burned my Live CD. I popped it in, tried Ubuntu, and didn't like what I saw (might change my mind.)

Anyways, after exiting the demo mode and ejecting my Live CD, I tried to reboot and noticed it was taking considerably longer.

I stopped playing PS3 and decided to actually watch the screen while it booted. Turns out every time I boot up, it now asks if I want Ubuntu or XP even though there's no CD in my drive and I haven't installed Ubuntu.

How can I remove the Ubuntu? It adds like 20 seconds to my boot-up time and it's really annoying. Plus I don't know if it's taking up disk space or anything.


P.S: If it helps, I was having trouble starting the demo. I tried clicking "reboot now" from the Live CD (in XP) but every time I rebooted it went straight to XP. I eventually tried the "help me boot from CD" option, and it didn't help either. I then realized that you have to select Ubuntu from the boot-up screen

So yeah, maybe it's the stuff that installed when I selected "help me boot from CD."

 

[Skyline969]

That's weird, it's like it installed GRUB. What happens if you choose Ubuntu from that list?

EDIT: Anyways, click Start, go to Control Panel, and switch to classic view. Then, go to System, then to the Advanced tab, and choose the Settings button in Startup and Recovery. Then, choose Windows XP as your default operating system. Save, exit, make a sandwich, etc. You shouldn't see the menu again.

 

[overslept]

Ok, but it was already on Windows XP as my default, so IDK if that will do anything.

There's also an edit button on that same menu, and in there is a line with Ubuntu in it. Maybe I could delete that line?

 

[Skyline969]

You could try... but do so at your own risk.

 

[overslept]

this is what the edit button brings up in Notepad:


[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
C:\wubildr.mbr = "Ubuntu"

 

[dmonkey21]

this is what the edit button brings up in Notepad:


[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
C:\wubildr.mbr = "Ubuntu"

Delete 'C:\wubildr.mbr = "Ubuntu"'

I have no idea why Ubuntu would have messed with the Windows bootloader, but it added some entry to it (based on the name, it sounds like WUBI which is a method of installing Ubuntu without repartitioning a Windows drive)

Deleting that line should be safe, and should fix all your problems, as the bootloader will not show up if there's only one entry.

BTW the reason it is taking so long to boot is because you have timeout=30, which means Windows Bootloader is waiting 30 seconds for you to choose between Ubuntu (even though apparently it's not installed) and Windows.

EDIT: Lol and don't worry it did NOT install GRUB. All that it did was for some reason add an entry to the Windows BootLoader. To the best of my knowledge, and I have dealt with both WIndows bootloader and GRUB, deleting the line with Ubuntu will be fine, just make sure not to touch the line above it.

If you are worried about deleting the whole line though, just set 'timeout=30' to 'timeout=1'. This will not stop the BootLoader from appearing, but it should only be there for one second with both OS entries intact.

EDIT AGAIN: Sorry my post is so long, but I just noticed you were also worried about whether Ubuntu is somehow taking up space on your drive. If you were simply using the live CD and never clicked the 'Install Ubuntu' icon, you should be fine, but if you want to be sure go to Control Panel -> Administrator Tools -> Computer Management and click Disk Management from the left menu, and post a screenshot.

 

[Am0s]

live cd should not really change anything as its all read off the cd, maybe you accidently clicked install maybe, I too did not like ubuntu but I tried mint which is ubuntu with added driver support and other stuff and it works better than ubuntu did for me.

 

[overslept]

Thanks for the info, dmonkey. I deleted the line, so hopefully it'll work. I'm not too worried about it taking up disk space though