Gaming Removing Ubuntu from a partitioned disk

FluffyLunamoth

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Okay. So I have Ubuntu installed on a partition of a disk. That same disk has Windows 7 on it. I no longer need or want Ubuntu on it, so I tried to uninstall it with instructions a friend gave me. Didn't work, and very nearly screwed up my computer. And I blame GRUB for part of that. I was able to delete the partition that had Ubuntu on it, but when trying to reallocate that back to the main partition(Windows 7's), it errored out and said that I needed to run "chkdsk /f" to try and fix whatever went wrong in Windows.

So, I restart to try and do that...and what happens? I can't do anything because the GRUB loader that Ubuntu installed was only half-removed, so there wasn't a way that I knew to by pass it. IT just locked right there(IE: GRUB failed to load, and some "grub rescue" prompt came up. Couldn't do anything after that.) So, using a LiveCD of Ubuntu, I reinstalled Ubuntu just so I could get back onto Windows to try and see what went wrong. And that's where I am.

tl;dr version: Failed to uninstall Ubuntu, had to reinstall it, I NEED HELP.

So, can anyone help?
 

prowler

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When I uninstalled it, all I did was use partition magic (I think its called) to remove the partition.
I had no problems after that. Though if you plan on using it, you will have to find a cracked version.
 

mkoo

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If i understood it completely you formatted linux partition and now getting a grub error.
If that is the case you'll need to boot from windows disc.
Back in XP fixmbr was the command but they changed it in 7. I believe bootrec.exe /fixmbr is the new command.
 

FluffyLunamoth

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I'm going to wait until I get a bit more input before I start trying stuff...anyone else know how to do this(I can't shell out money for this, so don't even bother recommending programs that I have to buy.)?
 

Urza

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Neither an OS nor bootloader can be "uninstalled", you simply overwrite it with something else.

This is why your bootloader was fucked when you just deleted the partition Ubuntu was located on. You need to replace GRUB with something else (for example with the default Windows bootloader as per mkoo's suggestion).
 

Urza

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shinkukage09 said:
Problem is...both Windows AND Ubuntu's bootloaders are there. It'll go from GRUB to Windows bootloader, quite literally.
No, only part of the Windows bootloader is there.

The part located on the MBR was overwritten by GRUB, and that's what the above command will rewrite.
 

FluffyLunamoth

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I don't think you're right on this one. I can literally use both right now. Actually, it DOES use both. IE: Boot Screen > GRUB (load Windows 7) > Windows loader (load Windows 7) > Windows 7. Both are there, in full.
 

Jiggah

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Mkoo is correct. Win7 should be able to do it automatically when you do an automatic repair. However, if that does not work, you can go to command prompt and use the repair function to restore the bootloader.

Bootrec /fixmbr
 

Urza

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shinkukage09 said:
I don't think you're right on this one. I can literally use both right now. Actually, it DOES use both. IE: Boot Screen > GRUB (load Windows 7) > Windows loader (load Windows 7) > Windows 7. Both are there, in full.
Once again, no.

The part of the bootloader located on the actual Windows partition is capable of booting your installs if called from another bootloader, but the part which should be located on the MBR is the part that calls it. If you just "clear" GRUB from the MBR and don't replace it with anything else, you won't be able to boot from the partition.
 

FluffyLunamoth

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Alright, so wait. What? I've tried throwing "Bootrec /fixmbr" into the command prompt, doesn't work. Can I get a full explanation on what to do? XD

Also: Currently Ubuntu is back to being installed. I wanna uninstall it so I can get the memory from it back to Windows 7...
 

Urza

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shinkukage09 said:
Alright, so wait. What? I've tried throwing "Bootrec /fixmbr" into the command prompt, doesn't work. Can I get a full explanation on what to do? XD

Also: Currently Ubuntu is back to being installed. I wanna uninstall it so I can get the memory from it back to Windows 7...
Try:
CODEcd boot
bootsect /nt60 C:\

And this is from the command prompt on the installation media, not from your Windows install.
 

FluffyLunamoth

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Well, i got it working. But now I'm trying to run chkdsk /f, since liveCD ubuntu said to try that to try fixing the error. Currently running it now. Hoping it works.
 

Frederica Bernkastel

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1. Overwrite the default bootloader with the windows one. I recommend using a tool such as EasyBCD
2. Using a partition manager, delete the Ubuntu partition/s. If you don't have a separate partition manager, try using the built in M$ one; this
3. Then either create a new partition (using NTFS, FAT or something windows accessible. NTFS is superior here), or resize the space that ubuntu left into your main partition
4. ????
5. PROFIT
 

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