Fist

Can anyone help me. I want to remove Ubuntu but I am unsure how to do it.

I currently have 2 hard drives and can boot up from either C or D.

I installed Ubunto on my D drive which already has Windows xp on it.

I just can't get my head round Ubunto.........It's far too complicated for the average computer user IMO and I don't want to waste anymore time messing around with it.

I got a hold of gparted and have burned it to disc but when I booted up from it I was unsure of what to do so I left well alone.

I suppose I could just move what I have to my C drive and format my D drive but if someone would be so kind as to help or advise me what to do it would be much appreciated

RichardIII

Good Morning Fist!

I strongly disagree with you on Ubuntu, but everyone sees that in his/her own way, of course.

Since this is not really a question which belongs in Windows XP support, I will ask a moderator to move this to the Linux section of the forum!

justpassingby

Are XP and Ubuntu installed on the very same partition ? Is that a FAT32 partition ?

Right-click my computer => manage => disk management. Expand the window and post a screenshot here : press the print screen (or prt scr) key, go to start => all programs => accessories => paint, click edit => paste, save as .jpg and attach the image to your next post using the manage attachments button.

Usual way to get rid of a linux partition is to delete the linux partitions from the disk manager and restore the boot sectors using fixmbr from the recovery console : boot on the XP CD, press R on the first screen to access the recovery console, enter the number that corresponds to the windows installation you want to boot on, and finally type fixmbr.

It's always better to backup all your valuable files on an external drive before you use the fixmbr or fixboot commands, if something screws up you won't be able to access any of your files anymore.

I'm not sure that fixmbr is safe to use if you have another operating system on the other drive so please tell us exactly what's your partition layout and which OS's are on which partitions.

Better wait for someone that knows more than me about multi-boot configs and boot loaders before deleting any partition and using fixmbr.

Fist

Hi, I have xp and ubuntu on my D drive. I can boot from both c and d,

I have attached the screenshot hope this helps.

Thanks

Attached Images

Forum.JPG (110.6 KB, 6 views)

Fist

Good morning Richard.

When I installed Ubuntu I expected I could operate it without too much trouble.

I found it totally confusing so I visited some stes for help. They spoke about writing script so you could install certain programs etc.

I have fixed many many problems on my computer over the years none of which were too difficult to do.

I am not exactly the dumbest creature on earth but that Ubuntu is never going to go anywhere unless they simplify it, IMO

Too many people, albeit they are trying to help, assume the layman knows
all computer terms mean and too many don't.

What I am trying to say they will tell someone to open Disk Management but give no indication to the person asking how to do that. The person simply gives up.

If I am asked to help someone and think it's something they should know it indicates to me that person has very little knowledge of computers. What I do then is give them a step by step desription of what exactly they should do.........not assume they know something they may not.

Until Ubuntu themselves can address their communication problems it will remain a rarely used system in comparison to Windows.

You cant install games on it. In fact no matter what you try to install there's problems.

Example: I wanted to connect to the Internet.......how simple is that with Windows XP? I could not for the life of me work it out with Ubuntu.

That's something that I should have been able to do without even thinking.

Sorry about posting in wrong forum I just searched UBuntu and posted where it came up.

Take care

RichardIII

Hi Fist,

I have been installing programs back and forth on this system (I reply from the Ubuntu system), and I never had to write a script. All that I need(ed) can / could be installed from the "Add/Remove" option in "Applications", or by using the "Synaptic Package Manager" as 'sudo' (that's why it asks for your PW!)

Now running them is something different; most programs will have a gui, but others (like 'gparted') will have to be accessed through the terminal as root (run terminal, type 'sudo -s' with out the quotes; press [Enter], type the password; press [Enter]) and have to be executed from the command prompt (type 'gparted' if it is installed, press [Enter] and it should load and display).

As an "all-time-windows-user" I found Ubuntu to be very easy to use; but like I wrote before: Everyone may experience this differently!

K-B

btw, it's not possible to have Linux & Windows on the same partition. (Unless, of course, you're running one or the other virtually).

Fist, you will need to know which of those partitions are your linux partitions. Then you can just delete them (right click>delete). Then you will need to reformat them if you want to use them in Windows. Deleting them will remove Linux from the hard drive, but if you were doing a dual-boot setup, you will still need to remove GRUB boot loader. This is easily done by booting your computer to the Windows XP installation CD, but instead of installing, press "R" to enter the Recovery Console. In the recovery console, type "fixmbr" (without the quotes) and proceed. Then you will have a Linux-free system.
p.s. if you ever decide to try Linux again, try PCLinuxOS.

justpassingby

That's what I thought, hence my disbelief when the OP said to have both on the D drive and why I asked him to post his disk management screenshot.

@ Fist : Windows is installed on Disk 0 which has a single partition with the volume letter C. D is the volume letter of the first partition on Disk 1. Linux is not installed on the D: partition but on the second and third partitions you see there. Make sure you have no valuable data on those 2 partitions anymore then right-click them and choose delete partition.

As K-B said you'll need to recreate a new partition by right-clicking the newly unallocated space => create partition. Use the default values and you'll be fine.

Fist

The 194.60 is where Unbuntu is installed.........why it says it is 100% free above I have no idea.

The other part 100.6 is where my second installation of windows xp is installed

Those are both on Drive D so we are talking the same language...I think

Drive C also has windows xp.............can I load from my CD and go to install reformat the D drive and reinstall windows or would I still have the problem with fixmbr or would reformatting do away with that.

The info I have can be moved to my c drive and put back later. It's only erotic movies.......that was a a joke LOL... it's pictures

BTW If I have to Do I fixmbr before or after I delete the partitions?

In the meantime, as you all seem to be for it, I will go boot up at Unbuntu and see if I can figure it out one more time.

justpassingby

Disk management reporting the Linux partition as 100% free might be a misreading because XP doesn't know the file system used by linux partitions. I'd say there's no need to worry about it.

I believe the small 2.89GB partition is also used by Ubuntu, it's probably holding the page file or the temporary files.

If Windows was installed on the D: partition that partition should normally be labelled as active or system. The only things that appear in disk management are the Linux OS on the second partition of Disk 1 and the Windows installation on Disk 0. Maybe it's just the linux boot loader (Lilo, grub or whatever) coming in the way but are you sure you have 2 different installations of Windows installed on that computer ?

As a matter of fact C and D are only volume letter which are used to identify a partition in Windows. The linux partitions are on Disk 1 (the second physical disk in the computer case) which also happens to hold the D: partition, but the linux partitions are not strictly speaking on drive D.

Reformating will not clear the boot sectors on Disk 1 but reinstalling Windows on it should overwrite the existing linux loader and solve the problem. To prevent any possible problem with the linux boot loader the safe way is to use fixmbr or wipe the drive clean using a dban boot CD or floppy before you reinstall Windows on it.

It's more logical to use fixmbr after you deleted the linux partitions but I don't think it would make a big difference if you used it before. XP's master boot record fixer should revert the boot sectors to only point to the Windows partition but it's possible that it would issue a warning about detecting a nonstandard partition table signature if the linux partitions are still there.

When using dban, gparted, fixmbr or any utility that can modify the boot sectors or the file allocation table it's always better to backup your data on an external drive as an error in the command line could prevent you from accessing any data on the internal drives anymore.

K-B

Errr. . .Did we have to know that? LOL