If you delete the Linux OS it should boot only to Windows. That said, your best bet after deleting is to re-install Windows. First re-partition as you see fit.

 

Sorry, re-installing Windows is not at all something that intend to do - hopefully ever again.. The last install I did of Windows 10 - a clean install on a newly built system - took 3 intensive days to get working (and only then with the help of this forum). In contrast my latest install of Linux Mint 20 on the dual boot machine took just over 40 minutes, including a complete restore of 250 GB of user data from a slow NAS. Not only that, but on that clean install of Win 10 I have had to accept a user name which MS assigned, without informing me, based on a selection of characters from a temporary email address, that I find truly offensive, if not obscene. It angers and embarrasses me every time I see it and prevents me from ever using that computer when somebody else is within viewing distance. Based on that on-going painful experience, on this dual boot computer only one operating system is going to be deleted, and it's not Linux. Sorry, I digress, reflecting the pain I feel.

Not only that but I doubt very much that deleting Linux would result in Windows being able to boot. All the information I get (that I can understand) suggests that some Windows component has been deleted or corrupted.

 

I re-read your Post #1. Is it your intention to remove Windows and use only Linux?

 

That's correct - except that this post has been overtaken by events: I have now, beyond my wildest expectations, screwed up the single-boot of this dual-boot machine so that it will now not boot at all. I have posted a request for advice on how to recover from that scenario in the Win 10 section of this forum.

 

If it boots with Grub as my dual boot does it might not boot to Windows after deleting Linux. You'll most likely have to point the boot direction to Windows with some BCDEdit commands.

BCDEdit Command-Line Options

.


If as Corday asks above, your intention is to delete Windows then use gparted in your Linux distro to delete and recover the Windows partition.

 

Yes, the point of my post was to ask if that process is likely to work, bearing in mind I would be moving the Linux '/' partition as well as changing its size.. Almost all partition editors that I have ever used come with user advice to the effect of 'out software can readily help you to move and/or resize partitions. None of this is guaranteed to work'. Hence I am hesitant; am I right to be so?

 

If you could previously boot to Linux Mint, but can't do so now, then before doing anything, try doing the following to see if you can repair your boot problem.

How to Fix an Ubuntu System When It Won't Boot

Ubuntu doesn't offer the Safe Mode and Automatic Repair tools you'll find in Windows, but it does offer a recovery menu and a reinstall option that keeps your files and programs.

www.howtogeek.com

I know these instructions are for Ubuntu, but Mint is based on Ubuntu, and the recovery options for it are very very similar.

 

I'm not very familiar with Linux but since Microsoft Windows was involved, I can make a suggestion.

Check your BIOS under the Boot Options tab and look for Windows Boot Manager. It might not be visible. Click on one of the existing boot options and look to see if a list drops down. If it is there, select it and then make sure it becomes the first option or the option at the top of the list.

If it isn't there, you can still try this, but I'm thinking your chances are slim, as you have described.

You'll need a Microsoft Windows Installation Disk or USB Drive with the Microsoft Windows Installation built in. Make the USB or DVD drive second option in the boot list. If Windows Boot Manager is not available for selection, make them first in the list.

The idea here is this would be a hail Mary pass, hoping that Windows sees the dual boot partition and rebuilds it for you. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but if you're trying to exhaust all means before what comes next, it worth the extra lift. You never know..

 

Time ran out on this one. I took the nuclear option, reverting to a single boot install. This decision was highly influenced by the knowledge that a re-installl of Linux Mint takes about 40 minutes, including restoration of about 200 GB of user data, whereas a re-install of Windows takes more than a day when there are complications and requires at least a week more to discover all the 'small print' problems. I finally realised I have had enough of all that on this computer where, now, I have an entirely satisfactory solution to all my application requirements within Linux. In addition to this I get a system which I find easier to use and is obviously quicker on my 10 year old technology.

 

I certainly can understand how you feel.

 

Glad to hear you were able to sort things out, even if you did have to go "nuclear" in the end.

Can't disagree with you on your choice of Mint as your OS, I've used it for years, and installed it on quite a few friends' old machines .......... none have ever complained to me afterwards.

 

Sorry to come in late, but I am in a similar situation to you except I dual boot Windows 7 with Linux Mint 19.3. Once I resolve a few issues related to my home network I will be doing a fresh install of Linux Mint 20. It's best to use the Mint installer to prepare the HDD for Linux.

One thing you may want to do is to create a separate partition and mount to /home and leave the main (boot) partition mounted to /. I was advised to consider this on the Linux Mint forum when I was starting out in Linux 12 months.

FWIW YMMV