Several months ago I set up my HP laptop to dual-boot to either Windows or Linux Mint. I recently acquired a third laptop & I have dedicated it to be loaded exclusively with Linux Distros. SO -- I would like to UN-dual-boot my HP laptop so that it boots exclusively to Windows. QUESTION: How do I uninstall Linux Mint & eliminate the dual boot?
This will work with 7, 8 or 10. https://www.howtogeek.com/141818/how-to-uninstall-a-linux-dual-boot-system-from-your-computer/
@zapjb -- Thanks for the link. Sad to say, it had bad news for me. I quote it (in part) as follows..... The link goes on to a detailed explanation of how a "get-up-&-go" person CAN go through the process of doing the fix. However, most of my get-up-&-go has got-up-&-went (I would much rather play RPGs with my grandchildren.) Sooo -- I shall simply live with the dual-boot -- that is NOT a major problem.
bellgamin, That article could be summarized as... Delete the Linux partitions Write Windows boot code That's it. Simple.
Writing a Windows boot code is simple? Yes -- like the recipe for roasted loin of Bengal tiger. Simple (but first you have to catch a tiger).
It's been so long since I used Windows but I used to first delete all the Linux partitions using the Windows included disk management tool then expand the Windows partition to fill the whole drive and last I used a program called EasyBCD to re-write the MBR and reboot. No idea if this is all still relevant with today's Windows system but it worked then.
That tutorial is for a MBR system. For a UEFI system you would delete this folder in the ESP... \efi\ubuntu This folder is created in Ubuntu and Mint installs.
@Gringo95 -- I downloaded Easy BCD. It looks like JUST what I need to do MBR stuff. I am multi-grateful for this excellent suggestion! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm running Win7 so it's MBR, not UEFI -- right? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I had a look at Windows Disk Management tool. There was no "make partition" button, & no "delete partition" button, & no "re-size partition" button. In fact, it hardly even mentions "partitions.... Typical Windows obtuseness. So I went to Softpedia for a partition app. There are dozens of them. So... what is a good, simple partiton-maker/deleter app that has buttons for doing what needs be done?
@Brian K -- Thanks! I figured as much. I shall give it a go. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I wonder why Windows persists in being so pseudo technical. "Volume" instead of "partition" -- Why? Undefined terms like "dynamic volume & ""basic volume" -- Why? Navy Tech Manuals are written so that they are clear & simple enough for ready-reference aboard a ship that is in heavy seas, & is combat-engaged, & is taking heavy flak. Help files should be written the same way, IMO. (I apologize for the rant.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @drhu22 -- welcome to the club!!!
I so much agree about unnecessary technical terms in Windows help docs and Linux as well... it really makes things difficult when trying to learn anything new. Im sure it holds many, many people back from understanding how to solve problems and understanding computers in general. Im not saying dumb it down, just simplify the language when possible (fer crying out loud). As for a simple partition manager for Linux, Gparted has served me well and was easy to navigate for me, an admitted Linux rookie. I believe it is included in Mint if Im not mistaken, and can be put on bootable usb. https://gparted.org/liveusb.php
I've done all this a dozen plus times before. But it's 10 years or so from the last time. So I forget how. Old age pffft.
Re EasyBCD on MBR disk in Windows 7 - in post#10 I gather you got it. May I offer few suggestions from experience of disabling Mint in triple boot two years ago? First of all, delay deleting Linux partitions until you're all done. In fact mine are still on disk two years later. The point is to first take care of booting. In my case it was grub2 which booted Win7 or Win10 or Mint and worked well. EasyBCD is the way to go. Few important steps I dug out from my instructions to myself (some BCD commands I learned on Acronis forum): Boot Win7, login administrator or just run elevated cmd for what follows. 1. BEFORE DISABLING MINT IN EASYBCD COLLECT THESE 2 in cmd (no need to navigate to win\s32), just type to see a full listing of BCD and to back it up. Replace [path] by wherever you'll be working, something like M:\BCDwork - bcdedit /enum all >[path]\BCD-enumList.txt (does a human readable list) - bcdedit /export [path]\bcd.bak (does a backup) 2. Run MSCONFIG confirm Win7 is default boot 3. Run EASYBCD, is in NeoWin directory BCD deployment Win7 install button is checked (Vista maybe in name) Click Write MBR (this effectively killed Linux by removing grub booter) 4. Edit Boot menu - it gets ruined by EasyBCD, but you can use the backup file to recover. I used the enum list to see what got lost. Highlight Win7 I'm not sure what this was for - likely highlight in EsyBCD which menu to edit 5. AFTER EASYBCD MESSES UP (cuts it short), IMPORT .BAK FILE made earlier: - C:\Windows\system32>bcdedit /import [path]\bcd.bak 6. Reboot and Win7 should work.
bootrec.exe /fixmbr This writes boot code and leaves the disk signature and partition table alone. fdisk /mbr is not used much anymore but it writes boot code and zeroes the disk signature. It also leaves the partition table alone. It was used in WinXP days to force the OS to reassign default drive letters. The MBR is the first sector on a MBR disk. Also called LBA 0, Absolute sector 0, Sector 1. It contains boot code, disk signature and partition table. Diskpart "clean" zeroes the MBR but does more. It zeroes the first 2048 sectors. So now all your partitions are gone because there is no partition table. Fortunately, you can recover from an accidental "clean". You can't recover from an accidental "clean all".
Yes, gparted was in Linux. Fantastic utility. Especially when you need to examine a flash drive for a hidden boot flag or whatever junk comes in it. Thanks for this standalone link
SO... 1- AFTER I delete the linux partition, I SHOULD fix the MBR by doing bootrec.exe /fixmbr --- correct? 2- After deleting the linux partition & fixing the MBR, I do NOT need to do fdisk /mbr or Diskpart because you mentioned those only for information -- correct?
It's DONE!!! Linux partition is gone & Windows MBR is fixed & Windows loads fast & sweet. I did use EasyBCD to fix the MBR because I don't have Windows disk to access bootrec.exe. Many thanks to all of you for teaching me how to get this done. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By the way, I imaged my drive C *before* killing the dual boot -- just in case, doncha know.
Win98 has its own boot code, so does WinXP and so does Win Vista and later. Some Win10 computers won't boot with old boot code. But if you use an up to date recovery disk you will be installing the relevant boot code. MBR boot code isn't used with UEFI systems.
