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I have a Windows 7/Ubuntu 11.10 dual-boot setup, where I am running the OSes on separate partitions on my laptop's HDD. I assume the best method of uninstalling is "simply" a matter of deleting the Ubuntu partitions once I've made sure control is given to the Windows bootloader instead of GRUB after POST.

The question is: How do I do that?

Things I've tried:

  • I tried the boot-repair CD, but that was a bit beyond my abilities to figure out if I could do it with that tool.

  • I also tried EasyBCD as suggested in this answer in How to set Windows bootloader as default bootloader?. It couldn't identify my ext3 partitions, let alone change the bootloader.

  • Lastly, I tried installing Startup Manager in Ubuntu, and using that to set the Windows 7 bootloader as default. But upon restart, it still loads GRUB.

BeastOfCaerbannog
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MartinDK
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5 Answers5

5

  1. Set Windows Boot Manager as default and delete the Ubuntu partitions.

    • Restart your computer and enter BIOS/UEFI settings. Locate the Boot section and set Windows Boot Manager as the default boot option. Save the changes and exit BIOS/UEFI.
    • Boot into Windows. Open Disk Management (right-click on your Start menu and select Disk Management). Identify the Ubuntu partitions (usually labeled by size and filesystem type like ext4). Right-click each Ubuntu partition and select Delete Volume.

  2. Remove Ubuntu Entry from the boot menu (optional)

    This step is optional if the Ubuntu entry no longer appears in the boot menu after removing partitions.

    efibootmgr is a userspace application used to modify the UEFI boot manager. This application can create and destroy boot entries, change the boot order, change the next running boot option, and more. For computers with UEFI firmware boot into an Ubuntu USB live session and use the efibootmgr command to remove the Ubuntu entry.

karel
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1

I think that you can use Windows Recovery Console from the CD to "fix" the bootloader, i. e. deleting grub and replacing it with Windows' bootloader.

Martin Ueding
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1

Step1

  1. Boot into Windows and right click on My Computer.
  2. Go to Manage > Disk Management.
  3. Delete the Ubuntu installed partition and space reserved for swap. (If you want to use the space in Windows, format it and create a new partition. Or you can do it later.)

Step2

  1. Reboot the computer.
  2. Go to BIOS.
  3. Set the boot media to CD/DVD
  4. Put the Windows 7 DVD (or recovery disk) into the drive.
  5. Boot from the DVD

Step3

  1. Start windows repair (if you use windows 7 DVD or if you are using recovery it will automatically show repairing option)
  2. Allow the utility to repair startup.
  3. If utility found a error and fixed it reboot the machine and enjoy!!

If it failed follow step 4

Step4

  1. Open command prompt in recovery mode.
  2. Type diskpart and hit enter
  3. Then type list disk and hit enter
  4. Then select your disk (you can find it by size) - use select disk x to select the disk. Replace x with the relevant number.
  5. Then type list part and hit enter.
  6. Then select primary disk with mb in size (not in gb) - use select part x to select the part. Hit enter.
  7. Then type active and hit enter.
  8. Close the command prompt and again run the startup recovery tool.

Enjoy!!!

Zanna
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Chathura Widanage
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You need to go to the Disk Management in the windows and then erase the disk you installed ubuntu in

Mohammad Hosein Balkhani
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Another simple way is to make a live USB with Ubuntu, select the Try Ubuntu without installing option, and run the following commands to remove the grub error and restore the Windows boot option:

sudo apt-get install lilo
sudo lilo -M /dev/sda mbr
karel
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Amir
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