My friend installed Ubuntu on a separate partition on a PC with Windows 7 using Wubi. But by mistake he reformatted the drive containing Ubuntu. He is still getting Ubuntu option in the boot menu. How can it be completely removed?
9 Answers
You will need to uninstall Ubuntu from Windows 7 - you can do this in the Add/Remove software section of the control panel or by running Wubi installer again (It should inform you that you need to uninstall first).
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You can also use EasyBCD to remove the boot option, but you should try uninstalling first. http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1
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If you have reformatted the drive containing Ubuntu and you still have Ubuntu entry in your Windows boot manager, you can remove that obsolete entry by following this simple procedure:
Open open cmd as administrator. Type cmd in the start menu of Windows, right click and select Run as administrator.
Then use this command to see the entries in the boot manager
bcdeditThis will give you an output like below. (My output is missing Ubuntu, but you will have one)
C:\Windows\system32>bcdedit Windows Boot Manager -------------------- identifier {bootmgr} device partition=G: description Windows Boot Manager locale en-US inherit {globalsettings} default {current} resumeobject {bbc2fcc5-e344-11e1-9ade-bd05d50dfb31} displayorder {current} toolsdisplayorder {memdiag} timeout 30 Windows Boot Loader ------------------- identifier {current} device partition=C: path \Windows\system32\winload.exe description Windows 7 locale en-US inherit {bootloadersettings} recoverysequence {bbc2fcc7-e344-11e1-9ade-bd05d50dfb31} recoveryenabled Yes osdevice partition=C: systemroot \Windows resumeobject {bbc2fcc5-e344-11e1-9ade-bd05d50dfb31} nx OptInThough I'm missing an entry with
description ubuntu. Note or copy the value ofidentifierin that entry. It will be a number like this{bbc2fcc7-e344-11e1-9ade-bd05d50dfb31}After you copied the identifier of Your Ubuntu entry, use this command to clear that
bcdedit /delete {xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx} /cleanupOf course replacing the value of
{xxxx...}there.
Now reboot to see that your Obsolete Ubuntu entry is deleted. (Actually you won't see this if you do not have more than one Windows, since Windows will be booted automatically without showing the OS choice menu)
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Try this tutorial: Easily Set Default OS in a Windows 7 Dual-boot Setup
In the last step change the dropdown to Windows 7 (there should also be a Ubuntu/Wubi option). You can also change the "Time to display list of operating systems" to '0', or something very short.

Alternatively you can try the Ubuntu Wiki instructions for manual removal of Wubi.
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I don't think its Ubuntu problem.
(assuming that you are using windows)
You have to edit your boot.ini file
Run->msconfig->BOOT.INI->check all boot drives
If it does not find any OS mentioned in boot.ini file, it shows you an error message saying that your path is invalid and asks if you want to remove it. Just conform it and you are done.
Works in windows XP. I hope its same in windows 7 too.
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The question is if it is Grub or the Windows boot menu that your friend sees?
Grub in the MBR requires rewriting the MBR which isn't easy from inside modern versions of Windows.
THe Windows boot menu can be fixed in the System control panel.
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If Wubi does not appear in Add / Remove programs, you should be able to download it again, run it, and it will jump straight into the uninstall process.
If that does not work, the following manual steps will get rid of it, save removing registry keys:
- Remove the Wubi directory, if present.
- Remove any
wubildrfiles in your C: drive. - Use
bcdedit /deleteto remove the Wubi entry from the Windows bootloader.
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This works: Run a cmd as administrator.
bcdedit
will give you the following output:
Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=G:
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
default {current}
resumeobject {bbc2fcc5-e344-11e1-9ade-bd05d50dfb31}
displayorder {current}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30
Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Windows 7
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
recoverysequence {bbc2fcc7-e344-11e1-9ade-bd05d50dfb31}
recoveryenabled Yes
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {bbc2fcc5-e344-11e1-9ade-bd05d50dfb31}
nx OptIn
Though I'm missing an entry with description ubuntu. Note or copy the value of identifier in that entry. It will be a GUID like this: {bbc2fcc7-e344-11e1-9ade-bd05d50dfb31}
After you copied the identifier of Your Ubuntu entry, use this command to clear that:
bcdedit /delete {xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx} /cleanup
Remove Ubuntu or XP from the Windows 7 Boot Menu If you’ve ever used a dual-boot system and then removed one of the operating systems, it can still show up in Windows 7’s boot menu. We’ll show you how to get rid of old entries and speed up the boot process.
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/17903/remove-ubuntu-or-xp-from-the-windows-7-boot-menu/
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