How do I remove the Ubuntu boot option created by Wubi?

Question

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?

Answer 1

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).

Answer 2

You can also use EasyBCD to remove the boot option, but you should try uninstalling first. http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1

Answer 3

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.

Answer 4

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:

1. Open open cmd as administrator. Type cmd in the start menu of Windows, right click and select Run as administrator.

2. Then use this command to see the entries in the boot manager

   bcdedit
   

   This 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                      OptIn
   

   Though I'm missing an entry with description ubuntu. Note or copy the value of identifier in that entry. It will be a number like this {bbc2fcc7-e344-11e1-9ade-bd05d50dfb31}

3. After you copied the identifier of Your Ubuntu entry, use this command to clear that

   bcdedit /delete {xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx} /cleanup
   

   Of 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)

Answer 5

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.

Answer 6

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:

1. Remove the Wubi directory, if present.
2. Remove any wubildr files in your C: drive.
3. Use bcdedit /delete to remove the Wubi entry from the Windows bootloader.

Answer 7

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.

Answer 8

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/

Answer 9

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