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I want to get rid of my Ubuntu partition, because I never use it on my laptop, only on my desktop.

If I remove Ubuntu (I'm assuming GRUB will go with it), will Windows Boot Manager still allow me to boot into Windows, or will I need to do something else?

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  • 2
    Did you install Ubuntu using Wubi, or with the live CD installer?
    – nanofarad
    Oct 3, 2012 at 21:35

4 Answers 4

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Removing Ubuntu must be done carefully because you might mess up things with booting Windows.

If you simply delete the Ubuntu partition (assuming you have a Windows partition, an Ubuntu partition and a swap partition), Grub will most probably still be there but be messed up, not allowing you to boot Windows.

Look here: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-safely-uninstall-ubuntu-in-windows-dual-boot-environment/

In short:

  1. Boot Windows

  2. Delete Linux partitions from within Windows

  3. Restore MBR (to remove Grub and install the Windows bootloader) using bootrec /fixmbr bootrec /fixboot

  4. Recover the space left by the Ubuntu partitions by creating a new NTFS partition or enlarging the Windows partiton.

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  • I believe there are some problems with your answer. First, you can't run bootrec from Windows, you need to run it from a bootable windows CD/DVD or repair disk. Also, I think there are different procedures for XP and Vista/Windows 7 according to Microsoft's website. Oct 7, 2012 at 4:50
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The short answer is you will lose access to Windows if you remove Ubuntu.

The Problem When you install Linux, it replaces the Windows MBR (Master Boot Record) with another one, GRUB. The downside of using GRUB is that its configuration file lives in a Linux partition, usually the last Linux distribution installed. So, if you delete this last distro, you lose GRUB's configuration files, and it will stop at a GRUB prompt that is pretty cryptic. It's possible to enter commands here to boot Windows, or any other distro, but it's pretty painful, especially every time you boot.

The Solutions The usual solution is to use the bootable Windows recovery disk to run a command to replace GRUB with the original Windows boot loader; this must be run from the CD/DVD or repair disk, and can't be run from Windows itself. More info can be found here for Vista and Windows 7 or here for XP.

If you have a copy of the standard fdisk program for DOS/Windows, you can run fdisk /mbr to fix it.

If you don't have the required Windows boot disks, you may be able to fix it using these instructions.

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If you want to restore windows 7 bootloader then install "EasyBcd" on windows from here - http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/OS-Enhancements/EasyBCD.shtml

After installing, open it. If your screen shows like this -

Then go to "BCD Deployment" -> Clik on "Write MBR"

After reboot , login to windows, go to -> Disk Management. Delete the partitions created for Ubuntu.

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  • This is the easiest way to remove ubuntu and restore Windows bootloader without messing with command line. Feb 15, 2013 at 12:31
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Ok so, I actually did this thing deleted the linux partition and obviously i got the grub rescue screen which you usually get and panicked after it, watched lot's of videos trying to fix it all required using a live cd which I didn't have, I discovered a workaround maybe it will help so, Do this!!! --> just close the computer by pressing ctrl+alt+del then when it opens your bios menu from therr check the boot options in my case the 1st preference was given to linux i changed the preference order and made windows boot manager first preference and disabled linux then it opened normally, then booted into advance repair screen and from there the usual opening cmd and using bootrec commands it worked!!

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  • Not applicable to old BIOS computers of the same vintage as this question. Aug 13, 2021 at 23:31

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