Houston ... We have a problem (Linux related)

[5teve]

Hi Guys and Guyesses,

I have a problem with an old Acer laptop. I bought it "As is" about 4 years ago and all I got was the laptop and the power lead. It had Windows XP Pro installed on it and, to be fair, it has been a good little laptop that has never caused any major problems. None, that is, until I started messing around with it.

I decided to give Linux a try out so I got a Ubuntu disc and installed it on the laptop as a dual boot system. In other words, when I start the laptop, I have to make a choice, XP or Ubuntu. Again, it all works perfectly and the only downside is that to change from using XP to Ubuntu, I have to restart the lappy.

But then I found out about something called VirtualBox which, so they say, will allow me to open the laptop into XP every time and then open Ubuntu from within XP just like any other windows programme. As added advantage would be the ability to copy/paste files from one OS to the other.

But the $64,000 question is, How do I delete Ubuntu.

My apologies for boring you with all the info but that's just me.

Cheers for ant help and suggestions.

Steve

[Synapse]

You will need your XP CD for this.

 

Perhaps the best way is to repair the XP boot record, to remove the GRUB bootloader.

 

Once XP is booting again, delete the Linux install.

 

I´m not sure, you may have to use a third party tool to actually remove the Linux partition. The Easeus tool has worked for me in the past.

 

There is an easy tutorial showing how to repair the bootloader here...

 

http://www.wikihow.com/Uninstall-the-Grub-Bootloader-from-a-Dual-Boot-XP-System-With-an-XP-CD

 

Partiton tool

 

http://www.partition-tool.com/

Edited November 23, 2013 by Synapse

[5teve]

Thank you, Synapse.

That's the problem, though. When I bought the laptop, that was all I got. so there is no XP disc for me to use.

I could maybe buy an XP disc on eBay and use that but if I'm going to do that, I may as well buy a Windows 7 disc or even a Windows 8 disc, but will they work in this situation?

Any help appreciated.

Steve

[Synapse]

There used to be an ISO of the XP Recovery Console, that is bootable, but no install XP install files.

 

Found it...

 

http://www.thecomputerparamedic.com/files/rc.iso

 

It is a direct download link.

Edited November 23, 2013 by Synapse

[5teve]

Update ..... Just to let you know how things are going on. I bought a new Windows 8.1 version that, as far as I have been told, I'll be able to install this software on to the laptop and wipe all the other stuff off. I won't have time to do it today but I'll let you know what happens.

Cheers,

Steve.

[Armageddon]

Using disk management from within windows will also delete a linux partition , and to repair the MBR after boot with a xp disk either normal or recovery then select a command prompt and type bootrec.exe /fixmbr hit return and reboot , job done windows MBR repaired linux partition gone

[scoobedoo]

Startup your laptop with the ubuntu livecd and open gparted (partition manager). Lool for the ubuntu partition and linux swap partition and delete them. Then expend the windows partion to the free space.To restore normal boot fixmbr trick described above will do.