ramfree17 Posted April 16, 2003 Report Share Posted April 16, 2003 (edited) Browse: [About the FAQ forum] [table of contents] [FAQs] [contribute] [GQ: General Questions not covered in the other sections] GQ-04: How do I remove Linux to reinstall Windows? Basically the steps are as follows: - Remove the installed bootloader. - Delete the Linux partitions. - Create Windows partitions. Removing the bootloader is doable before or after deleting the partitions. If t the bootloader is installed in the MBR and Windows is going to be installed then the step could be skipped since Windows is going to overwrite the MBR area during installation. * To remove LILO, enter lilo -u as the root user. You might be required to pass the device wherein LILO is installed. If it is installed in the MBR of the first harddisk then you need to pass /dev/hda . If it is on a partition then you need to specify that partition. <TODO: Add instruction for removing GRUB while Linux is still installed> The bootloader in the MBR could also be removed by invoking fdisk /mbr from a windows bootdisk. There are also reports that some Windows versions have the fixmbr utility. Your mileage might vary with that tool. The Linux partitions will have to be removed since Windows cannot normally see these. To delete the Linux partitions then they should not be in use. There are three ways to do this: A. Boot using a live-cd or rescue Linux distro. Once booted, use fdisk or cfdisk to remove the Linux partitions. You can also create Windows partitions inside these utilities and have Windows format these later on. Cfdisk is recommended because it has a pretty intuitive interface. It is also recommended that you create extended partitions whenever possible. B. Use the installer of your distro if it provides a rescue mode. The instructions above applies. C. In the case of the Mandriva installer, you can proceed with the advanced installation until you get into the graphical partition utility. You can delete and create partitions, save your modifications and then exit the installer. Reference Link(s): http://mandrakeusers.org/index.php?showtopic=103 http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...;EN-US;Q247804& http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...kb;en-us;315224 Edited January 8, 2006 by Tuxiscool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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