I have installed 2 operating systems on one of my disks as dual boot I want to uninstall one of them without affecting the other. Please help.
I realise now that I should have deleted the partition before installing the recent O/S, but is there any way I can solve this without reinstalling as I am running low on diskspace .Cheers
2007-01-13 12:33:00 · 8 answers · asked by John O 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Other - Computers
Delete the unwanted partition with partition magic (or similar)...
2007-01-13 12:35:45 · answer #1 · answered by INOA 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Use G-Parted live (Free, Bootable CD), .iso available here;
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=115843&package_id=173828
Download, Burn as a bootable iso, and mount it.
If you need .iso making software (used to create bootable disks) there is a good freeware program available here;
http://www.snapfiles.com/reviews/ISO_Recorder/ISORecorder.html
After booting from the GParted CD,(make sure and set the BIOS to enable booting from CD) you will be looking at a graphical interface representing the partitions on your drive, similar to Norton Ghost, or Acronis. Next delete the partition you want to get rid of.
For example If you are dual-booting Windows & Linux, and you want to get rid of Linux, You would boot the Gparted disk, and using the very intuitive GUI tools delete the ext2 partition and the Linux swap partition. Then you would Grow the existing partition (that contains the OS you want to keep) using the Grow option.
Windows will be the NTFS, or FAT partition. Upon reboot Windows will perform a check disk, (due to change in partition size), Then you should be good to go.
Any time you start altering partitions, there is always a chance, due to user error or unforeseen events, that you can completely hose the install. So back up everything you cant afford to loose before beginning : )
If this was a dual boot between Windows & Linux you will also want to remove GRUB/ LILO and restore the original MBR (Master Boot Record). To accomplish this, boot your Windows installation disk, and when it asks you if you want to install or repair, choose the recovery option.
If you have password protected the Administrative account on XP, you will be prompted for the password. If you never set a password for the Administrative account, just hit Enter.
This will bring you to a DOS prompt.
Just type; FIXMBR
Answer Yes
Type EXIT and remove the install disk during reboot, and it will be just like Linux was never installed. This will work perfectly, I do this all day long.
If any of this is unclear to you, drop me an email, & Ill append to the instructions given here.
EDIT*** I don't know why people on this site arbitrarily "thumbs-down" good information. At the risk of sounding arrogant, I am the only one here who knows wth, they are talking about. My solution is solid, tested extensively & free. (I wont even charge you 200$ : P )
2007-01-13 12:48:35 · answer #2 · answered by gnobody 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
This is a 200 dollar answer...
the install you want to get rid of is on the C drive?
the boot files are on the C drive...
if you delete the c partition you lose this...
your c:\boot.ini has two entries in it one pointing to the c drive and one pointing to your D?drive for the 2nd OS.
you could remove the entry to the OS you want gone from the boot.ini and set default to the second OS and set the timeout to zero.
once you boot straight to the second OS you can delete any folder you want on the cdrive...including the windows folder...but leave the files on the root of your c drive there (ntldr, boot.ini, ntdetect.com, and the others) there, - this is a dirty way to do it.
you could copy the system files from the cdrive (ntldr..etc) to a temp location on your Ddrive (if you dont see sys files at the root of the Cdrive, you need to go to control panel - folder options - view - and check 'show hidden...' and uncheck 'hide protected operating sys...') just copy everything that is not a folder at the root of Cdrive to your temp folder you made for this, to be extra careful - then re-format your Cdrive and paste back in those files when done - make sure to modify your boot.ini like above so it only sees the OS on your other drive. I dont know if this will work.
I have the hard ware to test these ideas if you want...but it'll cost you for real.
or you can do a proper backup of all the files and stuff you want to save, and start completely over - This is what I recommend.
2007-01-13 12:54:37 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Forget getting rid of one of the operating systems.
Just buy another hard drive and slave it in your machine!
Its a hell of a lot easier than messing around trying to get rid of 1 OS and leaving the other working properly.
You can pick up a 40 gig Hard Drive very cheap these days!
Good Luck.
2007-01-13 13:07:35 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
search for the boot.ini file and edit the contents...
once your system boots normally I would systematically delete the directories from the unused OS
2007-01-13 12:39:49 · answer #5 · answered by lv_consultant 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You didn't say what OS you are using, but in XP, you just edit the boot.ini file to remove the old system.
2007-01-13 12:39:36 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
i know what i would do - format the drive then re-install one OS.
2007-01-13 12:36:37 · answer #7 · answered by hillman_avenger2006 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
good luck.. i had linux and windows... and ive had nightmares...
2007-01-13 12:42:14 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋