my friends computer died some time ago and i installed ubuntu on it so that he could still use it a bit. to do this i had to partition the last part of the drive and install in there becasue he wanted to still be able to access his old windows files. they were fine but some system files had been deleated by a virus of some sort.

since then he managed to get another friend to install a copy of xp on it. and he had also broken the ubuntu installation. [he is what you might call a typical computer user!] he wanted me to remove linux so that he could have some more space. or thats what i thought he wanted. i think he really wanted to be rid of grub and go straight into windows.

me being slack and not really thinking just reformatted the linux partition in windows disk manager. then installed some importand anti spyware etc. programs on his new windows and left some scans going and went off. when he rext rebooted the computer it just came up with a grub error. but that is becasue grub has been deleated i presume. i think i now understand about the /boot, is that where linux bootloader files are kept? mot the mbr. anyhow thats not the point.

how can i return the computer to using the windows bootloader and removing both grub and linux?

 

 

 

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I can't be sure if the fix I'm proposing is available to Windows XP or not, but still it might be worth a shot.

Try booting up the computer using a Bootable System Disk from any Windows version (floppy, CD, whatever). When you reach the prompt, type:

FDISK /mbr

I tried this a lot in the days of Windows 98 and Windows Millennium editions, and it restored the Master Boot Record (MBR) like a charm.

Give it a try, perhaps it still works :smile2:.

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It still does. I've done it number of times and it works just fine. There is one more command, I think it is fixmbr or something. But you need to boot from the WindowsXP CD into Repair Console mode and then issue the command.

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As Abhiram says, you need to boot from the Windows Install CD and have it drop you into the repair console. Type fixmbr and it should be fine. I've done it several times

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just type:

fixmbr

into the command line?

just checking. that easy!?

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Step by step

1. Put Disc in drive

2. Startup PC

3. Let the PC run into the CD

4. Choose the Recovery Console

5. Type you admin username

6. Type your admin password

7. Type Fixmbr

8. Type exit

9. Eject Disc

10. Load windows !

11. Enjoy !

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u can boot with any bootable media to boot into dos in case of winxp also u can use the command fdisk /mbr to clean the linux bootloader and reinstall the window bootloader.

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