Uninstall GRUB&Ubuntu from Vista

[rrvnd]

I have a vista laptop with ubuntu installed in a partition. Obviously it installed GRUB for dual boot purposes. Now I would like to remove Ubuntu and GRUB as I intend to install Kubuntu/Mint at a later date. I understand I have to fix the master boot first and then remove ubuntu. I do not have Vista recovery CD as the it has been bundled with the system by Toshiba. Could somebody help please.

[twoHats]

Hi -

First, unless you really want to there is no need to un-install what you have to install something else. Kubuntu will allow you to re-use the same space that ubuntu ia using now, and simply write a new boot record (including windows).

Now, if you still want to get back to a Vista only system you probably want fixmbr which is a Windows tool. Check it out on google. After MBR, you may want to reclaim the partition used by Ubuntu - just go to ControlPanel - Administrative tasks - Computer Management - Storage - Disk Management and look around for your partition. Reformat or whatever?

HTH

[oz]

I do not have Vista recovery CD as the it has been bundled with the system by Toshiba. Could somebody help please.

Hello and welcome to the forums!

You might check the support section at the Toshiba website because I think most manufacturers now offer some way of creating a Windows recovery disk for those Windows machines that they sell. You can also check out the SuperGRUB LiveCD because it should be able to install or remove GRUB, and I'm pretty sure that it can restore the Windows bootloader.

[rrvnd]

thanks ozar and twohats.
I tried supergrub LiveCD but it has not helped. A question regarding twohats' suggestion- do I just install Kubuntu on the same partition as Ubuntu? Will this replace the Ubuntu with Kubuntu without spoiling the boot?

[twoHats]

Yes - you will want to:
- choose the custom partitioning
- choose the old Ubuntu partition
- choose root as the mount point
- set the partition for formatting

When Kubuntu installs to that partition, it will create a new MBR using grub which will include your windows partition as a selection.

This is all safe assuming you don't mess with your other partitions.

PS I assume you have a swap partition? If not, you should break off a couple GB for swap. If you are short on drive space, look up swap partition for optimizing size. If you already have one, just keep using the same one.

Have fun! but back up often