Uninstall Ubuntu 10.04 no Windows XP install CD

Yes, create a custom boot config file
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2

You don't know a way to remove ubuntu?

If you dont have the windows CD to fix the MBR, then you will need the GRUB bootloader, otherwise your windows partition will be unable to boot. I suppose you could completely delete ubuntu, and re-run grub-install from the ubuntu live cd.

hmmm... But what if i happened to upgrade to windows 7? Would it work if i just deleted everything and installed windows 7?

If you did a full wipe and re-install, then yes it will work.

And we would all cry..  

But go on, even as a Linux user I have to admit it's the best OS they've done.

At least we have eachother  

W7 is pretty fantastic, I do have to say. I do not mind using it at all   (don't tell anybody else here I said that  )

Hehe, no i won't... Yes, Windows 7 is great, but it costs a hecka lot of money here, and besides i think XP is better at some areas.... But i do indeed like ubuntu, but it keeps annoying me, that when i turn my PC and is going in XP and i walk away for a drink, and when i return it has booted into Ubuntu... It gets annoying. And if somebody ELSE is going to use my computer, lol, they wont understand a thing, and boot into ubuntu....

I think this is what you want - Right click on Computer (This is My Computer in XP) then click on Properties. On System Properties dialog you can see Tabs their, click on Advanced then below that you will see Start up and Recovery then click on Settings button, here you can choose what OS you want to boot by default. Hope that fix it.

Does XP understand GRUB? That would seem strange  
Or are you expecting it to overwrite GRUB and give XP as the only option?

No, good idea but it only recognises windows XP, and it already is default.. With no other options. But it does show a "edit the startup options file manually" or something like that, and when i click edit, this comes up in notepad:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdete

Can anything be changed heer?  

You could try changing the Grub default to boot XP rather than Ubuntu.

This thread is someone asking the same question you are. I particularly like the looks of jimonyzang's solution, though I'm not running a version of linux with GRUB2 so I can't try it. Basically, he wants you to open the file /etc/default/grub with root privileges, and edit it so that the line which starts "GRUB_DEFAULT" is set to the number in the menu of the OS you want as default. It looks like this number is counted from zero, so to find which number your windows option is, try starting the computer and counting how many times you hit the down key to select it. This would be the number to enter. If it is wrong, no harm will be done. After this, he wants you to run the command update-grub with root privileges (i.e., type sudo in front of it). Hope this works.

edit: if this is confusing, I'm just trying to explain what each command he gives does. You can just copy and paste them into the terminal, and they will work. The only hard part for you is finding the line "GRUB_DEFAULT" in the config file and entering the right number in it.

If you are running 10.04, and you have not upgraded your kernel, you should have 5 entries in GRUB, which means GRUB_DEFAULT should be 4 (due to the counting starting at 0). Make sure to run update-grub after editing /etc/default/grub otherwise the changes won't have any effect.

Yes, u can easily modify the list. Goto /boot/grub. Here, u can see one file with the name grub.cfg Not go to terminal and type " sudo gedit /boot/grub/grub.cfg " (without qoutes)

Scroll down and there you can see

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Microsoft Windows Professional XP2 (on /dev/sdb1)" {
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd1,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set fe3cfb353cfae813
drivemap -s (hd0) ${root}
chainloader +1

Copy the above format thing from grub.cfg and paste it right after

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

That's it. Next time when u login, windows will be in first position.

Yes, until you next upgrade the kernel, or make any changes to other GRUB config files that require you to run update-grub.

I have XP & Ubuntu in different partition(primary) but it boot only from XP no option for Ubuntu ? Pls help.

boot the ubuntu livecd and run 'update-grub'

IS this grub cfg stuff potentially dangerous if i do anything wrong? i didnt quite understand what srikantgundaz meant

As long as you're careful it will be fine. If you screw up, it won't boot, but you will still be able to fix it by other means.

I'll do my best to re-explain what srikantgundaz said in a slightly more understandable manner.



Open a terminal.

Enter the following:

sudo gedit /boot/grub/grub.cfg

This will allow you to edit the grub configuration file in the /boot/grub/ directory.

Scroll down until you see the following (or similar) text:

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Microsoft Windows Professional XP2 (on /dev/sdb1)" {
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd1,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set fe3cfb353cfae813
drivemap -s (hd0) ${root}
chainloader +1

Copy the above lines below the following lines in the grub.cfg file.

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

This should place Windows in the first location on the boot menu.

Okay i have found where to put that stuff but to be honest i am very scared of fmessing up my computer, i know exactly what to do please can you tell me if this is potentially harmful or not as the grub.cfg file says in the top DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE if i edit it wong, will my machine become unbootable?

This is what i found:

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Dell Utility Partition (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod fat
set root='(hd0,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 07d6-0c0d
drivemap -s (hd0) ${root}
chainloader +1
}
menuentry "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (on /dev/sda2)" {
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd0,2)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set ceec7f5dec7f3eb1
drivemap -s (hd0) ${root}
chainloader +1

WHat can i do with it?

Please guys i need to fix this what can i do with the information from this file?

I would advise the following. Copy the grub.cfg file that you are using at the moment to a pen drive or such like. Also make a copy as locally, name it something like grub.original then go and make the edits.

IF you make a mistake you can boot from a live CD and copy back over the backup file. That way you can make the change and worst case scenario all you have to do is copy back a file to get back to where you started.

So long as you have a live CD to hand that you can boot from to a desktop there is very little risk, you will just confuse the boot loader which can be fixed by replacing the config file, you would have to be very cack handed to actually cause serious damage.

Another think that I spotted is that you have a boot option for the dell system utilities. You might want to try booting that and seeing if you get the option to create an XP install CD. Dell don't ship install cd media but sometimes you can make a disk from the image they create when the image the HD.

Oh. But i'm not quite sure where to copy/put the file you guys listed? And can anythign go wrong wince i have this dell utiliti partition stuff?

Just copy it to your desktop or home directory, something out of the way and easily accessible. It's not really important where you make your copy. You can even just do it in the /boot/grub/ directory as long as you name is something else, if you wish.

There shouldn't be any issues. I think you're making this into more of a big deal than it is. Just trust us, it will work   And in the very rare case it doesn't, you will have made your backup, and we'll be able to advise you on how to fix it.

Ok so i shall just put this;

1.### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
2.menuentry "Microsoft Windows Professional XP2 (on /dev/sdb1)" {
3.insmod ntfs
4.set root='(hd1,1)'
5.search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set fe3cfb353cfae813
6.drivemap -s (hd0) ${root}
7.chainloader +1

Right below

1.### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
2.set menu_color_normal=white/black
3.set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray
4.### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

This in the .cfg file?

Well.. the Dell utilitys tuff is only hardware diagnostics