Removing Partition, Grub, & Fixing MBR

0 comments

Unfortunately had to remove Linux from a dual boot machine today due to compatibility issues (shame on you hardware manufacturers). I wanted to reassign the Linux partition space back into the Windows partition. No problem, right?  Maybe if you do this type of thing regularly and already have the tools at hand. This is the first time I have actually had to remove Linux, a sad day for sure, but a new set of tools for the future. Following is a brief walkthrough. (note: this was complicated by being a Eee PC meaning no CDs, USB memory devices only.)

In Brief:

  • Parted Magic Live USB
    • remove Linux partition
    • wipe MBR from terminal
      dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=446 count=1
  • Windows/Dos Bootable USB
    • xfdisk /MBR


Details of My Steps:


Alternatively:
You should also be able to do roughly the same using the Windows Recovery Console to issue a fixmbr, fixboot, fdisk /MBR, fixboot c:, or bootcfg /rebuild.  In my case I did the above steps while waiting for files to copy to USB so I could access the recovery console. Instructions for getting a USB bootable recovery console can be found at http://www.msfn.org/board/USB-Boot-Recovery-Console-t111986.html although I never completed the steps and cannot confirm their functionality.