Uninstall GRUB boot loader!


Recommended Posts

Is there a way to uninstall the GRUB boot loader either through a live Linux CD or some diagnostic boot CD?

Currently I've used my Toshiba restore disk to reformat my system--removing partitions containing Linux--but unfortunately it didn't do anything to the MBR, so now I have a system that will never load any OS and goes into an endless cycle of reboots whenever I hit the power button.

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/426708-uninstall-grub-boot-loader/
Share on other sites

You need to overwrite the boot sector of your partition, and the only way to do that is to use the Recovery Console and run fixboot (not fixmbr). You could also install Windows again, which would recreate the boot sector, but then you'd have an extra Windows installation...

Either way, you'll need a Windows CD, so go find one, even if it's a friend's (Y)

I've always just had to use FIXMBR and had it work every time. However, I'm not sure what you can do if you don't have the CD.

There might be the possibility that you can use a win98 boot disk and do the fixboot command. that might work... not sure...

  Fit4130Rider said:
There might be the possibility that you can use a win98 boot disk and do the fixboot command. that might work... not sure...

No, that won't work. Windows 98 boot disks don't contain ANY NT files, and as such are practically useless on NT/2000/XP machines because they run DOS. The Recovery Console is technically NT, AFAIK.

  John said:

No, that won't work. Windows 98 boot disks don't contain ANY NT files, and as such are practically useless on NT/2000/XP machines because they run DOS. The Recovery Console is technically NT, AFAIK.

I do have a very old Windows NT CD. Maybe that'll work?

Or, alternatively, should I just reinstall a version of linux to get a bootloader and then uninstall the boot loader from within linux? I'd get a "Missing operating system" message the next time I boot, but I've gotten that before and the recovery disk was somehow able to correct that problem.

Again, any help would be greatly appreciated.

You have access to the i386 folder anywhere on your hard disk or a restore cd? from windows start > run > (path to i386 folder)\winnt32.exe /cmdcons will install the recovery console which can be accessed when you next boot. Then remove the grub loader as described above

  Jason He said:

what about just installing Linux and removing the MBR completely from that os? would that work?

I doubt it because you'll be left without a mbr rather than it returning to the original windows one. I think you'll have an easier time finding a copy of windows xp home (i presume)

  the_upsetter said:
I doubt it because you'll be left without a mbr rather than it returning to the original windows one. I think you'll have an easier time finding a copy of windows xp home (i presume)

I am pretty sure that it has to be XP Pro, as XP Home does not include the Recovery Console, so you cannot do the fixmbr thing.

I had a similar problem last night when trying a dual boot with Ubuntu and XP Pro. To fix it, I used a Mandrake install CD to get into the partitioner, blitzed all the linux partitions, setup a temp Linux partition, put Mandrake on (with LILO overwriting GRUB at the mbr) and then used the rescue mode of Mandrake to restore the XP bootloader.

That got me into Windows and then I removed the Linux partition using Partition Magic. Now back to XP Pro (single boot) and no problems whatsoever.

  the_upsetter said:

I doubt it because you'll be left without a mbr rather than it returning to the original windows one. I think you'll have an easier time finding a copy of windows xp home (i presume)

Yes, I would be left without an MBR, but the recovery disk appears to be able to repair it.

You could get a GRUB boot disk in order to get into windows. Then do the C:\ <path to i386> \winnt /cmdcons thing, I've done that and it works. When you reboot, it will need the GRUB boot disk again, and then it will give you the menu for XP or Recovery Console. Log in to the RC, and type fixmbr. Voila, done.

I'm pretty sure grub boot disks can boot to a hard drive, anyway.

And is anyone else wondering why this is in XP Client?

Also, sorry to say this mark, but XP Home does have the RC. I've used it.

There are also RC bootable disks, without the OS on it.

  the_upsetter said:

Does it not? Blimey that's a bit of a loss! Best of luck with the Linux route Jason

I suppose I could borrow a friend's XP Home or Pro CD, but i'd rather do it myself.

The problem was, when I used a SUSE Live CD to uninstall the boot loader, it didn't actually complete the operation. When the YAST2 module loaded to give me access to boot loader options, it said that there was a partitioning problem :rolleyes:

If anyone can boot a Linux LiveCD on a Windows box, they can use the dd command to copy out the MBR boot info (however many bytes that is, 446 or something), then you can use a Linux LiveCD to use the dd command to re-write it to your drive without needing to find any other utiltites.

EDIT: Yes, it is 446 bytes: http://www.diydatarecovery.nl/mbr.htm

The command dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hda1/mbr.bin bs=446 should work to read the MBR, and place it in a file called "mbr.bin" in the root directory of your first partition (assuming your LiveCD can write to it). You can pick a floppy or some other device, too.

You would have to get a copy of the MBR from another PC. You could do it yourself, if you have another PC.

Disclaimer: I have *NEVER* tried this personally, so cannot vouch that it will work.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • But a human composed and chose the shot and took the picture. That's how the law sees it. Fortunately, this is the copyright office's determination based on judges' rulings, so that's a win for we human beings...for now.
    • Sifu developer's new soccer game Rematch scores one million copies sold on launch weekend by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe The development team behind fighting games like Sifu and Absolver, Sloclap, stepped into the competitive multiplayer arena last week with Rematch, a soccer/football game. The multiplatform sports title immediately boosted to almost 100,000 players on Steam alone. The studio has now revealed that over a million copies of Rematch have already been sold while also sharing some fun stats from the ongoing matches between players. Since its launch on June 19, over 11.78 million matches have been played in the title, resulting in 55.58 million goals, 33.54 million assists, and 69.12 million goalkeeper saves. The one-million sales milestone is also impressive, considering Rematch, a $29.99 premium title, is also available on the Microsoft subscription platform Game Pass. Both Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass services received the title on the day of release for no extra cost. The studio confirmed today that Rematch has already reached 2.5 million players, including all subscription holders. The launch was not exactly smooth, however. While originally promised for launch, crossplay between platforms was ultimately missing. The studio said that implementing the highly requested feature is now its highest priority among bug fixes and server management. Multiple hotfixes also landed over the weekend to fix numerous matchmaking issues, desyncs, and crashes. Steam user reviews are slowly recovering following the hotfixes, with it currently touting a 78% Mostly Positive rating by players. In future updates, the studio plans to implement AI bots for training, spectating games, social elements for easily making squads, a tournament system with clubs, and major gameplay tweaks with a separate public test server. Rematch is now available across PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 platforms as well as on Game Pass.
    • This is pretty nice. For one more year at least I don't have to install linux on my moms laptop and configure it so she understands it enough to sometimes read news online.
    • Just the settings need to be synced it seems, really doesn't matter much.
    • PDF24 Creator 11.27.0 by Razvan Serea PDF24 PDF Creator installs a virtual printer driver that allows you to convert any printable document or image into PDF format. You can also import documents from your scanner, combine multiple documents into one and delete selected pages from existing PDF files. The program supports creation of secure, digitally signed documents, PDF quality settings, integrated preview, emailing, and more. You can either drag'n drop documents onto the GUI or convert them from any other program by using the virtual printer driver - simply select the PDF24 printer instead of your regular paper printer. Advantages of PDF24 PDF Creator: Once installed, create PDF files forever Free upgrades included Conversion is simple and possible from all current programs Freeware Create PDF files from almost any application Easy to use Multilingual Several features of PDF24 PDF Creator: Merge and split PDF Extract pages from a PDF Copy pages from one PDF to another PDF Integrated preview for easy PDF editing Secure a PDF (Prevent from unauthorised opening, printing, etc.) Set PDF information such as author and title The following tools are included in the new PDF Toolbox of PDF24 Creator 11: Merge PDF Compress PDF Edit PDF Convert files to pdf Convert PDF files to other formats PDF to Text PDF to HTML PDF to JPG PDF to PNG PDF to PDF, PDF/A-1, PDF/A-2, PDF/A-3 PDF to Word PDF to PowerPoint PDF to Excel Protect PDF Unlock PDF Split PDF Rotate PDF pages Delete PDF pages Extract PDF pages Sort PDF pages Create a PDF from images Convert a PDF to images Extract images from PDFs Create online application as PDF Optimize PDF for the Web Insert watermark into a PDF Insert page numbers into a PDF Overlay PDF files Compare PDF files Sign PDF files Annotate PDF files Blacken PDF files Crop PDF Flatten PDF Download: PDF24 Creator 11.27.0 | MSI Setup | ~400.0 MB (Freeware) View: PDF24 Creator Homepage | Release Notes | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      DrRonSr earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      Sharon dixon earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Dedicated
      Parallax Abstraction earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • First Post
      956400 earned a badge
      First Post
    • Week One Done
      davidfegan earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      602
    2. 2
      ATLien_0
      226
    3. 3
      Michael Scrip
      167
    4. 4
      +FloatingFatMan
      154
    5. 5
      Som
      136
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!