Problem uninstalling Xubuntu from Windows XP


Recommended Posts

I decided to install Xubuntu 8.04 inside my Windows installation from the ISO file I downloaded [Wubi]. After having some fun, I decided to uninstall it, and this where the problem arises.

When I clicked the uninstall button in my Add/Remove Window in XP, nothing happens, there is no activity related to the uninstallation of Xubuntu. I had a similar problem a few days back, so I decided to remove all related files and mistakenly deleted ntldr file which resulted in a terrible mess.

Anyways, help me out guys!

Yeah, ntldr is a Windows file. Very important, and has nothing to do with Linux. Don't know why you deleted it, but I think you can pop in the XP CD and boot into "recovery console" and do a fixboot to have it repair itself.

Also, since Linux isn't a Windows app, you won't see it under the Windows "add/remove programs" button.

I'm not very familiar with wubi, but it is a virtual filesystem creator, so you don't have to repartition, and then Ubuntu gets "installed" onto some filesystem images that exist on your NTFS partition. I would think that merely removing these filesystem images would "remove" Ubuntu quite well. :yes:

If wubi installs GRUB as your boot loader, then you can also do a fixmbr at your XP CD boot "repair console" to set the Microsoft boot loader into the MBR.

That should be about it, really. Remove the filesystem images, and restore Microsoft boot from the recovery console (if wubi installed GRUB).

NTLDR is Missing:

  Quote
1. Insert the Windows XP bootable CD into the computer.

2. When prompted to press any key to boot from the CD, press any key.

3. Once in the Windows XP setup menu press the "R" key to repair Windows.

4. Log into your Windows installation by pressing the "1" key and pressing enter.

5. You will then be prompted for your administrator password, enter that password.

6. Copy the below two files to the root directory of the primary hard disk.

In the below example we are copying these files from the CD-ROM drive letter, which in this case is "e." This letter may be different on your computer.

copy e:\i386\ntldr c:\

copy e:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\

7. Once both of these files have been successfully copied, remove the CD from the computer and reboot.

Try that.

^^^ Why use a solution (logging in and copying files to a specific drive letter) that is more complex than it has to be?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315233 <== Perform "Resolution" item #1, and you are done. (Y)

There was a bug in earlier versions of Wubi which left its entry behind in Add/Remove, despite having uninstalled Ubuntu. You can delete the entry by editing the registry. Remove the Wubi entry at the following address:

HKeyLocalMachine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\

  markjensen said:
Yeah, ntldr is a Windows file. Very important, and has nothing to do with Linux. Don't know why you deleted it, but I think you can pop in the XP CD and boot into "recovery console" and do a fixboot to have it repair itself.

Also, since Linux isn't a Windows app, you won't see it under the Windows "add/remove programs" button.

I'm not very familiar with wubi, but it is a virtual filesystem creator, so you don't have to repartition, and then Ubuntu gets "installed" onto some filesystem images that exist on your NTFS partition. I would think that merely removing these filesystem images would "remove" Ubuntu quite well. :yes:

If wubi installs GRUB as your boot loader, then you can also do a fixmbr at your XP CD boot "repair console" to set the Microsoft boot loader into the MBR.

That should be about it, really. Remove the filesystem images, and restore Microsoft boot from the recovery console (if wubi installed GRUB).

Oh don't worry about the ntldr, I managed to download the file and place it in the C: using the Ubuntu LiveCD. Easy as that.

  Wilhelmus said:
NTLDR is Missing:

Try that.

I solved that. I just mentioned it in my post to demonstrate that I have done something about removing Xubuntu.

  Mr Fish said:
There was a bug in earlier versions of Wubi which left its entry behind in Add/Remove, despite having uninstalled Ubuntu. You can delete the entry by editing the registry. Remove the Wubi entry at the following address:

HKeyLocalMachine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\

All my Linux files are intact. So it is not the entry problem. Besides, I see it every time in the boot menu.

  • 3 weeks later...

Finally got the problem solved. Here is how I did it:

1) Microsoft Support [Click]

2) Backup your boot.ini

3) Edit your boot.ini

4) In the boot.ini file, delete the line c:/wubildr = "Xubuntu" or something similar to that. Click Ok and close. With that you have removed the boot entry and you will no longer be shown a choice of Xubuntu or Windows XP during boot.

5) Remove the related Xubuntu files manually by deleting them:

(i) C:/wubildr and wubildr.mbr

(ii) [The drive in which you installed Xubuntu]:/ubuntu,wubildr and wubildr.mbr

You re done.

To remove the entry in Add/Remove, use Mr Fish's method:

  Quote
There was a bug in earlier versions of Wubi which left its entry behind in Add/Remove, despite having uninstalled Ubuntu. You can delete the entry by editing the registry. Remove the Wubi entry at the following address:

HKeyLocalMachine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\

Thanks for your help guys!

  • 2 weeks later...
  Quote
Also, since Linux isn't a Windows app, you won't see it under the Windows "add/remove programs" button.

Yes it is, he used wubi, so yes, it IS a windows apps. It just require a reboot to use it, but it is in C:/Program Files/ and got an entry in add ans remove program.

^^^ Linux is not a Windows app.

wubi does, however, place a sort of entry to "uninstall" that resets the MBR and removes the imaged filesystem. So, I guess to the user it does appear this way.

In the end, reset the MBR and you are free to remove the image file.

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

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • MacOS isn't Linux, but Proton is modified WINE, and WINE runs on MacOS. They would just need to add something like Box86 or Rosetta support.
    • PicPick 7.4.0 by Razvan Serea PicPick is user friendly and full of features for creating your image, suitable for software developers, graphic designers and the home user. It is an all-in-one program that provides a full-featured screen capture tool, intuitive image editor, color picker, color palette, pixel ruler, protractor, crosshair and even whiteboard. It not only has everything that you need, but it loads fast, and sits quietly in the system tray until needed. This software is provided as freeware for personal use only. In this case, you are granted the right to use this program free of charge. Otherwise, you need to pay for a license for commercial use. PicPick key features: For All Windows (Fully support Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista and XP both 32-bit and 64-bit) Multi-language is supported. (MORE 28+) All functions are fully supported on a dual screen environment. No Registry, No access to System folder (you can copy these files to portable USB) Screen Capture Auto-scroll, dual monitors and sound effect are supported Various output to File, Printer, Office programs, External program Sharing to FTP, Web, E-mail, Facebook and Twitter are supported as well Full Screen Active Window Window Control Scrolling Window Region, Fixed Region FreeHand Repeat Last Capture Image Editor Intuitive User Interface Windows Ribbon style Standard drawing, shapes, arrows, lines, text, and etc. Blur, sharpen, hue, contrast, brightness, pixelate, rotate, flip, frame effect and etc. Color Picker and Color Palette various color code type (RGB, HTML, C++, Delphi) Photoshop style RGB/HSV conversion is supported. Pick and Save your favorite color! Screen Pixel Ruler Horizontal and vertical orientation various units (Pixels, Inches, Centimeters) DPI setting (72, 96, 120, 300) colorful gradient skins You don't have to install any other screen ruler softwares. Screen Magnifier Zoom 2x to 10x option Stay on top, smooth display, and sizeable window Screen Protractor Have you seen any screen protractor function in other software? Screen Crosshair For aligning objects in graphics or design applications For calculating relative coordinates on screen Some prefer to use this tool than a pixel-ruler. Whiteboard For giving a presentation or just drawing something on screen PicPick 7.4.0 changelog: Added support for saving in WebP file format Added horizontal scrolling in the Image Editor with Shift and mouse wheel Fixed control capture failing to detect specific windows Fixed focus loss during delayed active-window captures. Download: PicPick 7.4.0 | 74.9 MB (Free for personal use only) Download: Portable PicPick 7.4.0 | 73.3 MB View: PicPick Home page | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Stellarium 25.2 by Razvan Serea Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope. It is being used in planetarium projectors. Just set your coordinates and go. Stellarium key features: Realistic simulation of the sky, sunrise and sunset Default catalogue of over 600,000 stars Downloadable additional catalogues for up to 210 million stars Catalog data for all New General Catalogue (NGC) objects Images of almost all Messier objects and the Milky Way Artistic illustrations for all 88 modern constellations More than a dozen different cultures with their constellations Solar and lunar eclipse simulation Photorealistic landscapes (more are available on the website) Scripting support with ECMAScript (a few demo scripts are included) Extendable with plug-ins: 8 plug-ins installed by default, including: artificial satellites plug-in (updated from an on-line TLE database) ocular simulation plug-in (shows how objects look like in a given ocular) Solar System editor plug-in (imports comet and asteroid data from the MPC) telescope control plug-in (Meade LX200 and Celestron NexStar compatible) The major changes of this version: Many changes in support of sky cultures Added 2 new plugins: Mosaic Camera and Custom Nebula Textures Many improvements in Core Updates in sky cultures (include new one) [full release notes] Download: Stellarium 25.2 (64-bit) | 361.0 MB (Open Source) View: Stellarium Home Page | Other Operating Systems | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Microsoft 365 Roadmap Weekly: Compact notifications in Teams, improvements to Copilot & more by David Uzondu It is the end of another week, which means there's a new batch of additions to the public Microsoft 365 Roadmap. Most of the additions this week were focused on the usual Microsoft products like Copilot, Edge, Teams, and Outlook. Let's start with Edge, because a change is coming to how the browser handles links from other apps, with an expected arrival in August. If you use different Edge profiles for work and personal stuff, you know the drill. Right now, your setting for a default profile takes priority. When this Edge update rolls out, an application like Teams or Outlook can recommend a profile, and Edge will prioritize that recommendation instead. An admin policy called "EdgeOpenExternalLinksWithAppSpecifiedProfile" will be available for organizations that want to control this behavior. Microsoft Teams is getting a few tweaks aimed at improving day-to-day use, spread out across this summer. Arriving next month, notifications are getting a compact mode, which shrinks them down for a more minimalist look on your screen. The ability to save messages and posts is also on the way for August. Teams will also get noise suppression for people who dial into meetings with a phone. It will automatically filter out background sounds like traffic or keyboard clatter, making calls clearer for everyone involved. This is set to roll out in September. If you spend too much time digging through old emails, an update for Outlook planned for next month should help. A new "Browse Conversation Files" feature will gather every file shared within an email thread into a single, easy-to-access view at the top of the conversation. Moving on to Copilot, the AI assistant will get one-click buttons to instantly generate FAQ or briefing pages from content in your Copilot Notebook. For managers, a new "scoped access" feature for the Copilot Dashboard will let them see adoption and usage stats just for their specific teams. Microsoft is also bringing the basic Copilot chat to its Department of Defense (DoD) customers next month, with web access turned off by default to "meet US Government requirements."
    • AMD power plans are not a thing anymore. That was their poor man's attempt to influence scheduling in Windows until they got Microsoft to update the scheduler to better understand the concepts of CCDs, which are super important to getting the correct performance form Ryzen. I never really understood how a power plan could have that effect, but I do know they are no longer needed.
  • Recent Achievements

    • First Post
      Johnny Mrkvička earned a badge
      First Post
    • Week One Done
      viraltui earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      serfegyed earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Dedicated
      firey earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • Dedicated
      fettermanj earned a badge
      Dedicated
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      648
    2. 2
      Michael Scrip
      224
    3. 3
      ATLien_0
      222
    4. 4
      Xenon
      146
    5. 5
      +FloatingFatMan
      143
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!