Removing (K)ubuntu

I'm not considering removing Kubuntu at the moment since I want to play around with it a bit more and see if their is any difference in battery life if I use Kubuntu or Vista however I feel this could be very useful for future reference. I know very little about the inner workings of file structuring in either Vista or Linux and I basically know nothing about Linux so please make any replies as detailed and as idiot proof as possible!

Now, to remove Kubuntu and to have Vista boot up, would I need to edit the mbr file? I'm presuming this since the GRUB loader brings up the option for either OS so would I need to fix the mbr and then reformat the partition Kubuntu is in? If so, how would I go about doing this?

A more pressing matter at hand for myself is how irritating it is that Unbuntu presumes that it is the primary OS and so when I turn my laptop on, if I don't press anything Kubuntu boots. Now, can I change this so that Vista is the primary OS to boot? This is a minor quibble but its certainly beginning to get on my nerves! Would I have to enter a specific code into Konsole to change the ordering? If this is the case, could someone please either link me to the steps for doing so or post it here (remember, idiot proof when it comes to Linux please!)?

Thank you for your time.

 

for removing GRUB entirely, you can boot from your windows disc, enter the recovery console, and issue the commands FIXBOOT and FIXMBR. This should get things cleaned out. This was from before a wiped Windows, which was XP, so I don't know if Vista has the same thing

the fastest way to change the boot order is:

hit alt+f2 to bring up the run dialog, type "gksu gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst" hit enter, it'll ask for your password, enter that

now you're looking at GRUB's configuration file. scroll to the bottom, and you'll see a list of the different boot options. starting from the first one, count 'em off, starting at zero. when you figure out your windows partition number, remember that, and scroll to the top of the file. you should see a section that starts with "default num", after the various lines with the # symbols, you'll see a line saying "default 0" you want to change the 0 to whatever number your windows partition is.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

Well, to restore Vista's MBR, I would suggest the you actually use Vista BOOTPRO (google it). It has an option to restore the Vista bootloader. To wipe out the Kubuntu partition, you could probably use fdisk from the Vista command prompt, but you could alternatively just boot up the GParted LiveCD and then you can even integrate it back into the Vista partition.

These are excellent responses, BigV, but keep in mind that he is running Kubuntu, not Ubuntu, so he would probably want to use the command "sudo kate /boot/grub/menu.lst" rather than gedit. Also, can't you add the line "makedefault" to an entry in GRUB to make it the default OS (assuming you also delete the current "makedefault" entry)?

 

Sorry to bump this thread but I didn't see a huge point in creating a new one considering I will be referring back to some posts here. After playing around with Kubuntu a bit more I have decided to fully remove it and return the partition to one which can be seen and used by Vista but is not going to be integrated into my main partition. This setup will give me a C and E drive IIRC. I have downloaded Vista BootPro as suggested by notebook_ftw. Using this software, how do I restore the Vista bootloader? I have looked on the forums for Vista BootPro but I can't find many posts pertaining to the removal of linux. Perhaps this is because I'm tired.

If someone can point me in the right direction, I think I will use either my LiveCD for Ubuntu or Kubuntu to return the partition to a format Vista can use.

Thanks for all help and suggestions.

 

There should be an option in VistaBOOT PRO that says something like "Restore Boot Menu" or something to that effect. You'll want to click that. Basically, you should be looking for threads/topics about how to restore a default MBR, and not necessarily after deleting Linux. It would be the same as if you were dual-booting XP and Vista for example.

To turn the partition back into a FAT32 or NTFS drive for Windows, you can either use the Kubuntu LiveCD or you can download the GParted LiveCD (gparted.sourceforge.net). You'll boot from that, select the partition manager, delete the partition, then reformat it to either FAT32 or NTFS, whatever your preference is (I would recommend NTFS).