Remove Ubuntu from a Dual Boot Computer

In our most recent video, we are going to learn how to remove Ubuntu from a Windows 7/Ubuntu dual boot setup.  You may be asking yourself: "Wait a minute, Techie always does his best to promote Linux in general.  Why is he telling people how to remove it?".  And if that is your question, I'd say it is a very valid question.

But simply put, there are a plethora of reasons why someone would want to remove Linux from a dual-boot machine.  See below for a short list of just a few reasons:

1- They may be low on total Hard Drive space and may need to reclaim that space for Windows.
2- Maybe Ubuntu just isn't the Operating System for you.  There are thousands of Linux distros to try.
3- Maybe you want to revert back to Windows for everyday use, and run virtual machines of Ubuntu from within Windows.

There are many, many other reasons.  But whatever they may be, removing one of the Operating Systems from a dual-booting PC may sound like a daunting task.  However, I am here to report that it isn't as daunting as it may seem.  And in most cases should take less than half and hour.

Disclaimer: Anytime you start monkeying around with Operating Systems, Boot Records, Partitions, etc.  Please be sure to backup any data that is important to you.  There is always the off-chance that something could go wrong.

Be sure to check the video out below, as always I will list the steps as a sort of cheat sheet below as well.

Difficulty: Moderate Skills Are Required (Basic Understanding of Boot Records, Paritions, Partition Wizards)

Step 1

Be sure both Ubuntu and Windows are accessible and bootable.

Step 2

We need to remove the Grub Bootloader that was installed when we installed Ubuntu.  DO NOT attempt removing Grub manually.  As you will render both operating systems unbootable.  To remove Grub, we need to use a tool called: EasyBCD.

Visit the following website to download EasyBCD (there is a free community edition):

http://neosmart.net/EasyBCD/

Note: If you are using EasyBCD within a commercial setting, you need to honor the developers wishes and purchase a copy of it.

Step 3

Once EasyBCD has been installed, run it.  Click on 'BCD Backup/Repair' button.  On the right, select 'Re-create/Repair Boot Files'.  Our goal is to rewrite the MBR and restore the Windows bootloader.  Don't worry, this process takes a couple minutes.  

Once this completes, the status box will disappear.  You can then exit EasyBCD.

Step 4

Reboot the PC and make sure Grub does not appear.  If Grub is now gone, we can proceed to removing the Ubuntu Parition and the Linux Swap Partition.

Step 5

Once Windows 7 has finished rebooting and we have verified Grub is gone, click on:
-Start
-Right click on 'Computer'
-Left click on 'Manage'

This will open the computer management console.  Locate 'Disk Management' on the left side of the screen.  This will allow us to manipulate the Hard Drive's Partitions.

Step 6

Once inside the 'Disk Management' tool, locate your Ubuntu and Linux Swap Partitions.  Note: These partitions will not have a file system assigned to them.  Be sure to pick the correct partition as you don't want to delete the wrong ones.

Step 7

With the first partition identified, move the mouse of that partition in the graph towards the bottom of the screen and right click on it.  Choose 'Delete Volume'.  This should convert that partition to 'Unallocated Space'.  If it changes it to 'Free Space', right click on it again and select 'Delete Partition'.  This should convert it to unallocated space.

Repeat this step for the Swap Partition.

Step 8

You should now have a portion of the hard drive labeled as 'Unallocated Space'.  Locate the Windows 7 partition and right click on it in the graph.  Select 'Extend' from the context menu.

Step 9

The 'Partition Extension' wizard will appear.  By default it will detect the amount of 'Unallocated Space' and give you the option to use all of it.  Take the defaults and click 'Next' until you get to the confirmation screen.  Once here, simply click on 'Finish'.  It may take a few moments depending on hard drive and partition size.

Step 10

One the unallocated space has been taken up by the Windows 7 partition, simply close the 'Computer Management' console and verify the changes took effect by going into Windows Explorer and verifying your C: drive size.  Now reboot just to make sure everything looks good.

That's it, your now back at a "single" boot machine.