Getting rid of damaged Windows 7 dual boot

[Andy2718]

I'm a newbie and this may be complex so please go slowly!

I've ended up with a dual boot mess. I've put Mint on my old Win 7 machine but (a) Windows 7 won't boot at all and (b) Mint can't see the old Win 7 data because Windows has the dreaded Fast Restart switched on so Linux thinks Windows is always active and (c) I can't switch Fast Restart because of (a). What I'd like to do is to kill Win 7 dead with a stake though its heart; and if possible, I'd prefer to preserve the Windows data. So I'd prefer not to simply format the disk with Mint and then re-install Mint. This must involve deleting some kind of master boot record or something, please can anyone tell me in simple terms how to do that? I'm not sure what information to provide but in case the inxi output is useful, that is below my signature.

Many thanks

Andy
Bristol UK
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System:    Host: Islam-Dell-System-XPS-L502X Kernel: 3.16.0-38-generic i686 (32 bit, gcc: 4.8.2) 
           Desktop: Cinnamon 2.6.11  Distro: Linux Mint 17.2 Rafaela
Machine:   System: Dell product: Dell System XPS L502X
           Mobo: Dell model: 0YR8NN version: A00 Bios: Dell version: A12 date: 09/07/2012
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core i5-2410M CPU (-HT-MCP-) cache: 3072 KB flags: (lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 9179.24 
           Clock Speeds: 1: 821.082 MHz 2: 1290.066 MHz 3: 823.867 MHz 4: 817.218 MHz
Graphics:  Card-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller bus-ID: 00:02.0 
           Card-2: NVIDIA GF108M [GeForce GT 525M] bus-ID: 01:00.0 
           X.Org: 1.15.1 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) FAILED: nouveau Resolution: 1366x768@60.1hz 
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Sandybridge Mobile x86/MMX/SSE2 GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.1.3 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card: Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.16.0-38-generic
Network:   Card-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller 
           driver: r8169 ver: 2.3LK-NAPI port: 2000 bus-ID: 06:00.0
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1000 [Condor Peak] driver: iwlwifi ver: in-tree: bus-ID: 03:00.0
           IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 500.1GB (1.1% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: ST500LT012 size: 500.1GB 
Partition: ID: / size: 21G used: 5.1G (27%) fs: ext4 
RAID:      No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 53.0C mobo: 53.0C gpu: 50.0 
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A 
Info:      Processes: 172 Uptime: 1:10 Memory: 497.6/5977.3MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.2 
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.11) inxi: 1.9.17 

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[catweazel]

Hi, Andy. We're going to need to know what your partition layout looks like.

Please start a terminal and post the output of this command:

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sudo lsblk -f

Enclose the results in code markers, which you can select from the mini toolbar above the textbox where you type your reply.

[Andy2718]

OK, many thanks. Here it is:

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NAME   FSTYPE LABEL           MOUNTPOINT
sda                           
├─sda1 ntfs   System Reserved 
├─sda2 ntfs                   
├─sda3                        
├─sda5 ext4                   /
└─sda6                        
sr0   

[syg00]

Do you have a Win7 install/recovery disk ?.

[trytip]

you should learn if your computer is UEFI or Legacy and if uefi disable secure boot and enable legacy support in your bios settings first. if you have these already than are you able to boot to mint? if so
sudo os-prober
sudo grub-install /dev/sda <<< if a is your boot drive
sudo update-grub

[Petermint]

Pouring salt and garlic on the Windows install disks might stop reinfection.

For people looking at preventing this situation, splitting the Windows C: drive into C: for Windows and D: for your home directory is a good idea. You can then backup and recover your Windows data easily compared to a single drive C:.

[Andy2718]

OK, I now know the partition structure (posted above), what next please?

Re Uefi / Bios, how would I check that?

Many thanks

[Pierre]

so - - do you still want to dual_boot ?

- or just keep win-7 & ditch Linux
- or just keep Linux & ditch win-7?

do you have the Installation disk / ISO for each system ?

if the machine came with win-7, then it won't have either UEFI or GPT issues

more importantly - - is there anything of value - on either system,
- that is not already backed-up ?