[HELP] Safely uninstalling Linux Mint 13.

[Arcanecfg]

So, I installed Linux Mint 13 around a year ago in the hopes of something that I never got around doing.
I now wish to uninstall it.
I know the standard procedure (removing the GRUB menu and formatting the partition) but I do not remember to which partition I had installed Linux.
How would I go about finding this?
I also have to mention that I no longer have access to Linux Mint. (I forgot my username/pwd).
Hope someone can be of help.

[FireSoul]

[quote="Arcanecfg"]So, I installed Linux Mint 13 around a year ago in the hopes of something that I never got around doing.
I now wish to uninstall it.

Hello.
You can load live CD/DVD and format all hd to Windows format NTFS if you want to use it and you can install new Linux Mint from live CD/DVD.
Test with live before install mint.Start from CD/DVD ,as using live can format,or install.
With live CD/DVD you can take files from your last install to memory stick,dvd or to other hd.
If you want make partition swap 3-4G,system / 20G and home partition you want ,can be what you need.
Live CD/DVD make partitions as install using all hd.

[Arcanecfg]

Hello.
You can load live CD/DVD and format all hd to Windows format NTFS if you want to use it and you can install new Linux Mint from live CD/DVD.
Test with live before install mint.Start from CD/DVD ,as using live can format,or install.
With live CD/DVD you can take files from your last install to memory stick,dvd or to other hd.
If you want make partition swap 3-4G,system / 20G and home partition you want ,can be what you need.
Live CD/DVD make partitions as install using all hd.

I did not understand that at all. I don't want to re-install mint, I just want to remove it from my HDD.
I'm dualbooting with a Win7.

[MtnDewManiac]

Do you have a Microsoft Windows recovery disc? I had to run one, once, and it ate my Grub menu. I just booted to it, waited, waited, waited, answered a question (IIRC), waited, waited, waited, waited... I think there might have been one or more reboots in there.

Guessing that at that point you could boot into Windows 7 and use its partition tool to expand its partition back to where it was before you shrank it enough to add linux in the dual-boot setup.

Pretty sure that's what I did, but it was Microsoft Windows Vista instead of MWin7. But they're pretty close.

Later, of course, I came to my senses and installed another linux distro .

[Arcanecfg]

Do you have a Microsoft Windows recovery disc? I had to run one, once, and it ate my Grub menu. I just booted to it, waited, waited, waited, answered a question (IIRC), waited, waited, waited, waited... I think there might have been one or more reboots in there.

Guessing that at that point you could boot into Windows 7 and use its partition tool to expand its partition back to where it was before you shrank it enough to add linux in the dual-boot setup.

Pretty sure that's what I did, but it was Microsoft Windows Vista instead of MWin7. But they're pretty close.

Later, of course, I came to my senses and installed another linux distro .

That's the thing. I don't have the recovery disk with me.
I know how to get rid of the GRUB menu using EasyBCD though, I just need to figure out how to format and get rid of Mint from my HDD.

[FireSoul]

So, I installed Linux Mint 13 around a year ago in the hopes of something that I never got around doing.
I now wish to uninstall it.
I know the standard procedure (removing the GRUB menu and formatting the partition) but I do not remember to which partition I had installed Linux.
How would I go about finding this?
I also have to mention that I no longer have access to Linux Mint. (I forgot my username/pwd).
Hope someone can be of help.

Hello.
So i wrote before you can start with live CD/DVD and look with it partitions.
Linux can open all ,but windows not iso.
Using live you can change partitions,windows need format for it.
If you delete startup of linux ,you must fix startup for windows.
So easy way is reinstall mint for same place as you know partitions.
I have done this many times and have been 4 operating systems in same harddrive.
It's useful as testing them.

[Arcanecfg]

So, I installed Linux Mint 13 around a year ago in the hopes of something that I never got around doing.
I now wish to uninstall it.
I know the standard procedure (removing the GRUB menu and formatting the partition) but I do not remember to which partition I had installed Linux.
How would I go about finding this?
I also have to mention that I no longer have access to Linux Mint. (I forgot my username/pwd).
Hope someone can be of help.

Hello.
So i wrote before you can start with live CD/DVD and look with it partitions.
Linux can open all ,but windows not iso.
Using live you can change partitions,windows need format for it.
If you delete startup of linux ,you must fix startup for windows.
So easy way is reinstall mint for same place as you know partitions.
I have done this many times and have been 4 operating systems in same harddrive.
It's useful as testing them.

I'm sorry, I still don't understand what you mean.
What do you mean by live CD?
Can you help me via TeamViewer maybe?

[MtnDewManiac]

That's the thing. I don't have the recovery disk with me.

Not a problem. You can download a recovery disc file (actually, just the Recovery Environment, not the entire thing) from several websites. Or you can simply start the Microsoft Windows boot process (pick it from your boot menu) and press/hold F8 and do so from there. See:

Code: Select all

http://bootfromcd.com/data-recovery/windows-7-recovery-disk/

I know how to get rid of the GRUB menu using EasyBCD though, I just need to figure out how to format and get rid of Mint from my HDD.

I don't understand. I am assuming that everything is on one hard drive (if I am incorrect, let me know). A further assumption on my part is that your Microsoft OS setup does not use the Mint partitions. So... Why worry about formatting them? If, as I (again) assume, your MWin partition is the first one on your hard drive... Whatever partitioning tool you or your linux OS' installation app used, it would have "shrank" the existing partition (IOW, the Microsoft one) and then created the additional partitions in the newly-freed space. If you know how to get rid of the GRUB menu - and I am making yet another assumption that you mean you can remove it in such a way that, when you power up your computer, it would boot to MWin normally as it would had you never added linux in the first place - and restore the MBR, all you would need to do is to log into MWin afterwards, access its partition adjustment tool - which isn't exactly stellar, but can shrink/expand its own NTFS partition - and expand your NTFS partition back to fill the hard drive instead of only a portion of it. Note that if you have a recovery partition, you will probably wish to not remove it.

If the above doesn't work because MWin's partition tool cannot do that without being able to delete the linux partition(s) and is unable to do that (I honestly cannot remember):

Any live OS disc that has a partitioning tool should be able to accomplish the deletion of the partitions that you wish to remove. If it does not include one, you might (should) be able to "install" one if you have Internet connectivity. Gparted is such an app. IIRC, I used the first disc from an old Mandrake/Mandriva installation kit and just aborted the install as soon as I finished using its partitioning tool, lol.

The only reason that you cannot accomplish that from an installed linux setup is that you cannot delete/adjust mounted partitions (probably a good thing). Using a live version that has been placed on DVD or USB flash drive gets around that, since it is not operating from the partition(s) in question.

[Arcanecfg]

That's the thing. I don't have the recovery disk with me.

Not a problem. You can download a recovery disc file (actually, just the Recovery Environment, not the entire thing) from several websites. Or you can simply start the Microsoft Windows boot process (pick it from your boot menu) and press/hold F8 and do so from there. See:

Code: Select all

http://bootfromcd.com/data-recovery/windows-7-recovery-disk/

I know how to get rid of the GRUB menu using EasyBCD though, I just need to figure out how to format and get rid of Mint from my HDD.

I don't understand. I am assuming that everything is on one hard drive (if I am incorrect, let me know). A further assumption on my part is that your Microsoft OS setup does not use the Mint partitions. So... Why worry about formatting them? If, as I (again) assume, your MWin partition is the first one on your hard drive... Whatever partitioning tool you or your linux OS' installation app used, it would have "shrank" the existing partition (IOW, the Microsoft one) and then created the additional partitions in the newly-freed space. If you know how to get rid of the GRUB menu - and I am making yet another assumption that you mean you can remove it in such a way that, when you power up your computer, it would boot to MWin normally as it would had you never added linux in the first place - and restore the MBR, all you would need to do is to log into MWin afterwards, access its partition adjustment tool - which isn't exactly stellar, but can shrink/expand its own NTFS partition - and expand your NTFS partition back to fill the hard drive instead of only a portion of it. Note that if you have a recovery partition, you will probably wish to not remove it.

If the above doesn't work because MWin's partition tool cannot do that without being able to delete the linux partition(s) and is unable to do that (I honestly cannot remember):

Any live OS disc that has a partitioning tool should be able to accomplish the deletion of the partitions that you wish to remove. If it does not include one, you might (should) be able to "install" one if you have Internet connectivity. Gparted is such an app. IIRC, I used the first disc from an old Mandrake/Mandriva installation kit and just aborted the install as soon as I finished using its partitioning tool, lol.

The only reason that you cannot accomplish that from an installed linux setup is that you cannot delete/adjust mounted partitions (probably a good thing). Using a live version that has been placed on DVD or USB flash drive gets around that, since it is not operating from the partition(s) in question.

Yes, all your assumptions are correct.
The issue that I have is I installed Mint on a partition, I forgot which one.

[catweazel]

The issue that I have is I installed Mint on a partition, I forgot which one.

Post the output of this terminal command:

Code: Select all

sudo fdisk -l

[Arcanecfg]

The issue that I have is I installed Mint on a partition, I forgot which one.

Post the output of this terminal command:

Code: Select all

sudo fdisk -l

I forgot to mention that I no longer have access to my Mint account, I forgot the username/password combination.

[MtnDewManiac]

Isn't the first partition on the disc always the one that is the Microsoft Windows one, since it gets installed first? On my computer, that would be /dev/sda1

Well... except for the UEFI/Secure Boot computers, which use a separate boot partition (I think?).

Hey... Not for nuthin', lol, but most partition tools - and I know gparted does - show you the filesystem type of each partition. And if it's Ext 2, Ext 3, or Ext 4... It aint Microsoft. And by the same logic, if it is NTFS, it's not linux.

EDIT: Again, this is something that can - and should, I think - be done from a live OS, such as your Mint installation media.

[Arcanecfg]

Isn't the first partition on the disc always the one that is the Microsoft Windows one, since it gets installed first? On my computer, that would be /dev/sda1

Well... except for the UEFI/Secure Boot computers, which use a separate boot partition (I think?).

Hey... Not for nuthin', lol, but most partition tools - and I know gparted does - show you the filesystem type of each partition. And if it's Ext 2, Ext 3, or Ext 4... It aint Microsoft. And by the same logic, if it is NTFS, it's not linux.

EDIT: Again, this is something that can - and should, I think - be done from a live OS, such as your Mint installation media.

When I access Disk Management from Windows, it shows all the partitions to be NTFS.

[catweazel]

When I access Disk Management from Windows, it shows all the partitions to be NTFS.

Then perhaps you installed mint4win. Check in the Programs section of the Control Panel for Linux Mint. IIRC, it's called Linux_Mint_Main. Uninstall it from there.

[Arcanecfg]

When I access Disk Management from Windows, it shows all the partitions to be NTFS.

Then perhaps you installed mint4win. Check in the Programs section of the Control Panel for Linux Mint. IIRC, it's called Linux_Mint_Main. Uninstall it from there.

This is the file I downloaded: linuxmint-13-mate-dvd-32bit.iso.
I just opened it up with an ISO client and there seems to be a mint4win.exe within.
However, I checked the control panel but I cannot seem to find it there.

[FireSoul]

Hey.
You can load Linux Mint live DVD from http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php
Them are live DVD and then you can start computer with it,without install.
Put DVD to dvd driver and restart computer with it,don't need install.
As computer open with mint,you can open all files,use it to see partitions ,format ,delete with it and install if want.
Install make new startup for all operating systems,what you can chose as start computer.

[Arcanecfg]

Hey.
You can load Linux Mint live DVD from http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php
Them are live DVD and then you can start computer with it,without install.
Put DVD to dvd driver and restart computer with it,don't need install.
As computer open with mint,you can open all files,use it to see partitions ,format ,delete with it and install if want.
Install make new startup for all operating systems,what you can chose as start computer.

You are not answering my question at all.
I already told you, I'm dualbooting with Win7 and Mint, I have access to the computer.
I'm not looking to make a bootable DVD, I just don't remember to which partition I installed Mint so as to format it.

[usbtux]

How did you INSTALL mint?

If you look at your C: drive do you see a folder called linuxmint or ubuntu?

If there is a folder called linuxmint open it and run uninstall-wubi.exe

Otherwise
Download a and burn a mint livecd/usb
Boot live cd/usb
start - gparted - wait until disks are recognised
you will see partitions formatted to
ext4, swap and ntfs
delete the ext4 and swap and the extended partition holding the swap
expand the ntfs partition
reboot to your windows recovery cd
fixmbr
reboot
DONE

[Arcanecfg]

How did you INSTALL mint?

If you look at your C: drive do you see a folder called linuxmint or ubuntu?

If there is a folder called linuxmint open it and run uninstall-wubi.exe

Otherwise
Download a and burn a mint livecd/usb
Boot live cd/usb
start - gparted - wait until disks are recognised
you will see partitions formatted to
ext4, swap and ntfs
delete the ext4 and swap and the extended partition holding the swap
expand the ntfs partition
reboot to your windows recovery cd
fixmbr
reboot
DONE

I do not have the recovery disk with me.

[usbtux]

Easy enough to download...