I'm trying to remove Linux Mint from my dual boot setup with Windows 7, but I'm running into issues. I followed a tutorial that suggested using a Windows repair disk, but when I boot into recovery options, no operating systems are listed. The weird thing is, I can still boot into Windows normally right after installing Linux. Can anyone guide me through the proper steps to get rid of Linux Mint?
2 Answers
Since you're on Windows 7, it sounds like you might have been using legacy boot. If you delete Mint, your system might not boot because GRUB replaced the Windows bootloader. You can check your boot settings using `efibootmgr` in Mint's terminal, but if it shows EFI variables aren’t supported, then you're definitely booting in legacy mode. You might need to reinstall the Windows bootloader to fix the boot issue.
To remove Linux, you can boot into Windows and delete the Linux partitions from your drive. Just be cautious, as deleting them won't automatically fix the bootloader issues.
I tried that, but after deleting the partitions, it became free space and I can't expand my D: drive now.
That method won't clean up the EFI entries, though. You'll need to run the Windows recovery tool to properly reinstall the bootloader.
I checked with efibootmgr, and it showed a lot of data. I also ran `sudo parted --list`, but it showed different disk flags. Just so you know, I initially installed Linux in legacy mode and then switched to UEFI, which caused some boot issues.