Which Linux? and Dual Boot

This is getting very frustrating very fast. At this point i dont care if i have to start over. How do i get linux mint off my computer so i can start fresh/reinstall it? Can i just delete the partitions- the windows ones and then reinstall it or am i missing a step? are the windows partition the NTFS ones under windows partition manager or whatever its called/does that mean its safe to delete the other two partitions if i want my computer back to just windows so i can reinstall linux mint?
 
Last edited:
If you want to uninstall Linux mint, just format the EXT4 partitions, there should be 2 minimum. You will need to install easyBCD to fix your windows partition though, as when you installed Linux, it took over the bootloader.

If you want to keep windows, then you will need to keep all of the NTFS partition (this is assuming you are using a NT based OS, like NT4, Windows 2000, XP , Vista, 7, or 8). If you have a FAT16 or FAT32 partition (windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows ME, 98, 95, and most DOS), then keep it too.

If you want to start over, then just boot to your choice of Linux and choose "use entire Hard Drive" or similar option. It will format the whole drive in EXT4 and install the OS to it.
 
I would just re-install Linux Mint, there might have been something that did not install properly. Just go back through the Linux mint install and when you get to the partition part just erase the Linux Mint part and then install it in that area again.

Plus you do not want to have to be in the situation of not doing updates in fear of it messing up your system because many of those updates are important.
 
Alright... Im not sure how i want to go about doing this. I already tried reinstalling/deleting the linux partition from the installer in linux mint and i couldnt get it to work. Is there any way to keep grub when i delete linux so i dont have to install the boot loader? I think what screwed it up wasnt the updates but during the update it asked if i wanted to allow one of the updates to modify the destop appearence and i clicked yes and i think thats what ruined it so when i figure out how to reinstall it then ill update and i just wont let it change the appearce thing.
 
That was probably a Gnome update that asked for that.

As for uninstalling with GRUB in place, no. it is not possible. The Grub files are stores in the Linux partition, so when you delete the Linux, you also delete the GRUB files. There are recovery dis available, but it is a lot easier to fix from within windows with easyBCD.
 
Alright. im about to delete my linux partition and start over. for that boot loader do i just download it and hit install and delete linux or do i delete linux first then get the boot loader? and should my system start up as normal then?
 
step 1: Download easyBCD. http://neosmart.net/download.php?id=1
Step 2: Delete Linux. for this you need to be in windows vista or 7. Go to the search bar and type in "partition" and hit enter, It will load the partitioner. Once loaded, find the one that isn't NTFS and right click on it and choose format.
Step 3. Once formatted, open easyBCD and click deployment and select the windows 7/vista loader and hit deploy. This will set your computer to boot only windows again.

If you need to use the space that Linux was on, you can extend the partition over on the new free space. If you want to try mint again, then leave it be for the install.
 
Alright what i ended up doing was going into windows (i have windows 7), going to the partition manager and deleting the linux partitions. i then rebooted and installed linux again right away so id have grub. i am now ready to update/get drivers for linux mint. How should i go about doing this this time so it doesnt screw it up and i end up having to do this all over again? Should i just install the #1 updates or? and with drivers should i use the driver install deal that pops up when u open linux or should i go to amd's web site and get the driver for my graphics card from them?
 
Also, if it prompts me again and asks if i want to allow an update to change the appearance do i want to click no this time? or how do i avoid messing it up?
 
Frankly I like Ubuntu 11.10 a lot if you're used Windows.
Same install as Ubuntu Mint.
Install Windows and then install Ubuntu. It has an option to "Install alongside Windows 7" and then you get a slider to determine how to split up the harddrive.
 
in my experience, ubuntu only gives you teh slider if you have a couple of megabytes of unpartitioned space on your hard drive. So, as stated in the linux guide, leave some free space when you go 7.

As for which one, Mint and Ubuntu are cut from the same cloth. For ubuntu go 10.04, for mint go most current.
 
Most current Mint = Mint 12 lisa (what im on now, seems just as stable as 11)
I would go Ubuntu 10.04 like wolfeking said. the new 11.04 and 11.10 didn't seem stable enough for me when i played around with it. Rule of thumb, never go with the newest Ubuntu out.
Unity is nice, just takes a bit to get used to.
 
thats not correct as a rule of thumb. The general Ubuntu rule is to get the LTS that is current. In April that will be 12.04 and 10.04.3 will stop receiving updates are devolpment.
 
wolfeking said:
thats not correct as a rule of thumb. The general Ubuntu rule is to get the LTS that is current. In April that will be 12.04 and 10.04.3 will stop receiving updates are devolpment.
Click to expand...

Good to know but I stay away from Ubuntu anyways. Don't get me wrong it's great for beginners. I do recall reading on the ubuntu forums posted by an admin years back that was a good rule of thumb, even the elite are wrong sometimes. My mistake, cheers
 
Last edited:
I do not care for unity and some of Canonical decisions as a company but it has been very reliable for me on bunch of different computers.

As far as beginer use or not is just opinion. through terminal all distro are the same difficulty level.

I like Linux Mint 12 but where as I may not like Unity, Mate with gnome 3.0 was a little more annoying with it's two ways to do evering thing.

I will see How Ubuntu 12.04 does, being that with in the first month Ubuntu has all the bugs fixed I do not ever have any real problems.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top