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I've been trying for hours to remove Ubuntu which is the only OS on my laptop. I don't have a Windows installation there. I've followed various bits of help, including trying to get boot-repair to work (I just get error messages when I try to run the recommended commands).

Please can someone tell me how to get rid of Ubuntu? It won't recognize my .iso copy of Windows - tries to read the DVD and then just boots Ubuntu anyway. The DVD is fine - I can use it on other computers and it's perfectly OK.

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Are you sure that you are booting the cd, since Ubuntu is not oppressing itself at all. –  Dr_Bunsen Nov 2 '12 at 16:24
What do you mean by iso copy of windows? –  nikhil Nov 2 '12 at 16:59
Did you burn your .iso file to a disk as an image, or simply burn the .iso file on the disk (whereas when you put it in the drive and explore it you simply see the iso files). If you burned it as an image, you would see the directory structure of the windows install disk rather than just the .iso. –  Jayson Rowe Nov 9 '12 at 3:44
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3 Answers

Wow, this is a really strange question. You want to remove the only OS on your machine. I won't ask why, maybe you wish to try something else. If this is what you really want, try running


from any live CD.

Before you run this, know that it'll nuke your hard disk, your computer will not be usable until you install a new OS.

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It sounds as though two things are possible:

  1. Your computer is not set to use the CD as the first boot option. If this is the case there is usually an option to interrupt the normal boot and select an alternate boot, but if that is not happening you should use your bios to move the CD up to the first boot device.


  1. You are missing the prompt that the Windows Installer gives "press any key to install Windows". If you do not hit the key you will not boot the Windows installer.
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To uninstall Ubuntu, simply install another operating system, ensuring that you format the hard drive during the installation process.

Put the installation disc into the drive, make sure your BIOS is set to boot up from disc (you'll have to check with your BIOS settings on how to do that), and start up the computer. It's really as simple as that.

Now, if your computer is not booting from CD/DVD, you don't have your BIOS settings set properly, which has nothing to do with Ubuntu. I suspect that whatever problems your having, it has nothing to do with Ubuntu.

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