Removing dual boot and formatting partition

[Phrank]

Good morning,

I've got a 20gb harddrive setup with dual boot. The main OS is WinXP
Pro SP2, and the other is Linux (needed for school). The folks at the
university set up the dual boot for me, and now I no longer need the
Linux, and need the space back. the folks at the university told me I
could use a free Partician Majic clone program called QTParted to
simply delete the Linux and make the space visible to Windows as an
extended partition, but I couldn't seem to make that program work for
me (kept getting an error message telling me there were an invalid
number of sectors).

So, how do I go about removing that partition (if that is what it is)
and get that space back? Ideally, I'd like to recombine that space
with the C drive (WinXP drive), but if that's not possible, then an
extended partition would be fine too - I can just keep me data on that
drive.

Thanks for any advice.

Frank

 

[Jon]

Start > run > diskmgmt.msc

Right-click Linux partition > Delete Partition

Then resize main partition (eg using Bootitng (put into Google)) or format
& use for data

Jon

 

[Jon]

Start > run > diskmgmt.msc

Right-click Linux partition > Delete Partition

Then resize main partition (eg using Bootitng (put into Google)) or format
& use for data

Jon

 

[Phrank]

Ok, I'm part way there, but I've run into a separate problem now.
I've removed the partitions (Linux had a swap file partition too), and
I rebooted to see if I could see the partition in Explorer, but now it
onlly boots up to a command line prompt called GRUB (apparently a
linux program that enables the creation of the dual boot). How do I
get past that (or get that removed) so the bootup can go on to the
Windows XP boot?

Frank

 

[Phrank]

Ok, I've gotten past the Grub problem by using the FIXMBR command in
the Recovery Console. There are now two other things (related to
this issue) that I still need to do. 1) When my system boots up it
goes to a screen that gives me the option of operating systems to
start with, Microsoft Windows XP Professional or just Windows. I need
to find out how to make the XP the default. And, although I'm back in
and Linux doesn't appear to be there, I still can't see the space on
the harddrive, so I need to find out how to go about either combining
that space back in with the C drive or simply making it visible to
format and use for data or such. Does anyone happen to know the
answers to either of these questions? Thanks!

 

[Jon]

As regards the first question, you need to edit the "boot.ini" file in your
root directory (probably c:boot.ini)

Should be something like (for xp sp1a - slightly different for SP2).......

[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\Windows
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\Windows="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect

(the default line indicating the default partition / location of Windows,
and the lines under windows indicating the various operating system options
to choose from)
Delete the extra line corresponding to the "Windows", under [Operating
Systems], leaving the XP line, or change the default line as you choose


For the second question
Try
Start > run > diskmgmt.msc
You should now see an area of free space with your disk, where your linux
partition used to be
Right-click it and choose Format


If you want to resize it instead, then you could get hold of Bootitng, with
its 30 day free trial, and follow its instructions to resize the partition
via DOS

Jon

 

[Alex Nichol]

I've got a 20gb harddrive setup with dual boot. The main OS is WinXP
Pro SP2, and the other is Linux (needed for school). The folks at the
university set up the dual boot for me, and now I no longer need the
Linux, and need the space back. the folks at the university told me I
could use a free Partician Majic clone program called QTParted to
simply delete the Linux and make the space visible to Windows as an
extended partition, but I couldn't seem to make that program work for
me (kept getting an error message telling me there were an invalid
number of sectors).

So, how do I go about removing that partition (if that is what it is)
and get that space back? Ideally, I'd like to recombine that space
with the C drive (WinXP drive), but if that's not possible, then an
extended partition would be fine too - I can just keep me data on that
drive.

Set the BIOS to boot CD before Hard Disk. Boot the XP CD and, instead
of Setup, take the immediate R for Repair. Assume any password
requested is blank, and TAB over.
Use
FixMBR
which will remove any lilo or grub dual boot loader, then make sure the
XP partition is the active one; give
diskpart
and its sub-commands
list partition
to find the number n of the one XP is on; *probably* 1 but make sure
Select partition n
active
exit

That should result in a simple boot into XP. There go to Control Panel
- Admin Tools - Computer Management, select Disk Management and look
lower right for the graphic of the drive. You can't combine the Linux
space into C without a third party partition manager program, but you
can select the 'unknown' Linux partition, r-click and delete, then
r-click in the Unallocated space that results to create a new one. This
can be either primary or extended - if extended you will then need to
r-click the free space in that and Create Volume. Either way it will
show up as a new drive letter in My Computer

 

[Phrank]

Thanks Jon and Alex!

Got them both done. I did try the bootitng and it worked like a
charm. I'm back up and running with a full harddrive. Thanks so much
for your time and help.

Frank

As regards the first question, you need to edit the "boot.ini" file in your
root directory (probably c:boot.ini)

Should be something like (for xp sp1a - slightly different for SP2).......

[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\Windows
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\Windows="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect

(the default line indicating the default partition / location of Windows,
and the lines under windows indicating the various operating system options
to choose from)
Delete the extra line corresponding to the "Windows", under [Operating
Systems], leaving the XP line, or change the default line as you choose


For the second question
Try
Start > run > diskmgmt.msc
You should now see an area of free space with your disk, where your linux
partition used to be
Right-click it and choose Format


If you want to resize it instead, then you could get hold of Bootitng, with
its 30 day free trial, and follow its instructions to resize the partition
via DOS

Jon

Ok, I've gotten past the Grub problem by using the FIXMBR command in
the Recovery Console. There are now two other things (related to
this issue) that I still need to do. 1) When my system boots up it
goes to a screen that gives me the option of operating systems to
start with, Microsoft Windows XP Professional or just Windows. I need
to find out how to make the XP the default. And, although I'm back in
and Linux doesn't appear to be there, I still can't see the space on
the harddrive, so I need to find out how to go about either combining
that space back in with the C drive or simply making it visible to
format and use for data or such. Does anyone happen to know the
answers to either of these questions? Thanks!