Fixing MBR after removing dual-boot Home Premium

I am thinking of installing another OS as a dual boot. My question is this -
should I decide to remove the other OS, how do I then fix the MBR as I only
have a Recovery CD?

Gordon wrote the following on 11-Jun-08 07:08:
> I am thinking of installing another OS as a dual boot. My question is
> this - should I decide to remove the other OS, how do I then fix the MBR
> as I only have a Recovery CD?
Windows Vista

1. Make a backup in case there is a problem.
2. Boot into Vista like you normally would.
3. Download EasyBCD from http://www.neosmart.net/
4. Install and run EasyBCD.
5. In EasyBCD, on the left, click “Manage Bootloader”. Then in the
“Bootloader Installation Options” part of the window, choose “Reinstall
the Vista Bootloader” and then click the “Write MBR” button. This will
overwrite the Linux Grub boot loader with the default one for Windows Vista.
6. In Vista, click the start menu and then control panel. In the
control panel click “System and Maintenance”. Scroll down to the bottom
and click “Create and format hard disk partitions”. In the window that
opens you should see all the partitions on your hard disk. Right click
on the partition that you have Linux installed on and then click “Delete
Volume…”. You should also have a smaller Swap partition for Linux, do
the same for that.
7. Now right click on the new empty space and click “Format”. Give
the new partition a name, select NTFS as the File System and click ok.
8. Once that has finished, reboot your computer and it should boot
into Vista and you should have an extra partition with all free space
that Linux used to be on.

"John Spence" <jespence97@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:OXoB517yIHA.4952@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> Gordon wrote the following on 11-Jun-08 07:08:
>> I am thinking of installing another OS as a dual boot. My question is
>> this - should I decide to remove the other OS, how do I then fix the MBR
>> as I only have a Recovery CD?
> Windows Vista
>
> 1. Make a backup in case there is a problem.
> 2. Boot into Vista like you normally would.
> 3. Download EasyBCD from http://www.neosmart.net/

Thanks very much!

Another way it to load it as a Virtual pc
"Gordon" <gbplinux@gmail.com.invalid> wrote in message
news:g2of8l$185$1@news.mixmin.net...
>I am thinking of installing another OS as a dual boot. My question is
>this - should I decide to remove the other OS, how do I then fix the MBR as
>I only have a Recovery CD?

"John Spence" wrote:
> Gordon wrote:
>> I am thinking of installing another OS as a dual boot. My question is this -
>> should I decide to remove the other OS, how do I then fix the MBR as I only
>> have a Recovery CD?
> Windows Vista
>
> 1. Make a backup in case there is a problem.
> 2. Boot into Vista like you normally would.
> 3. Download EasyBCD from http://www.neosmart.net/
> 4. Install and run EasyBCD.
> 5. In EasyBCD, on the left, click “Manage Bootloader”. Then in the
> “Bootloader Installation Options” part of the window, choose “Reinstall the
> Vista Bootloader” and then click the “Write MBR” button. This will overwrite
> the Linux Grub boot loader with the default one for Windows Vista.
> 6. In Vista, click the start menu and then control panel. In the control
> panel click “System and Maintenance”. Scroll down to the bottom and click
> “Create and format hard disk partitions”. In the window that opens you should
> see all the partitions on your hard disk. Right click on the partition that
> you have Linux installed on and then click “Delete Volume…”. You should also
> have a smaller Swap partition for Linux, do the same for that.
> 7. Now right click on the new empty space and click “Format”. Give the new
> partition a name, select NTFS as the File System and click ok.
> 8. Once that has finished, reboot your computer and it should boot into
> Vista and you should have an extra partition with all free space that Linux
> used to be on.

The OP said that he wants to remove "Home Premium", not Linux.
Also, Linux can be installed with its boot loader in the Linux root
partition so that the Vista (or other Windows) MBR can remain in place.

*TimDaniels*

Timothy Daniels wrote the following on 11-Jun-08 12:08:
> "John Spence" wrote:
>> Gordon wrote:
>>> I am thinking of installing another OS as a dual boot. My question is this -
>>> should I decide to remove the other OS, how do I then fix the MBR as I only
>>> have a Recovery CD?
>> Windows Vista
>>
>> 1. Make a backup in case there is a problem.
>> 2. Boot into Vista like you normally would.
>> 3. Download EasyBCD from http://www.neosmart.net/
>> 4. Install and run EasyBCD.
>> 5. In EasyBCD, on the left, click “Manage Bootloader”. Then in the
>> “Bootloader Installation Options” part of the window, choose “Reinstall the
>> Vista Bootloader” and then click the “Write MBR” button. This will overwrite
>> the Linux Grub boot loader with the default one for Windows Vista.
>> 6. In Vista, click the start menu and then control panel. In the control
>> panel click “System and Maintenance”. Scroll down to the bottom and click
>> “Create and format hard disk partitions”. In the window that opens you should
>> see all the partitions on your hard disk. Right click on the partition that
>> you have Linux installed on and then click “Delete Volume…”. You should also
>> have a smaller Swap partition for Linux, do the same for that.
>> 7. Now right click on the new empty space and click “Format”. Give the new
>> partition a name, select NTFS as the File System and click ok.
>> 8. Once that has finished, reboot your computer and it should boot into
>> Vista and you should have an extra partition with all free space that Linux
>> used to be on.
>
> The OP said that he wants to remove "Home Premium", not Linux.
> Also, Linux can be installed with its boot loader in the Linux root
> partition so that the Vista (or other Windows) MBR can remain in place.
>
> *TimDaniels*
>
>
He did say what OS he had nor what he was installing. The above
instruction will work on XP or Vista to rid himself of either one and to
reinstall the proper MBR. The instructions that I posted were to rid
oneself of the grub loader and reinstall the XP or Vista boot program.
It appeared to me that he had XP and wanted Vista or Linux.

"John Spence" wrote:
> The instructions that I posted were to rid oneself of the
> grub loader and reinstall the XP or Vista boot program. It appeared to me that
> he had XP and wanted Vista or Linux.

Clearly, the OP didn't provide enough information for
accurate instructions. One thing he didn't provide was
whether he had put the grub loader (in the case of Linux)
in the MBR or in the Linux root partition. The latter case
would not necessitate a replacement of the MBR. In fact,
if the MBR were a proprietary MBR to enable certain
OEMs' diagnostic or system recovery or multi-media
partitions, running fixmbr would wipe out that MBR, and
the proprietary functions would be lost. It should be kept
in mind that it's not only the OP that is being helped, but also
a few hundred others who find the posting archived in Google,
and they need more information to see if the solution that is
posted actually applies to their own cases.

*TimDaniels*

"John Spence" wrote:

> 1. Make a backup in case there is a problem.
> 2. Boot into Vista like you normally would.
> 3. Download EasyBCD from http://www.neosmart.net/
> 4. Install and run EasyBCD.
> 5. In EasyBCD, on the left, click “Manage Bootloader�. Then in the
> “Bootloader Installation Options� part of the window, choose “Reinstall
> the Vista Bootloader� and then click the “Write MBR� button. This will
> overwrite the Linux Grub boot loader with the default one for Windows Vista.
> 6. In Vista, click the start menu and then control panel. In the
> control panel click “System and Maintenance�. Scroll down to the bottom
> and click “Create and format hard disk partitions�. In the window that
> opens you should see all the partitions on your hard disk. Right click
> on the partition that you have Linux installed on and then click “Delete
> Volume…�. You should also have a smaller Swap partition for Linux, do
> the same for that.
> 7. Now right click on the new empty space and click “Format�. Give
> the new partition a name, select NTFS as the File System and click ok.
> 8. Once that has finished, reboot your computer and it should boot
> into Vista and you should have an extra partition with all free space
> that Linux used to be on.
>

i had exactly the same problem, i followed exactly your very clear
instructions, and i finally fixed it. i wasted many hours looking for
solutions... next time i'll search here first.
thank you so much!