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I am trying to remove Ubuntu 19.04 from a Lenovo Ideapad 320 laptop and convert it back to Windows 10. I have tried creating a Windows iso bootable USB but I have not been able to get the laptop to boot from this USB.

What I have tried is:
How to remove Ubuntu and put Windows back on? (I was unable to use Boot-Repair as it seemed 19.04 does not support it)
https://itsfoss.com/bootable-windows-usb-linux/ (In the first method the USB was recognized in the boot manager but it when selecting it it just opened normal Ubuntu; Installation failed on the Woeusb method )

I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions. I simply want to wipe this hard drive that contains only Ubuntu and reinstall Windows.

Thanks for the help guys. I have found that the easiest way to do it is to download the windows media creation tool that will make the usb for you. However you must use a windows computer to do this. To create this bootable USB without windows requires some workarounds in Ubuntu that I was not able to get to work.

Jac Frall
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1 Answers1

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You don't have to uninstall Ubuntu, just reinstall Windows.

The key is generating a LiveUSB to boot with which contains the Windows installer. It has the ability to erase the (probably ext4) Ubuntu disk partition and replace it with NTFS and FAT32 partitions which Windows uses, as a part of the Windows install.

Until you can boot from the Windows Installer USB, nothing you do in Ubuntu will be helpful. The easiest way is to use Microsoft's Media Creator Tool on a Windows PC.

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If a Windows PC is not available to use the Media Creator Tool, an Open Source tool, WoeUSB, is available to generate a Windows installer USB after you have downloaded a Windows Installation .ISO file.

The easiest way to add that tool to Ubuntu is with a PPA; to add it to a 64-bit Ubuntu, run 

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8 && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt install woeusb

To generate the Windows installation USB, change /dev/sdX below to the location of an blank 8GB or larger USB flash drive, and run 

woeusb  --target-filesystem NTFS --device path/to/windows.iso /dev/sdX

More on woeusb is here, and alternate methods are here and here.

K7AAY
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