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A similar question has been asked here: How do I remove my Ubuntu partition from Windows 7 and reuse the space?, and I've used the advice that was posted.

However, I still can't figure out which of the partitions is Ubuntu.

Here's a screenshot after I run diskmgmt.msc Windows disk management screen shot

  1. I need a fresh install of Ubuntu since my current one has suddenly stopped working. I had used .iso image by mounting the image and installing it on a thumb drive when I partitioned it.

  2. To do the above, do I need to remove the partition first from diskmgmt.msc and then go about partitioning it again from the image like I did the first time around?

Update. I get "Boot error" when I try to run the Ubuntu installer by booting from USB. When I press enter, it takes me to the grub screen. Do I need to use Windows recovery disk to repair so that grub is no longer there? (This problem was resolved)

I have now attached the screenshot that I get when I choose "Something else" when the installer asks me how I want to partition my disk. It seems the 52.64 GB was the one with Ubuntu on it. I was confused because according to the diskmgmt.msc it's 100% free. Ubuntu. I have deleted ext4 and swap, restarted the install, selected "Install Ubuntu alongside them" and that seems to have worked.

Thanks everyone for the advice!

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untaught_genius
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  • You want to remove ubuntu drive or just want to reinstall it? The question header and content are contradictory. – Web-E Mar 25 '14 at 05:01
  • Hard to tell which is your Ubuntu partition, as the one you have highlighted (Lenovo D:) is an NTFS partition. Did you format your Ubuntu partition to NTFS when you installed ? – hatterman Mar 25 '14 at 05:06
  • I want to remove it, then re-install it like the first time. I did not format it to NTFS. When I installed Ubuntu, it asked me how I wanted to partition the disk. I chose "install them side by side, choosing between them during each startup". It looked somewhat like this: http://i1-news.softpedia-static.com/images/extra/LINUX/large/ubuntu904installation-large_007a.jpg – untaught_genius Mar 25 '14 at 05:12
  • I usually use the option to 'specify partitions manually'. I would guess that your Linux partition is the 3rd one and your swap is the 4th, from your image. If you don't want to resize your Linux partition, there is no need to remove it. You can just re-install over it. The quickest way to be certain is probably to boot into the Linux install CD (Don't actually install anything) but just see how it lists your current partitions. (You can boot into Linux and check from the command line or use Gparted aswell, but the install CD is probably the best quick and dirty way to check). – hatterman Mar 25 '14 at 05:19
  • C Drive is most probably your windows partition, first three in list above is 100 % free hence cannot have any OS installed on it, 200 MB partition is too small to have any thing like os, and Lenovo D partition is NTFS so conclusion is you do not have any ubuntu partition currently on your system. – Samir Chauhan Mar 25 '14 at 05:21
  • I disagree with Samir. The OEM partition will have your Windows backup on it, the other 2 show no partitions to windows but that can be because they are formatted using a format windows does not understand. Thats very common. If you know you installed Ubuntu then my bets are still on the 3rd and 4rth partition (as shown in the graphical layout, not the itemised list). Boot into the Linux install disk and see how it lists your partitions. – hatterman Mar 25 '14 at 05:35
  • @untaught_genius: You can predict from the the size given to get the Ubuntu partition. So do you remember how much space you allocated to Ubuntu? I guess the first two partition is Ubuntu partition. 1st i,e 52GB is for Ubuntu home,root and others and 2nd i,e 5.92 GB is for swap. The reason why these partitions are unreadable because Ubuntu uses ext4 partition which can't be read by Windows OS. – Saurav Kumar Mar 25 '14 at 05:44
  • @untaught_genius The question you mentioned (How do I remove my Ubuntu partition from Windows 7 and reuse the space?) may be duped to How to remove Ubuntu and put Windows back on?, since an answer there explains in detail how to re-expand the Windows partition(s). Maybe that would help you also? – Eliah Kagan Mar 25 '14 at 05:49
  • I realize that @hatterman Saurav Kumar are correct, tha partitions are not readable by windows. Use ubuntu or boot for live CD and upload the Hard disk layout from ubuntu that will be help full. – Samir Chauhan Mar 25 '14 at 05:51
  • untaught_genius please boot to a live session and post the output of sudo fdisk -l to let us know more about the layout of your disk.. – rusty Mar 25 '14 at 05:51

1 Answers1

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You can predict from the the size given to get the Ubuntu partition. So do you remember how much space you allocated to Ubuntu? I guess the first two partition is Ubuntu partition. 1st i,e 52GB is for Ubuntu home,root and others and 2nd i,e 5.92 GB is for swap. The reason why these partitions are unreadable because Ubuntu uses ext4 partition which can't be read by Windows OS.

If you still have any doubt then best thing you can do is to boot Ubuntu using Live CD/DVD/USB with Try Ubuntu option.

When booted run this command:

sudo blkid

It will give the output some thing like this:

/dev/sda1: LABEL="Windows" UUID="FA50DCB150DC763B" TYPE="ntfs" 
/dev/sda5: LABEL="40GBTWO" UUID="00A0CE7EA0CE7A24" TYPE="ntfs" 
/dev/sda6: UUID="7550252c-3da7-4cd9-8da3-71e9ba38e74a" TYPE="ext4" 
/dev/sda7: UUID="088fd084-a011-4896-aa93-c0caaad60620" TYPE="swap"

Now you can get that /dev/sda7 is swap and /dev/sda6 is ext4. So it is clear that Ubuntu is installed in sda6 partitions. Now only thing you've to get is the size of /dev/sda6. So that you can match it with Windows table.

To do so run this command:

lsblk

It will give:

NAME   MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda      8:0    0  37.3G  0 disk 
├─sda1   8:1    0    10G  0 part /media/Windows
├─sda2   8:2    0     1K  0 part 
├─sda5   8:5    0  17.2G  0 part /media/40GBTWO
├─sda6   8:6    0   8.8G  0 part /
└─sda7   8:7    0   1.3G  0 part [SWAP]

Now using it you can get that 8.8GB is the size of /dev/sda6 in which Ubuntu is installed. This is one of the way. Though there would be another way.

Use Gparted to get solved your confusion. :)

Saurav Kumar
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  • I get a black screen with the words"Boot error". When I press Enter, it takes me to the purple grub2 boot screen. Is this happening because of grub2? How do I remove grub2 then? – untaught_genius Mar 25 '14 at 06:18
  • @untaught_genius: Are you trying with a bootable DVD or USB? You've to start Ubuntu from bootable device and while booting it will ask you two options: Try Ubuntu and Install Ubuntu. you've to select the try ubuntu options. I think you were trying to start Ubuntu from your Hard Drive, right? – Saurav Kumar Mar 25 '14 at 06:45
  • Yes the problem was resolved. I didn't create a bootable USB stick but instead pasted the .iso on my USB. – untaught_genius Mar 25 '14 at 07:00
  • @untaught_genius: Sounds good :) Then mark this post as solved. You've to accept my answer to do so. Feel free to post the comment if you want any further help. – Saurav Kumar Mar 25 '14 at 07:29