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Previously my OS was Window 7 and some day it began to show problems with booting and finally it didn't boot at all. I tried to repair it but it didn't get repaired. Then I installed Ubuntu 14.04 LTS alongside Windows and am impressed much by Ubuntu.

So I want to remove all my Windows files. I searched Google to know how to do it and I found OS-Uninstaller. I have some doubts before proceeding with OS-Uninstaller -

  1. I need to keep my photos, songs, movies and personal files in my system even if Windows is removed. Normally Windows files are installed in the C Drive. My personal files are not in the C Drive. So will removing Windows files affect my personal files ?

  2. Did the OS-Uninstaller affect Ubuntu anyway ?

Please note that I want to remove only the Windows installation files(the files added to my system by Windows during its installation). I don't want to change the NTFS partition to any other format since there is a probability that I will install newer version of Windows later.

Wilf
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TomJ
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  • Instead of using OS-Uninstaller, you could instead back up/copy to Ubuntu your Windows files, delete the Windows partitions, and resize the Ubuntu partitions. – Snyper May 31 '14 at 01:58
  • @Sauron How can I do it ? Can you explain the steps since am new to Ubuntu ? – TomJ May 31 '14 at 02:05
  • No prob. I'll put it into an answer. – Snyper May 31 '14 at 02:09
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    Your personal files will be stored under C:\Users\USERNAME - backing these up to the Ubuntu system or another device would be a very good idea so they won't be accidentally wiped if you want to re-install windows - re-installing Windows will likely try and format the drive, and it is also likely that you will have to repair Ubuntu's bootloader (GRUB) after re-installing it so you can boot Ubuntu. – Wilf May 31 '14 at 02:24
  • @Wilf I don't want files in C:\Users folder. – TomJ May 31 '14 at 02:28

2 Answers2

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A couple ways you could take a copy of all your files (from your Windows OS) and put them onto a separate disk (USB/DVD/CD/External HD) then remove Windows, by using Gparted in Ubuntu and format the partition that is formatted as 'NTFS'. You can then resize your Linux partition using Gparted as well.

Once you have your partitions you would then open your terminal Ctrl+Alt+T.

Type in: sudo update-grub to make sure your bootloader removes Windows from the menu

You could also copy directly from the Windows partition by mounting it as well. This may be more advanced. But a GUI (graphical) program to do a lot of this is Disk Utility. (If you have a Mac it is pretty much the same program there as well)

No Time
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  • What if I want to install new version of Windows later ? – TomJ May 31 '14 at 02:16
  • @Tom You may want to look at this post http://askubuntu.com/questions/88384/how-can-i-repair-grub-how-to-get-ubuntu-back-after-installing-windows Windows trys to remove any other bootloader, so you have to be careful – No Time May 31 '14 at 02:19
  • How to remove Windows using GParted ? /dev/sda1 is the partition in which Windows is installed. When I right clicked on that partition the 'Format to' option is not shown. Only the "Unmount, Manage, Information" options are shown. – TomJ May 31 '14 at 02:57
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    @Tom you will have to unmount it first to format it check the answer below too it should help as well – No Time May 31 '14 at 03:01
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  1. Boot off of an Ubuntu live DVD/flash drive. Open the file browser and copy any documents/pictures/other files from the Windows partition(s) (which will be listed on the left of the file browser window under "Devices") into your Ubuntu partition(s) (again listed under "Devices", you will want to go to /home/~yourusername~/Documents etc.).

  2. Once the files have copied, open the Dash and search for Gparted. Open it; in the upper-right is a menu for the various storage devices connected to your system. Select the hard drive that has your Ubuntu/Windows dual boot on it, and then right click all the non-Ubuntu partitions (NTFS partitions, and exclude the swap partition) and select the "Delete" option. Once you have deleted all the Windows partitions, right-click the Ubuntu partition and select "Resize/Move". Drag the partition to fill all the empty drive area, and once you are satisfied with the setup, click the "Apply All Operations" button at the top of the window. If everything goes as planned, once the operation is finished you can reboot into your Ubuntu-only hard drive.

Good luck, if things don't work out quite right let us folks here know, we'll try to help.

Snyper
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  • What if I only want to delete the partition in which windows is installed ? I would like to do it because in the other NTFS partitions the movies, songs and pictures are stored. – TomJ May 31 '14 at 04:08
  • If you want to do that, sure. – Snyper May 31 '14 at 19:30