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Let me tell you the full story. I had installed ubuntu and used it. Recently i wanted to use windows only (Windows 8.1) So, i deleted the linux partitions from the diskmgmt.msc in windows.I also used the EasyBCD that also didnt work. I can boot into windows without any problem since i have windows boot manager and ubuntu seperate in the EFI/EUFI boot menu / BIOS. I want to get rid of the grub 2.0 bootloader thing completely or fix it, whenever i boot from that ubuntu boot option i get the grub2.0 boot prompt ( minimal bash commands etcetc screen). I tried many solutions available but many of them might require using a live linux usb, the problem occurs there also, when i boot from the live usb device i get stuck at the same grub 2.0 boot prompt.

My main aim is to install another linux operating system. But i cant fix this because i had deleted the linux partitions , so i think the best option is to completely remove the grub itself.

P.S : i tride using recovry disk and typing bootrec /fixmb or fixboot etc. I saw many solutions but those where seperate cases so only i started a new forum.

Please help to install new linux system atleast.

Edit 1 - I just removed the ubuntu folder in EFI partition from windows and the ubuntu option in the bios/EUFI page is removed :) . But when i use a linuxlive usb/bootable usb it again gets stuck at the grub 2.0 boot prompt( IT works in other computer normally )

Pedrillo
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    http://askubuntu.com/a/304892/33871 – Salem Aug 09 '14 at 22:59
  • That wasnt much useful because of 4 reasons-1.i dont get a grub rescue menu 2.my windows work properly as both boot loaders are seperate.3.i dont know how to access the EFI/ubuntu folders in EFI system partition so i never deleted it.4. i didnt run any boot repair tools since i get stuck at the boot prompt when i use a live usb disc ( which works 100% fine on other systems ).The solution made sense but i couldnt apply any of those since i donno how else to delete the files in the EFI partition (i cant log in with a livelinux usb as i said). Please tell me a way to do the things which he said. – Pedrillo Aug 10 '14 at 04:12
  • So if you boot directly to the USB drive (pressing DEL, F2 or whatever at startup) you get a grub prompt? – Salem Aug 11 '14 at 19:39
  • Yes, it happens like this in EFI mode(coz of grub 2) – Pedrillo Aug 13 '14 at 02:33
  • Try pressing the key to get into your boot-menu (F2, F12, or F10 or whatever) and then select your pendrive and follow my answer below. – Ashhar Hasan Dec 06 '15 at 01:15

1 Answers1

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EDIT: After reading your comments, I would suggest you to try to get into your firmware's boot menu (usually F9, F12 or F2 or something else) and then boot into a LiveUSB and follow the below steps.

Newer Windows installations use UEFI instead of MBR and as such simply overwriting the MBR does little to keep grub away.

The short version:

  1. Mount your EFI partition and delete the EFI/ubuntu folder.
  2. Use an EFI firmware modifying tool like efibootmgr to delete the ubuntu entry.
  3. Reboot.

The solution is to follow the following:

  1. Boot into a Live Linux distro or anything else so that you may read and write data to the ESP (or the EFI partition). The following commands are for Ubuntu, convert into something similar for the platform you have booted into.

  2. Find your EFI partition. Run sudo fdisk -l to see the partitions on all attached drives. The EFI partition has EFI Partition under the Type column.

  3. Mount it. Suppose your EFI partition was /dev/sda2. Then mount it on an empty folder anywhere.

    sudo mkdir /mnt/efipart
sudo mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/efipart

  4. Now we have to find the directory Ubuntu or any other distro's name in this partition. It is mostly under EFI/distro_name.

  5. Remove that directory and its contents by (EXERCISE CAUTION) sudo rm -r distro_name.

  6. Install efibootmgr to fix you Firmware's boot entries.

    sudo apt-get install efibootmgr
sudo efibootmgr

  7. The sudo efibootmgr command will list all UEFI boot entries. Look for the one you want to remove and note it's number (like 0001, 0002, 0003 ...) then run sudo efibootmgr -b chosen_number -B

  8. Reboot and you now have a clean EFI partition and can proceed to installing Windows.

  9. To check if this worked you should go to the boot menu options (usually pressing F9 or F12 when the system boots) and see if the entry titled Ubuntu or some other GRUB dependent OS is still present or not. If all went well, there should no linux related entries.

Ashhar Hasan
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