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Is it possible to remove grub by doing a windows 8 refresh

Wondering if this would work as I'm doing this on a friend's system. Dont want to mess up anything. He doesn't have a CD to fix the MBR so I figured that a refresh would most likely fix it. Is this right?

Thanks!

Julian

Julian
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2 Answers2

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If you have a Windows installation DVD or repair CD, you can boot to a repair command prompt and run:

bootrec /fixmbr

This command installs the Windows bootloader. If you have a dual boot it would boot straight to Windows and you can then do what you want with the linux partitions.

If the Windows refresh you are talking about is the manufacturer-supplied option, then I doubt it will do anything with the bootloader. If you don't have a Windows installation DVD or repair CD, boot Windows and create a repair CD. Or a repair USB.

Alternatively you can use lilo with it's "Windows-style bootloader" option from Ubuntu, which works the same as the Windows bootloader. See here for details.

bcbc
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You could try and download hirensbootcd (just google it) and burn the iso file to a cd. Then boot the machine from that cd. It comes with live Linux, WinXP and msdos, each with an unbelievable number of tools. There are also tools to backup/save the mbr and to replace it e.g. with a standard one windows would work with. If you want to try this, I recommend you to first boot to the cd's mini-xp and there search for the tool I described. Sorry, but I don't remember the name. If you really(!) can't find it, ask again (write me a comment) and I will search for it. Good luck!

edit: here comes the link

Byte Commander
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