You will have to restore the Windows bootloader which will replace grub.

Here is a thread on this:
www.linuxquestions.org/.../how-to-remove-lilo-and-re\
store-windows-bootloader-134597/

I dont have the admin password and I cant access boot device
priority since it requires a password. I do have the windows xp
disc. is there any way I can restore the boot screen from windows
with the xp disc. The disc is not the same xp version. Its 2003
home and the computer want to fix is using professional version.

Your issue with an administrator password can be solved with a
password cracking utility. These disks will boot (in Linux) and
allow you to changed the password.

linux is unistalled. I can only go into windows. How do I use it
and where can I find it?

> linux is uninstalled. I can only go into windows.

You would boot with a Linux Live CD and put your
password program on a USB drive.

> How do I use it and where can I find it?

Google. I never tried to crack a lost Windows login
password but there are plenty of utilities out there.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=windows+pass\
word+cracker&aq=1&oq=windows+password+

<http://www.google.com/search?
hl=en&q=windows+password+cracker&aq=1&oq=windows+password+>

If you want to use only windows, and quit using Ubuntu, why not start
up Ubuntu from the cd?

You can then work on the grub and make windows the default OS. Then
change the display time on grub and you won't know there ever was an
option for another OS. Simply said, windows will start up without any
screen just like it did before you tried Ubuntu. You will not need a
password because you will be starting from the CD. And yes you will be
able to read and write to the grub files no problem.

You need to go into the Control Panel on XP and click the System and the
Advanced tab. Here you chose Startup and click the edit button. You edit
out the Ubuntu load line and save.

I installed Ubuntu over Windows, and my "startup
dual boot option screen" is the grub loader.

If I do this:


> You need to go into the Control Panel on XP and
> click the System and the Advanced tab. Here you
> chose Startup and click the edit button. You edit
> out the Ubuntu load line and save.

...then there is no Ubuntu load line. Windows
knows nothing about Ubuntu's being there. Did
Townzher load Ubuntu using the Wubu installer?
I never heard of a Windows startup dual boot option
screen, never knew MS would tolerate any other
OS on the same computer -- unless this Wubi
thing? What happens, exactly, in this situation?
Where does Linux reside? Does Windows see it as
a program to run with an option to do at startup?
Or, does Ubunt become a large file that Windows
doesn't recognize as an executable program?

There are 2 ways to install Ubuntu as a dual boot with Windows. If you
install using Wubi, all you need to do is to uninstall it like any other
Windows program. The other method involves putting Ubuntu on another
drive or partition. To remove this involves rewriting the Windows MBR (I
do this fairly often), but I saved a copy of my single boot MBR for this).

then there is no Ubuntu load line. Windows
knows nothing about Ubuntu's being there. Did
Townzher load Ubuntu using the Wubu installer?
I never heard of a Windows startup dual boot option
screen, never knew MS would tolerate any other
OS on the same computer -- unless this Wubi
thing? What happens, exactly, in this situation?
Where does Linux reside? Does Windows see it as
a program to run with an option to do at startup?
Or, does Ubunt become a large file that Windows
doesn't recognize as an executable program?

Reply: Wubi installs from inside Linux, but that is confusing because it no
longer needs Windows after this. What Windows does is set up space on the C:
drive. Instead of partitioning the drive it creates large image files (actually
two root.disk and swap.disk), similar to what happens in a virtual machine,
although there is no virtualisation involved in Wubi.

After Windows establishes this image, Wubi adds the installation files and you
need to re-boot to finish Wubi. At this point the image file is mounted as if it
was a drive in what is called a loop mounted device.It is this ingenious bit of
trickery that makes Wubi unique. Windows is not running and is not needed for
Wubi. Windows only acts like a host location for the image.

Inside the loop mounted device is the complete Linux files structure and for all
appearances it is a complete Linux installation. From Windows all you will see
is one file 8 GBs or larger, depending on how big you create it in the first
place. From inside the file you see everything that you would expect to see.

The Wubi file in Windows is not executable. You can only launch Wubi from the
Windows bootloader which is modified to add the line to load Ubuntu, as the
second choice.

To remove Wubi, you simply uninstall it from the Windows control panel. This
deletes the Wubi file, Ubuntu directory and deletes the line from the
bootloader.

There are scripts that will allow you to transfer Wubi to a full Ubuntu
installation, if you like Wubi enough to use Ubuntu full time for all or part of
your work.

Advantages of Wubi: familiar installation and deinstallation for Windows users,
no partitioning, it works just like the real thing with a couple of exceptions
(see disadvantages)

Disadvantages of Wubi: it is subject to Windows problems such as fragmentation,
it could be destroyed as a result of a crash or virus infection, and hibernation
does not work.

Because the Windows file in the Ubuntu directory is so large, it is more subject
than other files to Windows crashes, so it is a good idea not to use Wubi for
anything essential. From Ubuntu, you can see the Windows file system and can
access files and save files to your Windows desktop or My Documents. From
Windows you cannot move files to your Ubuntu file system.

This is just one more option for Windows users. There are three levels to use
Linux for them. One is inside a running Windows session using a distro such as
TopologiLinux or andLinux; Wubi is the next level because it runs outside of
Windows, but relies on it to host the files; and finally there is a full Linux
installation on another drive, partition, or device such as a CD or usb key.

There are no excuses not to give Linux a try. Nobody can say it is too hard
because of all of the options. Wubi is unique to Canonical distros. You can
install Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu and I think the other *buntus now have it as
well. There is also Lubi (for Linux hosts) and Mubi (Mac hosts) is in the works.
OpenSUSE has a similar project called instlux.

See: http://wubi-installer.org/faq.php
It will answer most of your questions.

for a lucid explanation of what's going on
with Wubi. It's an ingenious way to provide yet one more
option for Windows users to try Linux, between Live CD
which may be too sluggish to show what Ubuntu can really
do and a full dual-boot installation in a separate
partition which may seem fearsome to starters.

But this has triggered another question I would like to
have answered at some point. Not that I don't do my
homework; I really spend a lot of time studying man
pages and documentation on line. But the following has
never been made clear:

I have dual boot, my original XP on hd0,0 and Ubuntu
on a separate drive hd1,5. The grub loader configuration
file menu.lst is obviously on hd1,5 but I wonder if it
is called from the MBR on hd0 which Windows recognizes
as C: and which is set in the BIOS as the primary drive.

Is this right? If so, how is it that Linux got Windows
to relinquish the first reading of this MBR upon
the Ubuntu installation? If I choose Windows from grub
then I assume it simply returns control of the MBR
back to Windows as in the original case?

What, exactly, changed on hd0,0 when I installed Linux
on hd1,5? Certainly nothing in the XP operating system
itself, right? only the MBR?

The naming of drives by grub is confusing because they are relative. The
terms sda and sdb or hda and hdb, typically used in file managers, are fixed.
Sda or hda is the first drive listed in the BIOS and sdb or hdb is the second
one.This is easy to understand.

However, grub is relative, meaning that you can switch the drive to which grub
is written to. In some case sda could be hd0 and in other cases sdb could be
hd0. It all depends on where grub is written to. Hd0 is always the drive on
which grub is written to.

You can find out how grub is named on your computer by opening the file
/boot/grub/device.map.

Windows has its own bootloader. When grub is written to the MBR it
replaces the Windows bootloader with its own rather than modifying the Windows
bootloader. In contrast, Wubi uses the Windows bootloader and merely adds a line
to it for Ubuntu. Ubuntu assumes that you want Ubuntu to boot first and that it
will be the default OS. This can be changed as grub is just a text file that can
be edited with root permissions, sudo.

Windows needs a bootloader, like Linux, to point to its kernel loader. It
assumes that it will be its own, but does not actually check so as long as grub
points to the right place Windows won't know or care. When Ubuntu is removed the
the Windows bootloader must be restored so that Windows can find its kernel
loader once again. Otherwise you will get the ntldr missing error. In both cases
the bootloader is traditionally written to the MBR. However, grub can be written
the to root directory or chainloaded.

Windows is untouched by your Ubuntu installation, no matter where it is located,
as long as when you install it that you don't use the whole drive to replace
Windows. Linux is good at sharing. The bootloader will point to where the
loading process begins for all operating systems. In the case of the Windows
loader, it will only show Windows installations. I have had XP and another
Windows operating installed to different partitions of the same drive and the
Windows bootloader will pop up briefly to allow you to switch in the same way it
does in Wubi. Otherwise it is silent meaning that you don't usually see it.

As an aside, Mac OS/X does not like sharing at all. It needs not just a separate
partition, but a drive all to itself. So if it sounds like I think that Windows
is inflexible, just look at the Mac. It is all about what the programmers design
it for and what the developer wants. In the case of Windows, they ignore Linux
because Microsoft chooses to. You can get third party utilities to read and
write to Linux drives in Windows.In the case of the Mac, Apple wants you to run
their OS and not anything else. OS/X is based on BSD, a Linux cousin, and BSD is
just as flexible as Linux.

In both cases, the companies could be more flexible if they wanted. Both
operating systems are capable of doing more than they do. That being said, we
need to work around these issues for now and if you want to share drives with
non-Microsoft operating systems you need a flexible bootloader. There are
several commercial ones for Windows that will work with Linux.

Grub is quirky, but it is simple and it works. You can check out LILO which is
another bootloader for Linux, but most people prefer Grub. There are several
others, even Grub2. Some people like SuperGrubDisk:
http://stmaarten.globat.com/~supergrubdisk.org/

See this for more on bootloaders: http://www.xs4all.nl/~lennartb/bootloaders/

Anyway, they are less relative than what DOS/Windows uses,
that is C: D: M: N: W: Y: Z:

The Linux system identifies which physical drive as well
as which partition; Windows identifiers don't distinguish,
which I'd say is more confusing.

> The terms sda and sdb or hda and hdb, typically used in
> file managers, are fixed. Sda or hda is the first drive
> listed in the BIOS and sdb or hdb is the second one.
> This is easy to understand.
>
> However, grub is relative, meaning that you can switch
> the drive to which grub is written to. In some case sda
> could be hd0 and in other cases sdb could be hd0. It
> all depends on where grub is written to. Hd0 is always
> the drive on which grub is written to.

Thanks, that clarifies a lot. What I'd read somewhere
else is that sd and hd were simply two different ways that
Linux refers to drives. (I just *knew* there had to be
more to it than that :-)

> You can find out how grub is named on your computer by
> opening the file /boot/grub/device.map.

Mine is like this:

(hd0) /dev/sda
(hd1) /dev/sdb

If I had grub written to what is now sdb then I assume
Linux would not boot because the BIOS points to sda
and the computer looks to the primary drive for a
bootloader. Right? As things stand now, Windows would
also not boot because upon installing Ubuntu the
bootloader on sda's MBR was overwritten by grub. But
such a situation would not come about normally, right?
I chose to dual-boot Windows and Linux when I set
up Ubuntu and that arranged for grub to be written to
sda where my Windows resides.

Then, another way to set up dual boot would be to
install another hard disk, which I did, have the BIOS
point to it as sda, and install Ubuntu on that drive
(which for me is now sdb). Then to switch operating
systems I would go into the BIOS and switch how it
points to the primary drive. Somewhat more awkward than
simply choosing which OS to boot from the grub menu,
but it would not have touched what Windows calls the
C: drive in any way. Right? Another way to
set up dual-boot.

And, no matter where grub is, the configuration file
menu.lst is always part of the Linux installation,
which means that grub calls upon it separately to know
how to boot, right? Then, if I were to have reset the
BIOS to point to the new hard disk before I installed
Linux -- which (according to my original BIOS setup)
would have meant that grub would have ignored Windows's
C: drive -- then grub would look at menu.lst on what
it perceived to be a different drive than what it does
now. Not that it matters, just trying to grok what
happens at boot.

>> If so, how is it that Linux got Windows
>> to relinquish the first reading of this MBR upon
>> the Ubuntu installation? If I choose Windows from grub
>> then I assume it simply returns control of the MBR
>> back to Windows as in the original case?
>
> Reply: Windows has its own bootloader. When grub is
> written to the MBR it replaces the Windows bootloader
> with its own rather than modifying the Windows
> bootloader. In contrast, Wubi uses the Windows
> bootloader and merely adds a line to it for Ubuntu.
> Ubuntu assumes that you want Ubuntu to boot first
> and that it will be the default OS. This can be
> changed as grub is just a text file that can be
> edited with root permissions, sudo.

Right. I've done that and set up Windows to boot
by default, then changed it back again. BTW, is
there any problem with removing or commenting out
all the old Linux kernels that are still listed?
They make the grub menu look messy.

> Windows needs a bootloader, like Linux, to point
> to its kernel loader. It assumes that it will be
> its own, but does not actually check so as long
> as grub points to the right place Windows won't
> know or care. When Ubuntu is removed then the
> Windows bootloader must be restored so that Windows
> can find its kernel loader once again.

How? Can Linux be called to do this upon its dying
breath?

> Otherwise you will get the ntldr missing error.
> In both cases the bootloader is traditionally
> written to the MBR. However, grub can be written
> the to root directory or chainloaded.

?? Then how would the computer find it at startup?

> Windows is untouched by your Ubuntu installation,
> no matter where it is located,

BUT the Windows bootloader is overwritten, even
though it is not officially part of the OS.

You are correct. However this is handy at times. For example on my
original eeePC the Xandros installation took over the place on the MBR where
grub would normally be located. If you wrote grub to the MBR it would make and
entry for Xandros and whatever other distro you were installing, but upon
removing the said distro you could not run Xandros as the bootloader would be
overwritten. Or if I restored Xandros from the restore CD it would trash
grub.This is similar to what would happen with Windows.

The solution was to install grub not to the MBR but to the device on which it is
installed. If you have a boot manager you can switch the boot order without
changing the BIOS. My HP desktop or eeePC uses ESC at the first screen. When
this opens then I can boot any drive attached to my computer, including usb
drives and keys, which is very handy.

The trick is that grub for those devices has to recognize the drive as hda(0,0)
and grub must be written to the device and not another drive. If you have this
capability you can keep your main OS untouched and use as many external devices
as you want. Some people have swappable hard drives that they can access from
the front for example. You can even partition the device if it has large
capacity. You may have to manually edit grub on that device to change whatever
it says to hda(0,0).

In Ubuntu you can decide where to write grub to on page 7 of the installation
where it reviews the installation choices by clicking on the Advanced button on
the bottom right. Most people miss that.

No, in fact it is good practice. There are utilities for that, but I find
it just as easy to edit menu.lst. However, some of the utilities actually remove
the old kernel files, so if disk space is an issue I would go that route. I tend
to use Synaptic to remove old kernels, just because I have got into that habit.
I usually keep the old kernel around for a bit to make sure that everything
works before turfing it because kernel updates can mess you up.

Whenever you update the kernel and something does not work then re-boot and try
to the older kernel and in most cases things will stil work as you expect. After
awhile the packages will catch up with the kernel and you can try the newer
kernel.

The Windows bootloader and grub occupy the same space, so only one can be
there at a time. Grub can be written elsewhere, but Windows needs its bootloader
on the MBR of the boot drive. If you remove grub you need to restore the Windows
bootloader using the Windows installation CD. No way around this to my
knowledge, but I do not mess with Windows anymore and my info may not be up to
date.

BIOs points to the bootable drive, this will not change unless you
make a different drive the master bootable drive.

Hd stands for hard drive just like fd stands for floppy. The first
letter for the device tells us the drive type, hard drives have two
types defined by the letters s and h and this is because there are
more than one type of interface. Because windows is on its own drive
(virtual drive) as is Linux, the pointer points to the first track of
the drive, this is not new but the way it has always been.
Grub is a boot utility that allows you to choose more than one disk
drive at start up, the grub simply takes up the first track of the
bootable hard drive and gives you an option of what drive to use. The
computer the OS and the grub or other utility could care less how many
other systems can run on it, only that it has taken control of the
computer.

Windows understands the file system it uses and won't recognize any
other file system, this is a good reason to use Linux native file
system when dual booting for the Linux space. Without special
utilities installed Linux will not write to NTFS even if it knows it
is there. ext3 file system is hidden from windows because it can't
understand the system without a utility to do so. A very good reason
not to use any of these utilities.

On the ubuntu sites documentation there is a chapter on understanding
the Linux file system so you understand how to find things before you
get lost in it. I suggest reading this short chapter to familiarize
yourself as to how things are stored on your system.

menu.lst has comments on the selection for start up defaults, simply
open the list and read it to make your default system start if you
have a preference. You can delete any old lines you are not using and
you can also tell grub how long you want it to wait before choosing
the default for you.

Hope this helps you understand what is happening, if not read the
goods on the ubuntu sites documentation if you want to know more.