Can I erase a GRUB bootloader?

I installed ubuntu on my Windows 7 pc. Automatically it used the GRUB bootloader. Then I learnt how to use VirtualBox. I have no need for Ubuntu. So can I delete Ubuntu and GRUB while leaving Windows 7 alone?

Solution 1:

You cannot delete GRUB without then fixing the MBR on Windows 7.

Fixing the MBR:
The easiest way is to boot from the Windows CD/DVD.

* Boot from Windows CD/DVD and choose the "Repair" option
* Choose the command prompt
* Run the two commands
      o bootrec /fixmbr
      o bootrec /fixboot

If you've lost your original CD, get the live CD at http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd
You'll want to use the utility MbrFix 1.3

Solution 2:

1. Boot your Windows 7 Installation DVD
2. Press a key when the message indicating "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD …" appears.
3. Select a language, a time and currency, and a keyboard or input method, and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, choose your installation and click Next.
5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Startup Repair.
6. If step 7 fails, click the Command Prompt and enter the command "bootrec.exe /fixmbr"

Solution 3:

If All Else Fails!

I solved the problem. Here is how I did it. WARNING, you may have to reinstall Linux / grub first!

Steps: (This is if nothing else works and it takes a long time)

1: Reinstall Ubuntu / Linux mint (This is only so you can use GRUB to boot into Windows, if you can boot into windows already, there is no need to reinstall GRUB).

1.5: Restart and boot into windows (if you can't boot to Windows, then live boot to linux from the CD or USB and run the following in a console:

Boot repair (If needed right now)

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install -y boot-repair && (boot-repair &)

1g: Select recommended repair and follow the on screen instructions.

2g: After your done, reboot. You should see the grub menu, even though you can boot to Windows from here, this is not what we want yet... But find the option that boots into Windows.

2: Once your booted into Windows, run your disk partition editor and delete All partitions related to Linux / grub. Especially make sure the small grub partition is removed. Reboot

2.5: Make sure the windows loader is the first selected boot device. (most likely is). Disable the Ubuntu option. Continue boot.

3: If you've done everything right up to this point you should see (depending on your computer) your splash screen for a second and then it will turn into an error screen saying that there was an error with the boot. ("Winload.exe is missing or corrupted" most likly).

3.5: Don't be alarmed (I was). The next step will restore your original bootloader.

4: Restart and boot to your Linux CD or USB.

5: Once booted, run boot repair commands from above again. This time when running it. It will act differently, there is no grub bootloader detected to reinstall and should run faster than before.

6: Once complete, restart.

7: Enjoy your GRUB free system!

This worked for me when nothing else did, I ran bootrec.exe. Nothing worked. This saved my computers life. Hope it saves yours!