Screwed because I deleted Ubuntu??

[cgoff117]

Hey LTT Forum!

 

I had an old HDD laptop hard drive as storage space in my PC. I recently got a new laptop and wanted to put that laptop HDD in my new laptop for more room. That HDD had Ubuntu on it  and I wiped the drive. I now cannot start of my PC it enters grub repair. I have no idea what to do right now. Can anyone offer assistance? 

[NineEyeRon]

Boot without the problem drive connected?

 

Remove it from boot order?

[Eastman51]

16 minutes ago, cgoff117 said:

Hey LTT Forum!

 

I had an old HDD laptop hard drive as storage space in my PC. I recently got a new laptop and wanted to put that laptop HDD in my new laptop for more room. That HDD had Ubuntu on it  and I wiped the drive. I now cannot start of my PC it enters grub repair. I have no idea what to do right now. Can anyone offer assistance? 

Did you clean the drive though?
This kind of thing happens when you wipe the normal partitions but don't actually wipe the boot partitions. If you can connect the problem drive to a computer running Windows (doesn't have to be, but I know how to clear these boot partitions in Windows), do so.

 

Run admin cmd

launch 'diskpart'

'list disk' (displays the drives connected to the computer, figure out which drive is the one you need to wipe. You can cross reference with Disk Management, as the drives are listed in the same order in both locations)

use 'sel disk #'  (selects the disk where '#' is the number of the drive)

then type 'clean'

 

Now all partitions (including write protected boot partitions, like grub) are gone and your boot issues will be solved.

[cgoff117]

1 hour ago, NineEyeRon said:

Boot without the problem drive connected?

 

Remove it from boot order?

Did that. Still got device not found grub repair screen

[cgoff117]

1 hour ago, Eastman51 said:

Did you clean the drive though?
This kind of thing happens when you wipe the normal partitions but don't actually wipe the boot partitions. If you can connect the problem drive to a computer running Windows (doesn't have to be, but I know how to clear these boot partitions in Windows), do so.

 

Run admin cmd

launch 'diskpart'

'list disk' (displays the drives connected to the computer, figure out which drive is the one you need to wipe. You can cross reference with Disk Management, as the drives are listed in the same order in both locations)

use 'sel disk #'  (selects the disk where '#' is the number of the drive)

then type 'clean'

 

Now all partitions (including write protected boot partitions, like grub) are gone and your boot issues will be solved.

Don't have a computer to connect it to unfortunately. Also will it be problem later if my boot drive C is considered disk 1 and not disk 0?

[Eastman51]

1 hour ago, cgoff117 said:

Don't have a computer to connect it to unfortunately. Also will it be problem later if my boot drive C is considered disk 1 and not disk 0?

That could be part of the problem. Disk 0 is the first drive that the motherboard looks at. If you can get to Windows, you can clear the problem drive and then drive numbering won't matter. You should be able to manually override the boot drive during boot

[cgoff117]

58 minutes ago, Eastman51 said:

That could be part of the problem. Disk 0 is the first drive that the motherboard looks at. If you can get to Windows, you can clear the problem drive and then drive numbering won't matter. You should be able to manually override the boot drive during boot

I've tried to manually Everytime eat drive when I boot but it still goes to the grab repair

[2FA]

Use a Linux live USB and clear all the partitions of the problem drive. Probably just the boot partition remaining.

[cgoff117]

1 minute ago, 2FA said:

Use a Linux live USB and clear all the partitions of the problem drive. Probably just the boot partition remaining.

So silly question, the drive I completely wiped wouldn't be the problem drive would it? How do I know what partians to wipe?

[2FA]

Just now, cgoff117 said:

So silly question, the drive I completely wiped wouldn't be the problem drive would it? How do I know what partians to wipe?

GRUB is the most common boot manager used with Linux, and if the laptop drive had Ubuntu, then that is the source of the problem. It's pretty obvious which drive should be the source of the problem since you seem to indicate it was the only one with Linux. You probably missed the boot partition.

[cgoff117]

6 minutes ago, 2FA said:

GRUB is the most common boot manager used with Linux, and if the laptop drive had Ubuntu, then that is the source of the problem. It's pretty obvious which drive should be the source of the problem since you seem to indicate it was the only one with Linux. You probably missed the boot partition.

Is it possible the boot partition exist in another drive?   So if I make a Linux USB installer I can access and access these partians correct?  Will it make the boot partian? Thank you for your help by the way!

[2FA]

Just now, cgoff117 said:

Is it possible the boot partition exist in another drive?   So if I make a Linux USB installer I can access and access these partians correct?  Will it make the boot partian? Thank you for your help by the way!

The only way the boot partition could be on another drive is you had that second drive in the Linux system as well and somehow did some fucky install. Partitions don't just magically move onto another drive. Most Linux USB installers let you use OS directly off the USB without installing it to a drive. Just open the disk manager, select the correct drive, and delete the partitions. You could also use the Live USB to mount the partitions to see if GRUB is in them, they're usually the first or second partition on the drive and small, 100-500MB in size.

[cgoff117]

14 minutes ago, 2FA said:

The only way the boot partition could be on another drive is you had that second drive in the Linux system as well and somehow did some fucky install. Partitions don't just magically move onto another drive. Most Linux USB installers let you use OS directly off the USB without installing it to a drive. Just open the disk manager, select the correct drive, and delete the partitions. You could also use the Live USB to mount the partitions to see if GRUB is in them, they're usually the first or second partition on the drive and small, 100-500MB in size.

Thanks I'll give this a shot when I get home soon. I'll send an update soon

[Shura]

Pretty much what 2FA said. If your computer boots with the second drive removed, then the partitions on the second drive are the problem. A linux mint or Manjaro live USB should have gparted installed. Use gparted to delete all paritions on the drive and also do a clean format of the drive and change it to NTFS. Considering you had Ubuntu on it, good chance it was formated as ext4, which won't be read by Windows. Make sure you don't wipe your main disk, considering you said the second HDD has more space, you can use that number to figure out which drive you have selected on gparted.

[cgoff117]

1 hour ago, Shura said:

Pretty much what 2FA said. If your computer boots with the second drive removed, then the partitions on the second drive are the problem. A linux mint or Manjaro live USB should have gparted installed. Use gparted to delete all paritions on the drive and also do a clean format of the drive and change it to NTFS. Considering you had Ubuntu on it, good chance it was formated as ext4, which won't be read by Windows. Make sure you don't wipe your main disk, considering you said the second HDD has more space, you can use that number to figure out which drive you have selected on gparted.

Even when I disconnected the drive with Ubuntu on it it wouldnt normally boot.  I tried doing a book fix in the command promp but my access was denied. I currently just put ubuntu back on a USB. Can I delete the partitions through like halfway installing ubunutu?

[cgoff117]

3 hours ago, 2FA said:

The only way the boot partition could be on another drive is you had that second drive in the Linux system as well and somehow did some fucky install. Partitions don't just magically move onto another drive. Most Linux USB installers let you use OS directly off the USB without installing it to a drive. Just open the disk manager, select the correct drive, and delete the partitions. You could also use the Live USB to mount the partitions to see if GRUB is in them, they're usually the first or second partition on the drive and small, 100-500MB in size.

Hey 2FA,

 

Im back home and I can only access the computer via a windows installer USB ( repair my PC thing). I have 2 partitions on my SSD  one with 549 mb and the other with 232 gb. I'm assuming the 549 gm is the ubuntu grub? Do I just delete from the command prompt or do I fix the boot on it? I can send a pic if it help.

Thanks again

[cgoff117]

3 hours ago, 2FA said:

The only way the boot partition could be on another drive is you had that second drive in the Linux system as well and somehow did some fucky install. Partitions don't just magically move onto another drive. Most Linux USB installers let you use OS directly off the USB without installing it to a drive. Just open the disk manager, select the correct drive, and delete the partitions. You could also use the Live USB to mount the partitions to see if GRUB is in them, they're usually the first or second partition on the drive and small, 100-500MB in size.

HOLY CRAP okay. finally back in windows.  Used this youtube video. 

I used this 

 

 

however now, I can see in disk managment this partition ( link below). I figure that 549 mb partition is the grub and I should delete it??

[Shura]

28 minutes ago, cgoff117 said:

HOLY CRAP okay. finally back in windows.  Used this youtube video. 

I used this 



 

 

however now, I can see in disk managment this partition ( link below). I figure that 549 mb partition is the grub and I should delete it??

How many drivers do you have in this PC? i thought you said it was a laptop. For the time being don't touch anything on Disk 0. Do you have two different 1TB drives in the PC ? + a 300GB?

[cgoff117]

25 minutes ago, Shura said:

How many drivers do you have in this PC? i thought you said it was a laptop. For the time being don't touch anything on Disk 0. Do you have two different 1TB drives in the PC ? + a 300GB?

The unbuntu was installed on an "old" HDD from my old laptop. I put that HDD in my PC to use unbuntu. My D drive is for my steam library and such, that 300GB is from a PC I parted out for extra space. And that cleaned out 1tb is from the ubuntu stuff.

[Shura]

30 minutes ago, Shura said:

How many drivers do you have in this PC? i thought you said it was a laptop. For the time being don't touch anything on Disk 0. Do you have two different 1TB drives in the PC ? + a 300GB?

Are these all connected externally? if so have you tried starting with all but your main drive disconnected. If grub was installed on your 500mb partition on the maun drive, the question is how? simply putting an old hdd shouldn't overwrite the partition on the main drive, unless while in ubuntu the system was updated and grub installed somehow.

 

To fix the MBR(Windows Bootloader), there are two steps you can try. If you are in windows, download and make a windows 10 installation USB(if you don't have one already), boot the pc using that USB, on the first screen, choose "Repair your Computer", Then from there choose, Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt. Once in command prompt, types these in order:

 

bootrec /fixmbr

bootrec /fixboot

bootrec /rebuildbcd

 

after shutdown the pc, remove the usb and try starting it. It's best to do this with all other hard drives and storage disconnected from the pc.

[cgoff117]

4 minutes ago, Shura said:

Are these all connected externally? if so have you tried starting with all but your main drive disconnected. If grub was installed on your 500mb partition on the maun drive, the question is how? simply putting an old hdd shouldn't overwrite the partition on the main drive, unless while in ubuntu the system was updated and grub installed somehow.

 

To fix the MBR(Windows Bootloader), there are two steps you can try. If you are in windows, download and make a windows 10 installation USB(if you don't have one already), boot the pc using that USB, on the first screen, choose "Repair your Computer", Then from there choose, Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt. Once in command prompt, types these in order:

 

bootrec /fixmbr

bootrec /fixboot

bootrec /rebuildbcd

 

after shutdown the pc, remove the usb and try starting it. It's best to do this with all other hard drives and storage disconnected from the pc.

I probably messed up the ubuntu install when I did it. When I was having problems earlier I coudnt get passed the fixboot line. It said access denied. Now however after that videos instructions PC is starting up okay. Should I still try to do this ( disconnecting all the drives except boot drive) even though I'm booting up fine?

 

Also if I get the access denied line is there a work around that?

[Shura]

14 minutes ago, cgoff117 said:

I probably messed up the ubuntu install when I did it. When I was having problems earlier I coudnt get passed the fixboot line. It said access denied. Now however after that videos instructions PC is starting up okay. Should I still try to do this ( disconnecting all the drives except boot drive) even though I'm booting up fine?

 

Also if I get the access denied line is there a work around that?

No if your PC is booting fine with no issues then it's okay, if you have issues like slow boot times, then go ahead and try those above methods. It's used to fix and rebuild any issues with the windows bootloarder. If you are interested in Linux, I would just using it through virtualbox or use of the the other hard drives on your computer, like that 300gb drive maybe. That way you won't have to mess with the partitions on the main drive.

[Underfire17]

20 hours ago, cgoff117 said:

Hey LTT Forum!

 

I had an old HDD laptop hard drive as storage space in my PC. I recently got a new laptop and wanted to put that laptop HDD in my new laptop for more room. That HDD had Ubuntu on it  and I wiped the drive. I now cannot start of my PC it enters grub repair. I have no idea what to do right now. Can anyone offer assistance? 

Your MBR wasn't formatted if you remove the partition this usually fixes it. If that doesn't work then try using your Ubuntu disk to use its disk utility. That should fix it I hope.