1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
|
<!--startcut ======================================================= -->
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
<html>
<head>
<META NAME="generator" CONTENT="lgazmail v1.3A.e">
<TITLE>The Answer Guy 48: Uninstalling Linux</TITLE>
</HEAD><BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000"
LINK="#3366FF" VLINK="#A000A0">
<!-- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -->
<H4>"The Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"</H4>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -->
<center>
<H1><A NAME="answer">
<img src="../../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif" alt="(?)"
border="0" align="middle">
<font color="#B03060">The Answer Guy</font>
<img src="../../gx/dennis/bbubble.gif" alt="(!)"
border="0" align="middle">
</A></H1>
<BR>
<H4>By James T. Dennis,
<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com">linux-questions-only@ssc.com</a><BR>
LinuxCare,
<A HREF="http://www.linuxcare.com/">http://www.linuxcare.com/</A>
</H4>
</center>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- endcut ======================================================= -->
<!-- begin 30 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>Uninstalling Linux</H3>
<p><strong>From Victor Turner on Mon, 11 Oct 1999
</strong></p>
<!-- ::
Uninstalling Linux
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: -->
<P><STRONG>
Hi - hope you can help me,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I found and read your answer to how to uninstall Linux [dated 18th Dec
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
1998 from Tom Monaghan] - which related to uninstalling <A HREF="http://www.redhat.com/">Red Hat</A> Linux 5.2
- and thinking that I could use the info you gave in the answer to remove &
uninstall my version of Linux which is <A HREF="http://www.caldera.com/">Caldera</A> open Linux 2.2, I followed
the instructions . .
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
but as a complete moron when it comes to computers I somehow failed to
obtain the results expected and linux won't go away !
I have it installed on my Olivetti Echos 133EM laptop PC which has 1.6gig
hard drive partitioned [during the Linux install] to 2 partions, 1 of 92% &
the other of 8%
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
there is 80 meg RAM/ CD-ROM & Floppy drive
The Caldera open Linux 2.2 used a built in version of Partition magic to
partition thye hard drive during installation.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I SHOULD have waited until I obtained a second hard drive for my desktop PC
where I could 'play' with Linux and learn to my hearts content whist still
having my laptop [which used to have Win95 for work related stuff ] - but I
was not patient and now seem to be suffering for it as I can not find out
any information [other than your answer to Toms question] - which was for a
different breed of Linux.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Can you help me PLEASE !
<br>Yours in anticipation,
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
There is nothing special about the suggestions I offered.
It doesn't matter what Linux distribution (or even what
operating system) you're trying to remove. The process
boils down to:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BlockQuote><ul>
<li>Run fdisk (from a Linux rescue diskette) and delete the
Linux partitions. That will leave the space that those
filesystems occupied as "unallocated" so far as MS-DOS
and other operating systems are concerned. (You con't
actually have to remove the data that was in those
partitions --- simply removing the partition table
entries that describe the should be sufficient).
<li>Boot from an MS-DOS floppy and type FDISK <TT>/MBR.</TT>
</ul></Blockquote></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
This last step makes sense for versions of MS-DOS after
version 5.x. Win '9x is really still just MS-DOS with a
GUI glued over the front of it. So most of this should
apply to it as well, when you manage to get in behind the
GUI. Alternatively you should be able to use the command:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE><CODE><BlockQuote>
lilo -U
</BlockQuote></CODE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
... BEFORE you delete your Linux partitions.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
When you first install Linux using LILO, the <TT>/sbin/lilo</TT>
command will create a <TT>/boot/boot.0XXX</TT> file, a backup of the
MBR that it originally found on the system. The -U and -u
options of the <TT>/sbin/lilo</TT> command will put that backup
copy back into place (if it exists and with some sanity
checks).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Note: The lilo -U command is basically the same as using
a command like:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BlockQuote><Code>
dd if=/boot/boot.0XXX of=/dev/hdX count=446
</Code></BlockQuote></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
... though it should be a tiny bit safer. In any case I
highly recommend performing a backup of your system before
doing any software installations, upgrades, or removals.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Incidentally, if you really want to wipe data from those
Linux filesystems before you remove the partitons you can
use a command like:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BlockQuote><Code>
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hdXXX
</Code></BlockQuote></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
... do over-write a whole partition or drive with ASCII
NULs. Note: if you do that with of= (output file)
<TT>/dev/sda</TT> you'll wipe your entire first SCSI hard drive.
If you do it with <TT>/dev/sda1</TT> you'll only much the first
partition on that drive. If you use <TT>/dev/hdb3</TT> you'll
destroy the number three primary partition on your
second IDE drive, <TT>/dev/hda6</TT> will get the second LOGICAL
partition on your first IDE drive, and so on.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
If that doesn't scare you then you didn't read it carefully
enough. You can wipe out whole drives or individual
partitions using the 'dd' command. It should be treated
like a six-foot razor!
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Also note that you really want to do these operations
while booted from a rescue floppy. Otherwise you'll
destroy shared libraries, swap partitions, and other
data that Linux needs to complete your swipes.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
In the worst case to a backup of your entire DOS/Win '9x
system. Test it. Then boot from a rescue floppy,
zero out the whole drive; re-install MS Windows from
scratch and restore your data. I know that's inconvenient
and scary.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
It's the shame of the whole computer industry. Backups and
restores are slow, expensive, unreliable and instill
little confidence in most users. That problem is hardly
unique to Linux, or PCs; I hear that from all sorts of
users.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
(My preferred means of doing software and OS upgrades is
to perform the installation on a new system, then copy
my data and configuration over. I just did that to canopus
this weekend, so I'm writing from canopus2. In a week or
so I'll wipe out the old canopus and rename my new host
to use the old name).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- sig -->
<!-- end 30 -->
<!--startcut ======================================================= -->
<P> <hr> <P>
<H5 align="center"><a href="http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html"
>Copyright ©</a> 1999, James T. Dennis
<BR>Published in <I>The Linux Gazette</I> Issue 48 December 1999</H5>
<H6 ALIGN="center">HTML transformation by
<A HREF="mailto:star@starshine.org">Heather Stern</a> of
Starshine Technical Services,
<A HREF="http://www.starshine.org/">http://www.starshine.org/</A>
</H6>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- begin tagnav ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::-->
<TABLE WIDTH="95%"><TR VALIGN="center" ALIGN="center">
<TD colspan="2" rowspan="2"><A
HREF="../lg_answer48.html"
><IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/answernew.gif"
ALT="[ Answer Guy Current Index ]"></A>
<TD colspan="2" rowspan="2"><A
HREF="../../tag/kb.html"
><IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/answertoc.gif"
ALT="[ Index of Past Answers ]"></A></td>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="../lg_answer48.html#greeting"><img
src="../../gx/dennis/smily.gif" alt="greetings" border="0"></A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="1.html">1</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="2.html">2</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="3.html">3</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="4.html">5</A></TD>
</TR><TR VALIGN="center" ALIGN="center">
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="5.html">5</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="6.html">6</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="7.html">7</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="8.html">8</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="9.html">9</A></TD>
</TR><TR VALIGN="center" ALIGN="center">
<TD WIDTH="10%"><A HREF="10.html">10</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="10%"><A HREF="11.html">11</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="10%"><A HREF="12.html">12</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="10%"><A HREF="13.html">13</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="14.html">14</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="15.html">15</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="16.html">16</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="17.html">17</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="18.html">18</A></TD>
</TR><TR VALIGN="center" ALIGN="center">
<TD WIDTH="10%"><A HREF="19.html">19</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="10%"><A HREF="20.html">20</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="10%"><A HREF="21.html">21</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="10%"><A HREF="22.html">22</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="23.html">23</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="24.html">24</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="25.html">25</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="26.html">26</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="27.html">27</A></TD>
</TR><TR VALIGN="center" ALIGN="center">
<TD WIDTH="10%"><A HREF="28.html">28</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="10%"><A HREF="29.html">29</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="10%"><A HREF="30.html">30</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="10%"><A HREF="31.html">31</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="32.html">32</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="33.html">33</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="34.html">34</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="35.html">35</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="36.html">36</A></TD>
</TR><TR VALIGN="center" ALIGN="center">
<TD WIDTH="10%"><A HREF="37.html">37</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="10%"><A HREF="38.html">38</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="10%"><A HREF="39.html">39</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="10%"><A HREF="40.html">40</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="41.html">41</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="42.html">42</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="43.html">43</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="44.html">44</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="45.html">45</A></TD>
</TR><TR VALIGN="center" ALIGN="center">
<TD WIDTH="10%"><A HREF="46.html">46</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="10%"><A HREF="47.html">47</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="10%"><A HREF="48.html">48</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="10%"><A HREF="49.html">49</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="50.html">50</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="51.html">51</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="52.html">52</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="53.html">53</A></TD>
<TD WIDTH="11%"><A HREF="54.html">54</A></TD>
</TR><TR VALIGN="center" ALIGN="center">
<TD colspan="3"><A HREF="55.html">55</A></TD>
<TD colspan="3"><A HREF="56.html">56</A></TD>
<TD colspan="3"><A HREF="57.html">57</A></TD>
</TR></TABLE>
</TR><TR VALIGN="center" ALIGN="center">
<!-- end tagnav ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::-->
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- begin lgnav ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -->
<A HREF="../index.html"
><IMG SRC="../../gx/indexnew.gif" ALT="[ Table Of Contents ]"></A>
<A HREF="../../index.html"
><IMG SRC="../../gx/homenew.gif" ALT="[ Front Page ]"></A>
<A HREF="../lg_bytes48.html"
><IMG SRC="../../gx/back2.gif" ALT="[ Previous Section ]"></A>
<A HREF="../../faq/index.html"
><IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/faq.gif"
ALT="[ Linux Gazette FAQ ]"></A>
<A HREF="../lg_tips48.html"
><IMG SRC="../../gx/fwd.gif" ALT="[ Next Section ]"></A>
<!-- end lgnav ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -->
<!-- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -->
</BODY></HTML>
<!--endcut ========================================================= -->
|
