Uninstall Problems - Zorin Ultimate

After reluctantly finding Zorin was not suitable for me (after years of Windows was looking forward to using a simpler system) I decided to uninstall this afternoon using the Zorin uninstall guide.

It was installed alongside Win XP in another partition.

Found the way into Start>System>Administration>GParted, but problems prevented me from deleting 'ext4' and 'linux-swap' partitions. So rightly of wrongly I reformatted them (ntfs).

Result....

No such partition
entering resue mode
grub rescue>

Can I rescue the computer from this? I am very much a basic user with limited experience. It was easy to install Zorin but getting it uninstalled has become more of a serious problem.

I also understand I need a Windows XP recovery disc?

How do I get this disc, is it something I can restore from Windows XP itself? Or is it from the OEM Window XP disc obtained with the computer.

I have tried re-booting to the OEM Window XP disc wihout success.

I can still re-boot to a bootable version of Zorin

Hi arbcomp, You would have hit problems running Gparted in Zorin and trying to delete from there as Zorin was 'in use' ( a bit like trying to run Chkdsk in Windows when C is runnning!).

You need to use the XP disc to get your XP back up and working. Before you do, you could use your Zorin live disc to extract any crucial data as a precaution if things go wrong.

1. Change your boot order so CD is first to boot, then put your XP disc in the Optical drive

2. When you see the message 'Press any key to boot the CD ..." do so as soon as!

3. Wait for the 'Setup' procedure to whir away, scroll down the 'Agreement' and press F8 to acccept the licence details.

4. Choose the 'Repair an existing installlation'

5. You will be asked which Windows you want to log onto - there should only be 1. (1. C:/Windows) - just press enter - if you are asked for an administrator password to mount it, then do so.

6. Once logged on to the console enter 'FIXMBR' and press Enter.

7. Reboot the machine and you should be back to normal - BUT REMEMBER TO BACK UP YOUR DATA! Follow this guide AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Thank you Swarfendor437

Windows XP repair operation performed as you recommended.

Sorry that Zorin was not for me!

No worries friend, glad you are sorted! But don't be disheartened - give Trisquel or LXLE a go!