How to UN-install Zorin/WinXP dual boot?

I have been using several live linuxes, especially Puppy Slacko, from a flash drive and liking using them. I would like to try installing a more full featured OS as a dual boot with WinXP on my desktop computer until I'm ready to let go of XP for good, but I am afraid of setting up a dual boot. Not so much because it would be a problem to set up, but because if I decide I don't like the particular OS and want to remove it or replace it, I'm afraid I might end up with my WinXP not being able to boot. I've read about that happening sometimes, that even though they have all the original XP files, they can't get Windows to boot any more. Sometimes they figure out how to get it working again, but sometimes they're just out of luck.

I guess the correct way to restore would depend on what method is used to create the dual boot in the first place, and most linux distributions seem to come with their own way of doing it. I'm considering installing Zorin OS8 to dual boot with my present WinXP, but I'd like know before I do it that I have a pretty good chance of recovering my XP if I decide I don't like Zorin. Of course, I could always just leave Zorin in place, but I might want to install something else in place of it. Can anyone offer some information? Thanks.

Just to add to what Gizmuntu has said, for home users the date given is the end date for home users of any version of Windows XP - Corporate users have been given a stay of execution of April 2015!

Hi,

see also:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2601

Regards Wolfman

Thanks for all the replies. I would like to get completely beyond XP, but I feel I still need it as an umbilical. I use a whole lot of Windows software, and it will take a while to learn to do it all in linux. One of the options I'm considering is just using an XP virtualbox in Zorin, and one of Zorin's attractions for me is that it comes with virtualbox installed, I believe. But I'll probably start with keeping XP and having a dual boot possibility also.

As far as virus attacks after April, my main defense will be to not let XP contact the internet, at least as much as possible and hopefully 100%.

Thanks for the references to other threads. Here's one to another place I asked my question yesterday:

http://www.cupoflinux.com/BB/viewtopic. ... 3472#p3472

As far as virus attacks after April, my main defense will be to not let XP contact the internet, at least as much as possible and hopefully 100%

that's all you have to do.
- there will be a lot of people still running win_XP at the end of April, Y'know.

as long as the H/W is ok, then win_XP will be just fine.
- apart from M$ - everyone else will continue to support win_XP, for around 1 - 2 years .. ..

when win_9 comes out, - here will still be people using win_XP.

If people are heavily dependent upon XP for whatever reason then the bes thing to do is to chkdsk, run defrag then use a backup utility like Clonezilla or Macrium Reflect (both free). If you have the time, and the bandwidth allowance then you had better spend the next two weeks downloading all the updates for XP manually - this may include any security updates for Applications specifically designed for XP and keep it off line or build a virtual machine in Zorin - at least that way if the virtual machine does get malware on it your main OS will remain intact! I am lucky cos my better half did a degree course recently which meant cut price Windows 7 (I need to keep up-to-date as I sort other peoples issues out and try to convert at the same time!) and more recently, because of my employment, I got Windows 8.1 dirt cheap - again to keep up-to-date with what's going on out there and I have got used to using it without any Classic Menu add-ons that I have been reading about - you just have to learn to use the mouse wheel to scroll from left to right and it is very easy to add your preferred applications to the 'Start' (Metro or 'Windows Interface' as it was renamed by M$)