Can't install Windows 10 over Ubuntu

Question

I'm attempting to go back to a Windows machine from Ubuntu because Ubuntu has been too difficult for me to use.

How to remove Ubuntu and put Windows back on?

I am trying to follow this thread, but I can't get past the first step. I have downloaded Windows 10 from Microsoft's main page onto a USB, but when I attempt to boot from it I am sent back to Ubuntu.

https://silentinfotech.com/blog/steps-to-install-windows-10-on-existing-ubuntu-16-04/

So I am now following this guide, but for some reason I am unable to resize my harddrive and I don't know why. The Free space preceding (MiB) section is all greyed out, and any time I try to put a new number into the New size (MiB) the number doesn't save. The black arrow slider for resizing the Hard Drive seems to be stuck to the right side, I don't know why, this disk is practically empty.

Please help I'm getting frustrated.

Solution

The question is tangentially related to Ubuntu. Based on your post, a more appropriate question would be "How to create a bootable Windows drive from Ubuntu", as that seems to be the problem you are facing.

I am Assuming you no longer have any need for a Ubuntu partition on your hard drive. So, in order to create a proper windows 10 bootable drive you need:

1. Download a Windows 10 iso image from Microsoft.

2. In order to create a bootable windows 10 image, we are going to use a program called woeusb.

To install it on Ubuntu you want to add a PPA. Open your terminal and type:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8
sudo apt update
sudo apt install woeusb

3. Once installed, open woeusb, select the windows 10 image you downloaded on the top part and select the proper usb drive name on the bottom part.
4. Once the process is completed, boot into your motherboard and select it to boot from the usb drive first, similar as to how you did when you first installed ubuntu on your machine.
5. Follow the Windows 10 installation steps, which is outside the scope of this forum.

There is no need to worry about uninstalling Ubuntu, as Windows will take care of that, probably by default, or you can make sure to choose the correct options once you are in the process of installing it (again, similarly to you what you did when installing Ubuntu).

Comments

[user535733]

Hmmm. There are 16 different answers, so I'm not sure what you mean by "the first step". I have found that if you make the Windows installer USB correctly, it works. I don't quite understand how your issue is related to Ubuntu.