How to uninstall GRUB and get windows 7 bootloader back?

Question

I have windows 7 home premium currently installed and I have just recently installed Linux Mint and it has replaced my MBR with GRUB.

Is there any way I can restore the normal Windows 7 Boot Loader and have the secondary option to boot my Linux Mint?

Solution 1

None of the answers here worked for me in re-installing the Windows 7 bootloader.

I tried starting with a recovery disk (USB, in my case), and diagnosing startup problems, but no luck.

Then I opened the console in recovery mode and ran

Bootrec.exe /FixMbr
Bootrec.exe /FixBoot

and then restarted.

Reference: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392

Solution 2

I had this problem before. And not once , but three times due to my carelessness .

( i deleted the linux partitions )

All the times , i've used this article : Restore Windows Bootloader

It's easy .If the command in main article doesn't work , then try the modified command by the user 'toolate' in Comments section . Hope this helps...

Solution 3

Zuljin is right in that the Windows boot loader can only boot Windows, but you can change the OS that Grub boots by default quite easily. I don't know exactly where it is in Linux Mint, but it's usually in /etc/grub.conf, /boot/grub/grub.cfg, or someplace similar.

You can also change the time it takes to boot the default OS, whether you want to see the menu, etc.

Comments

[Admin]

What is wrong with GRUB? It can boot your Linux and Windows. Windows bootloader AFAIK can only boot Windows OS. That way or another this question should be ask on superuser.com not SO.

[100rabh]

possible duplicate of Can I dual boot Linux and Windows 7 but use the Windows bootloader instead of GRUB?

[alex]

So how do you figure out which partitions contain grub?

[roboNerd]

It will be a very small partition. Most likely the smallest partition. Usually a few megabytes.

[fercis]

This one worked for me

[Raghavendra B N]

This worked for me as well, with one caveat: make sure that your Windows hard disk is your first boot option in the bios before doing this (just temporarily boot from the cd, don't change the boot order). I got "missing bootmgr" because of that. Doing the same again with Windows as first boot device fixed it.

[LuFFy]

@Paul Dude you saved my several hours of time. Thanks a lot.