I have a feeling that it is because I restored from lenovo's oem version of Windows (with all the unnecessary boat) so I'm gonna have a go at getting the standard iso from Microsoft and reinstalling that way. Hopefully that will solve it
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I generally agree with most comments. Frankly, Kubuntu installs faster than you can move a partition. I'd just back up any data on any of the Linux installs and then wipe everything after SDA5. Then expand the SDA5 to something more reasonable for Windows - say 100GB. Than make SDA6 as 8GB swap. Now you have a fairly well laid out partition table. You can install and delete from SDA7 and above to your heart's content and leave Windows and the swap partitions alone forever.
Since you're new(ish) to Linux, you might want to play around with different Distro's and have space for a backup install for when you break the one you're using (you will - we all do!
). With that much HD space, I'd make room for at least 3 Linux installs - say 16-20GB each maximum and then use the remaining for personal data (media, docs, etc.) or a separate /home.
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UH-OH! so I did what oshunluvr said within windows and then rebooted in the hope that my laptop would boot from my live USB and then I could re install kubuntu. This did not happen and I'm now faced with a black screen that is headed "GNU GRUB version 2.02..." , followed by a bit more text below and then "grub>"
If I remember correctly it isn't possible to boot into windows from grub and I have removed all the Linux partitions!
Any help please? I am totally stuck now
Ps I have another laptop running kubuntu if that will help...Comment
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Sorted it now thanksComment
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I already had windows installed so i went into the bios from startup and booted it from there. I now have a fresh install of kubuntu too so when I turn the laptop on it goes to the Linux boot screen
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What happened was pretty much what you suspected - When you removed all the linux installs you removed grub. Remember that for the future if you delete the install that's "hosting" grub. I tend to play around once in a while so I keep a stripped down Ubuntu LTS install that only does grub. Then I never have to go through the liveUSB re-install of grub. Plus, it saves on reboots.
You should be able to boot Windows from grub. Are you able to now? It should detect your install and recovery boot partitions also.
Be aware that booting directly to Windows recovery will likely result in the MBR being over-written by the Windows boot installer, leaving you without Linux. I also keep a live bootable thumb drive around as a repair tool if needed.
I believe you can boot to Kubuntu from the Windows boot manager, but I've never done it.Comment
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I'm still unsure of grub and it's uses but after booting to windows from the bios I reinstalled kubuntu as windows 8.1 has an option to boot from an EFI USB.
After installing kubuntu, my laptop now boots to grub where I have the option to run either kubuntu, windows or system settings so it's all good now.
I appreciate all the advice I've had from the forum though. Would never have stuck with Linux without it and I'm pretty certain that the next laptop I buy won't be pre-installed with Windows!Comment
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This is more difficult than you think. You'll have a lot more choices if you research hardware that is Linux compatible and disregard the pre-installed OS. The sad thing is, most tech support from manufacturers centers around Windows problems so they expect Windows to be your issue. Good luck finding a support line that will acknowledge a hardware failure unless you ave windows installed. On the bright side; Linux has rapidly caught up with the manufacturers and other than some odd-ball wifi chipsets and maybe an audio chip or two most all hardware works out-of-the-box....I'm pretty certain that the next laptop I buy won't be pre-installed with Windows!
I did get Dell to fix a laptop once without windows installed because they sell the same model that I had with Ubuntu (or did back then). I bought the windows model because the Ubuntu model had lower specs (no doubt because MS pushed them into it). I simply pointed out that the same computer was available with Ubuntu, therefore Windows was not required for support, so let me talk to a tech that understood Ubuntu. They sent out the repair guy the next day.
Anyway - glad you worked it out to your satisfaction. This forum is full of knowledgeable and helpful people so I expect we'll be hearing from you again.
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