uninstalling a linux distro that is installed beside LINUX MINT 18 beta

[akqj10]

ok .... so i no this question is not KUBUNTU related but i was hoping someone would be gracious enough to to relay some info to me on this topic ... i currently hav LINUX MINT 18 beta installed into my laptop .... i am a big time supporter of LINUX distros and am always toying with new distros by installing an uninstalling .. in the past ive tried to UNinstall a linux distro that i installed beside what ever linux distro i had @the time .. ive used around 4 diffferent linux distros .. the problem is that when i UNinstalled a linux distro by attempting to delete the partition i inadevertantly unistalled both distros i had installed .. i actually did this on 2 different occasions thinking the first occasion was a learning experience .. boy was i wrong .... so .. can someone please give me a link or something of that nature because i hav several linux distros saved on my external hard drive that i'd like to do some exploring with ... any help anyone can give will be greatly appreciated .. thNX

[Al1000]

Hi,

I don't see anything in the rules about questions having to be related to Kubuntu, so I don't see why not.

First of all, what do you plan on doing with the partition in question? If you want to install another Linux distro on it, there's no need to delete it; just format it and install the other distro on it.

Formatting a partition can usually be done by the installer. If you plan on installing another distro to the partition, which one?

[Qqmike]

As Al1000 said, if a Linux distro is on partition, say, sdxy, to get rid of it, you can simply reformat sdxy (as, say, ext4, FAT32, whatever). Or, you could delete sdxy and expand the adjacent partition(s).

A reliable and handy tool for partitioning and managing your hard drive setup is GParted Live CD/USB:

http://gparted.org/livecd.php

Under "Usage Instructions," you'll see Manuals and Documentation, which tell you about partitioning and editing partitions.

[jlittle]

... i inadevertantly unistalled both distros i had installed .. i actually did this on 2 different occasions...

Are you sure you really did hit those other installs? Maybe you just clobbered grub? If the install you removed was the last in, you might just render the others unreachable, and get the grub rescue prompt. A way around this is, before removing the install, to boot into an install you're keeping and run [console ]sudo update-grub [/console ] there.
Having a super grub disc or stick handy when mucking around like that can be a very good idea.

Regards, John Little