Trouble wiping Vista

[esvoytko]

This may be a pretty rookie question...

I have finally convinced my wife to ditch Windows and she's let me install Ubuntu on her machine. When I installed, I selected the option to erase the existing OS and use the entire hard disk for Ubuntu (I want Vista and all the files on the machine GONE).

When I booted the computer after the installation was complete, however, it gives me the option of choosing to boot Vista or Ubuntu. When I choose Vista, lo and behold, all the old files and the OS are still there. Upon questioning my wife, I learn that her computer had C:, D:, and E: drives, in addition to the optical drive (which is F: ). Three hard drives? I may be a newb, but this is not something I thought was very common on a stock machine. She vaguely claims that the other two drives are "backup" drives.

Not sure what that means. So it looks like maybe I installed Ubuntu on one drive completely, with the other two drives staying like they were. I want Vista gone, but not sure what to do. I'm not savvy enough to navigate the manual partitioning menu.

Ideas?

[sikander3786]

I think you just installed Ubuntu to one of the partitions and not the entire disk (and that proved a goody for you as recovery partition was there and is still there :-) )

I would recommend to post the output of bootinfoscript as per instructions here.

http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net

It would tell us exactly about your setup/partitions and therefore, we'll be able to advise more efficiently.

Please wrap your output using proper code tags # from post menu. [/code] at the end [code] at the beginning.

[tg3793]

I'm making three assumptions:

1) you want to avoid starting over from scratch.
2) you don't have a love affair going with any of the data on the computer in question.
3) You are running Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid)

*Note if #2 is not correct then make sure you back up your data on an external medium before following my advice.

So with those assumptions in mind I would say for you to simply boot into Ubuntu and to delete all of the data from your windows partition.

If you are uncertain about this advice I can start to guide you by having you boot into Ubuntu then click on the top left where it says "Places", click on that to access it's drop down menu. Then click on "Computer" and respond to this thread with the name of all the devices on the left hand side.
* You can leave out the ones that say; Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos, and Downloads. Everyone has those and that would tell me anything useful.

Thanks.

[tg3793]

Ooops didn't see sikander's post before I sent mine in. If you feel comfortable following those instruction then those are actually very good and will get you better results if you are concerned about the data on your drive.

My solution might take you to botched up land where you might need to (but not necessarily) have to reinstall Ubuntu. But this time around you'll be reinstalling with all of your VISTA data completely gone.

[esvoytko]

Thanks for the quick replies!

In response to tg3793: There are two drives listed when I view Places. One says File System, and the other says 77GB File System. Here is a screen capture:

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/2635/screenshotij.png

To sikander:

I was already in the middle of a second Ubuntu installation when I made the original post, so that is now done. Even when I selected the option for erasing the entire disk and using the whole thing for Ubuntu it let me pick from two disks. This time I picked the second one. Now it seems Vista is gone, but I have two copies of Ubuntu?


Anyway, here are the results from the boot script:




Boot Info Script 0.55 dated February 15th, 2010

============================= Boot Info Summary: ==============================

=> Grub 2 is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks on the same drive in
partition #1 for (,msdos1)/boot/grub.
=> No boot loader is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb

sda1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 10.10
Boot files/dirs: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

sda2: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: Extended Partition
Boot sector type: Unknown
Boot sector info:

sda5: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: swap
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sdb1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 10.10
Boot files/dirs: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

sdb2: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: Extended Partition
Boot sector type: Unknown
Boot sector info:

sdb5: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: swap
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

=========================== Drive/Partition Info: =============================

Drive: sda ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders, total 234441648 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sda1 * 2,048 224,827,391 224,825,344 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 224,829,438 234,440,703 9,611,266 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 224,829,440 234,440,703 9,611,264 82 Linux swap / Solaris


Drive: sdb ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sdb: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders, total 156301488 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sdb1 2,048 149,843,967 149,841,920 83 Linux
/dev/sdb2 149,846,014 156,301,311 6,455,298 5 Extended
/dev/sdb5 149,846,016 156,301,311 6,455,296 82 Linux swap / Solaris


blkid -c /dev/null: __________________________________________________ __________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/sda1 25a9a580-2509-43dc-b40d-3b09ddf6a25b ext4
/dev/sda2: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sda5 6d72ef58-b54d-4a7b-9073-dceb4b26b9d1 swap
/dev/sda: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sdb1 af7f481e-9ec8-4573-a89d-3fa2e220a918 ext4
/dev/sdb2: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sdb5 97a2dfad-99ae-4370-9d71-44f68dfd6b1c swap
/dev/sdb: PTTYPE="dos"

============================ "mount | grep ^/dev output: ===========================

Device Mount_Point Type Options

/dev/sda1 / ext4 (rw,errors=remount-ro,commit=0)
/dev/sdb1 /media/af7f481e-9ec8-4573-a89d-3fa2e220a918 ext4 (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks)


=========================== sda1/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ===========================

#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
set have_grubenv=true
load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
save_env saved_entry
set prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
saved_entry="${chosen}"
save_env saved_entry
fi
}

function recordfail {
set recordfail=1
if [ -n "${have_grubenv}" ]; then if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
}

function load_video {
insmod vbe
insmod vga
}

insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 25a9a580-2509-43dc-b40d-3b09ddf6a25b
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=640x480
load_video
insmod gfxterm
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 25a9a580-2509-43dc-b40d-3b09ddf6a25b
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=en
insmod gettext
if [ "${recordfail}" = 1 ]; then
set timeout=-1
else
set timeout=10
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.35-22-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 25a9a580-2509-43dc-b40d-3b09ddf6a25b
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=25a9a580-2509-43dc-b40d-3b09ddf6a25b ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.35-22-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 25a9a580-2509-43dc-b40d-3b09ddf6a25b
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.35-22-generic ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=25a9a580-2509-43dc-b40d-3b09ddf6a25b ro single
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 25a9a580-2509-43dc-b40d-3b09ddf6a25b
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 25a9a580-2509-43dc-b40d-3b09ddf6a25b
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.35-22-generic (on /dev/sdb1)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd1,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set af7f481e-9ec8-4573-a89d-3fa2e220a918
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=af7f481e-9ec8-4573-a89d-3fa2e220a918 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.35-22-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sdb1)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd1,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set af7f481e-9ec8-4573-a89d-3fa2e220a918
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=af7f481e-9ec8-4573-a89d-3fa2e220a918 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###

=============================== sda1/etc/fstab: ===============================

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0
/dev/sda1 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=6d72ef58-b54d-4a7b-9073-dceb4b26b9d1 none swap sw 0 0

=================== sda1: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


40.9GB: boot/grub/core.img
81.9GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
107.9GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
40.9GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic
107.9GB: initrd.img
40.9GB: vmlinuz

=========================== sdb1/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ===========================

#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
set have_grubenv=true
load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
save_env saved_entry
set prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
saved_entry="${chosen}"
save_env saved_entry
fi
}

function recordfail {
set recordfail=1
if [ -n "${have_grubenv}" ]; then if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
}

function load_video {
insmod vbe
insmod vga
}

insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd1,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set af7f481e-9ec8-4573-a89d-3fa2e220a918
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=640x480
load_video
insmod gfxterm
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd1,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set af7f481e-9ec8-4573-a89d-3fa2e220a918
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=en
insmod gettext
if [ "${recordfail}" = 1 ]; then
set timeout=-1
else
set timeout=10
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.35-22-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd1,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set af7f481e-9ec8-4573-a89d-3fa2e220a918
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=af7f481e-9ec8-4573-a89d-3fa2e220a918 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.35-22-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd1,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set af7f481e-9ec8-4573-a89d-3fa2e220a918
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.35-22-generic ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=af7f481e-9ec8-4573-a89d-3fa2e220a918 ro single
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd1,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set af7f481e-9ec8-4573-a89d-3fa2e220a918
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd1,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set af7f481e-9ec8-4573-a89d-3fa2e220a918
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Windows Vista (loader) (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 243c6bef3c6bba86
chainloader +1
}
menuentry "Windows Vista (loader) (on /dev/sda2)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd0,msdos2)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 2c88743c8874071c
chainloader +1
}
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###

=============================== sdb1/etc/fstab: ===============================

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0
/dev/sdb1 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sdb5 during installation
UUID=97a2dfad-99ae-4370-9d71-44f68dfd6b1c none swap sw 0 0

=================== sdb1: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


26.0GB: boot/grub/core.img
55.9GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
.8GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
26.0GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic
.8GB: initrd.img
26.0GB: vmlinuz
=========================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc =======================

Unknown BootLoader on sda2

00000000 a1 8e 40 84 d9 77 d8 0c 3a 78 84 6d 74 70 49 0c |..@..w..:x.mtpI.|
00000010 1f 52 a6 7d 4c 72 2d 93 1c b9 7e b2 12 c6 98 09 |.R.}Lr-...~.....|
00000020 73 ac c2 e1 07 da 17 84 93 65 88 47 96 98 44 41 |s........e.G..DA|
00000030 de a4 e2 b6 83 15 64 9a cc 3c e5 b1 49 99 1f f1 |......d..<..I...|
00000040 8c aa 14 f7 44 e0 19 9f 65 dd 11 16 4f 8b 0d 23 |....D...e...O..#|
00000050 15 dc 1a 79 07 e2 4e 54 6d 0c 16 30 1a 3d b6 2d |...y..NTm..0.=.-|
00000060 54 83 83 60 63 af 68 01 0e 48 d3 87 27 fb 44 77 |T..`c.h..H..'.Dw|
00000070 1c 89 86 06 28 98 85 23 1d 52 fe 8c 23 35 41 d4 |....(..#.R..#5A.|
00000080 92 76 bc ed e0 fd 3c d4 b9 1e 3f 61 46 88 26 bb |.v....<...?aF.&.|
00000090 08 81 11 d3 c6 62 4e 72 eb 45 cd a0 92 af 05 46 |.....bNr.E.....F|
000000a0 36 16 ff 6f af 24 da ab 70 45 d2 09 dd c9 43 f7 |6..o.$..pE....C.|
000000b0 04 20 08 97 40 cf c0 7a 06 0f cc 5a fb 76 95 bb |. ..@..z...Z.v..|
000000c0 ba 69 64 9e aa a2 27 05 6c c3 f5 67 77 cc 92 0d |.id...'.l..gw...|
000000d0 69 53 27 d7 07 ae bb 8c ce 39 c2 f4 dd 3e 5a db |iS'......9...>Z.|
000000e0 21 32 8c 9d f1 83 ac e8 74 d8 10 27 2e c7 d8 98 |!2......t..'....|
000000f0 09 f4 9e 68 e4 cc eb ad cf de 65 03 5f ad 40 58 |...h......e._.@X|
00000100 d9 67 d4 2c a9 d7 0d 1e 84 e7 0f f2 75 25 cc cf |.g.,........u%..|
00000110 17 aa 25 68 02 c9 c5 2b f8 fc 35 94 74 f9 b4 c8 |..%h...+..5.t...|
00000120 76 fb a1 37 08 cc 0b 0e 8b 4f 35 c4 d3 9b 64 e2 |v..7.....O5...d.|
00000130 80 00 e7 49 b7 49 a4 3e ed 05 0f 2a 2a 19 51 79 |...I.I.>...**.Qy|
00000140 93 28 28 87 48 d3 00 56 e3 8f 4b 9a 20 bc 4a ec |.((.H..V..K. .J.|
00000150 75 13 3b ef c5 dc 8f 2c c7 9e 51 ac 52 2d d5 20 |u.;....,..Q.R-. |
00000160 3e 99 85 d2 b0 87 a2 54 35 b1 87 e3 f5 40 16 ff |>......T5....@..|
00000170 db b0 e6 26 87 d9 f2 25 30 1c 44 bc 18 e4 3a 69 |...&...%0.D...:i|
00000180 b3 2f c8 8d 9a 32 b3 c1 0c b2 39 93 11 f2 2d 0a |./...2....9...-.|
00000190 11 e5 82 3d c9 c6 57 86 be 78 ab 5b d2 fb 54 1c |...=..W..x.[..T.|
000001a0 ba 60 e5 3d c6 e1 01 43 a4 db 3e 94 7a 94 0d 74 |.`.=...C..>.z..t|
000001b0 aa 30 34 89 84 cd 70 27 67 78 75 6e 21 36 00 fe |.04...p'gxun!6..|
000001c0 ff ff 82 fe ff ff 02 00 00 00 00 a8 92 00 00 00 |................|
000001d0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
*
000001f0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 55 aa |..............U.|
00000200

Unknown BootLoader on sdb2

00000000 85 eb de 32 5c dc 82 9b e1 11 d8 3a 79 9b 2d f4 |...2\......:y.-.|
00000010 e9 0e 3c a4 94 99 89 fd 17 88 ef 0f 7d 08 ac af |..<.........}...|
00000020 c1 8c 02 c4 0d c5 09 1a e1 98 a0 7c d8 9e 56 95 |...........|..V.|
00000030 79 34 31 ae 5a d2 4a 44 7f 51 28 a5 f2 41 86 e1 |y41.Z.JD.Q(..A..|
00000040 90 d5 74 e9 e0 4d 02 80 09 d4 2e 8c f4 24 65 5c |..t..M.......$e\|
00000050 30 e7 78 d9 09 15 e9 7f e4 a3 d3 2c 15 b8 a9 c8 |0.x........,....|
00000060 2b 42 8a e5 cb 5e 61 cf 67 73 91 05 a7 7a 70 7f |+B...^a.gs...zp.|
00000070 3b 70 f9 80 5f 2b a2 67 32 6c 89 c0 23 0b 5f 96 |;p.._+.g2l..#._.|
00000080 c0 2b b2 2f 09 9f 96 df 52 88 d3 1b 51 8f 8b d3 |.+./....R...Q...|
00000090 be 95 e8 99 18 3f ee 73 43 0e 26 37 3c 27 36 5e |.....?.sC.&7<'6^|
000000a0 fc 42 a5 dd fb ae be eb 42 f4 12 03 54 a4 dc c5 |.B......B...T...|
000000b0 df 33 45 b2 a6 cb cb a0 f9 ea 90 8d 4a ce 34 65 |.3E.........J.4e|
000000c0 0e 4c 5d e2 2e e1 8f 67 fb 9b df 46 7b 76 34 ef |.L]....g...F{v4.|
000000d0 04 18 be 49 91 f6 ed 75 55 0d 7a 0a 49 78 80 f6 |...I...uU.z.Ix..|
000000e0 91 69 7c b1 4c e6 c6 b0 0e 04 ac d4 cd 5f bc c7 |.i|.L........_..|
000000f0 d7 33 be 4a 67 ad 34 c4 09 26 fc 7c 4d f8 c0 01 |.3.Jg.4..&.|M...|
00000100 6e 70 bf 1f 30 5b ab 19 eb 16 83 ba 7b 5b c5 65 |np..0[......{[.e|
00000110 16 5d 8d c5 aa 69 0a ae 38 c3 97 c7 71 31 9b ac |.]...i..8...q1..|
00000120 8c 1c df d8 69 2b 65 64 f8 47 ef b9 55 45 05 9b |....i+ed.G..UE..|
00000130 1b 55 dd 27 ef e5 bb 10 c8 12 eb 78 32 3e 08 9d |.U.'.......x2>..|
00000140 ad bb 9e be 4c 0f fd 8f 0b 5c 44 84 36 60 ae 86 |....L....\D.6`..|
00000150 4b fd 4b 88 15 73 43 83 54 d1 b5 da b9 4c 52 7f |K.K..sC.T....LR.|
00000160 ca 29 c2 18 f8 e2 b1 bf cc 8d ec 65 b9 bb 6e 03 |.).........e..n.|
00000170 3c 47 d2 dc ea 0f dd 28 44 43 e1 7f 1b 12 24 07 |<G.....(DC....$.|
00000180 91 3a 0e fd 3c 60 d9 8e 64 04 31 e3 a3 2f 50 61 |.:..<`..d.1../Pa|
00000190 37 c6 40 3a e5 1a ad 0b 77 3a a7 c7 a3 1b 3b a6 |7.@:....w:....;.|
000001a0 18 2f 90 fd d2 f2 e2 62 25 7a 65 95 5c c0 19 b4 |./.....b%ze.\...|
000001b0 fd 1c 37 2e 58 8b 65 32 dd 94 a4 ce 32 6f 00 fe |..7.X.e2....2o..|
000001c0 ff ff 82 fe ff ff 02 00 00 00 00 80 62 00 00 00 |............b...|
000001d0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
*
000001f0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 55 aa |..............U.|
00000200

[esvoytko]

Forgot to mention, I am installing version 10.10 Meerkat.

Though I use 10.04 on my own machine.

[smokeys]

This may be a pretty rookie question...

I have finally convinced my wife to ditch Windows and she's let me install Ubuntu on her machine. When I installed, I selected the option to erase the existing OS and use the entire hard disk for Ubuntu (I want Vista and all the files on the machine GONE).

When I booted the computer after the installation was complete, however, it gives me the option of choosing to boot Vista or Ubuntu. When I choose Vista, lo and behold, all the old files and the OS are still there. Upon questioning my wife, I learn that her computer had C:, D:, and E: drives, in addition to the optical drive (which is F: ). Three hard drives? I may be a newb, but this is not something I thought was very common on a stock machine. She vaguely claims that the other two drives are "backup" drives.

Not sure what that means. So it looks like maybe I installed Ubuntu on one drive completely, with the other two drives staying like they were. I want Vista gone, but not sure what to do. I'm not savvy enough to navigate the manual partitioning menu.

Ideas?
can you help me out i cant find any where on here to post a thread can you help me out and point me in the right deriction please i would really aprichate that

[esvoytko]

Also, here is a camera shot of the screen I get when I boot. This may help as well.

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/350/img1127k.jpg

[smokeys]

I think you just installed Ubuntu to one of the partitions and not the entire disk (and that proved a goody for you as recovery partition was there and is still there :-) )

I would recommend to post the output of bootinfoscript as per instructions here.

http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net

It would tell us exactly about your setup/partitions and therefore, we'll be able to advise more efficiently.

Please wrap your output using proper code tags # from post menu. [/code] at the end [code] at the beginning.
sorry but i got a quick quistion can you help me find out where to post a tgread im new to this site & i would really aprishate it if you could help me out

[smokeys]

can any one help me out and tell me where to go to post a thread here thank you

[Off Topic]

Nuke it from space with GParted and start from scratch.

[esvoytko]

Also, here is a screenscot from the disk utility window, clearly showing two drives - one 80gb and one 120gb.

http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/9942/screenshot1ru.png


I might not be savvy enough to do anything with GParted. Anyway, I'm not sure it is a question of partitions, I think there are multiple drives.

[matt_symes]

Hi


can any one help me out and tell me where to go to post a thread here thank you

@smokeys

Select the sub forum you want to post in and select 'new thread'. It's near the top in the left hand side. Don't hijack other peoples threads.

I.E

Select a forum from here (or one of the other ones)

http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=327

when you have selected a forum select 'new thread'

Kind regards

[sikander3786]

To sikander:

I was already in the middle of a second Ubuntu installation when I made the original post, so that is now done. Even when I selected the option for erasing the entire disk and using the whole thing for Ubuntu it let me pick from two disks. This time I picked the second one. Now it seems Vista is gone, but I have two copies of Ubuntu?

So, I hope you've installed Ubuntu to your first HDD this time i.e, sda on the list. Make sure you are booting from fist HDD (Bios setting), boot Ubuntu, fire up gparted (needs to be installed from Software Center) or Disk Utility under System > Administration (already present there), unmount any partitions from sdb, delete them, create new partitions (whatever no. of partitions you need there) and then run this command to get rid of second Ubuntu entry in Grub menu.


sudo update-grub

You can definitely post back if you've got any queries :P

[tg3793]

- Yup you have two drives
- I agree with sikander (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=806649) to make sure you install it to sda
- I'll add that you can use the built in "Disk Utility" that you have already accessed in order to delete partitions (though gparted is accepted as one of the best).

sikander (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=806649) has you well taken care of ... tg3793 signing off :-)

[esvoytko]

Ok, Ubuntu is installed to sda (the 120gb drive).

I used GParted to entirely wipe sdb. It is now completely unallocated.

Two questions remain:

First, is this what my partitions should look like for sda?
http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/6136/sdapartitions.png

And more importantly, why do I still have to sit through this screen when I boot?
http://img574.imageshack.us/img574/3701/img1128r.jpg

[sikander3786]

Yes sda looks absolutely fine.

And regardind the Grub menu issue, post the output of this command.


cat /etc/default/grub

[wilee-nilee]

Ok, Ubuntu is installed to sda (the 120gb drive).

I used GParted to entirely wipe sdb. It is now completely unallocated.

Two questions remain:

First, is this what my partitions should look like for sda?
http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/6136/sdapartitions.png

And more importantly, why do I still have to sit through this screen when I boot?
http://img574.imageshack.us/img574/3701/img1128r.jpg

Image one I would always wrap the extended around everything, but that works.

How long is the wait at the second grub image?

[esvoytko]

The wait is ten seconds, but I'd rather go straight through to my desktop.

Here is the output from that command:




# If you change this file, run 'update-grub' afterwards to update
# /boot/grub/grub.cfg.

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
#GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=true
GRUB_TIMEOUT=10
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

# Uncomment to enable BadRAM filtering, modify to suit your needs
# This works with Linux (no patch required) and with any kernel that obtains
# the memory map information from GRUB (GNU Mach, kernel of FreeBSD ...)
#GRUB_BADRAM="0x01234567,0xfefefefe,0x89abcdef,0xefefefef"

# Uncomment to disable graphical terminal (grub-pc only)
#GRUB_TERMINAL=console

# The resolution used on graphical terminal
# note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE
# you can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo'
#GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480

# Uncomment if you don't want GRUB to pass "root=UUID=xxx" parameter to Linux
#GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID=true

# Uncomment to disable generation of recovery mode menu entries
#GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_RECOVERY="true"

# Uncomment to get a beep at grub start
#GRUB_INIT_TUNE="480 440 1"

[tg3793]

- Yup the partitions look good.
- The grub menu is useful if you have more than one OS installed. However if you don't want to see that you'll have to get someone to guide you through setting Ubuntu as the default OS to boot from with a timeout of zero seconds ... I'm sure someone will respond any moment to help you out with that one :-)

[wilee-nilee]

- Yup the partitions look good.
- The grub menu is useful if you have more than one OS installed. However if you don't want to see that you'll have to get someone to guide you through setting Ubuntu as the default OS to boot from with a timeout of zero seconds ... I'm sure someone will respond any moment to help you out with that one :-)

A time out of 0 seconds will not be good, if your talking about the time down from grub showing to boot. This is a problem many run into, no access to the recovery kernel.

OP with one OS installed run the sudo update-grub in the sda1 install. If you have more then one OS you will see grub. The countdown can be changed to shorter then 10 but 0 is a very bad idea.

[tg3793]

A time out of 0 seconds will not be good, if your talking about the time down from grub showing to boot. This is a problem many run into, no access to the recovery kernel.
.

Listen to the guy with 5,145 Beans :-)

[wilee-nilee]

Listen to the guy with 5,145 Beans :-)

Lol I bought the beans on ebay.;)

[sikander3786]

Edit your /etc/default/grub by,


gksudo gedit /etc/default/grub

Remove the comment from this line's beginning.


#GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0

So that it looks like this.


GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0

Save and close and run this command.


sudo update-grub

This should hide your Grub menu from being visible at boot and if you want to access the options there, you'll need to press and hold down Shift key from your Bios Screen ;-)

[esvoytko]

Thanks guys this has all been very helpful. :)

[esvoytko]

The GRUB screen is no more, and accessible by pressing shift. Yay!

[sikander3786]

The GRUB screen is no more, and accessible by pressing shift. Yay!
Glad to know that it is all sorted out :-)

If you've got no more queries at the moment, you can mark this thread Solved using Thread Tools near the top of this page.

Or if there are any queries left, you are definitely free to post them right away :P

Happy Ubuntu-ing!