How to erase Linux partition from PC?

shuwang · Newbie Joined: 26 Jan 2010 Posts: 1

How do I erase a linux partition on my hard drive? I have vista installed on one hard drive and fedora 10 linux installed on the other hard drive. How can I remove the linux partition since windows doesn't recognize linux partitions?

ftack · Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 7:56 am Post subject:

If you remove the linux partition, you won't be able to use Fedora again.
For manipulating partitions, use a partition editor. You can use the tool that comes with Windows as well.
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GNU/Linux (Ubuntu)

Robert Tucker

keme · Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 3:57 pm Post subject:

If you boot your Windows install media, there should be an option to edit partitions. Select any partition marked as "unknown" and delete it.

Note that you may benefit from having a multiboot environment. You can set it up in Windows, but using a linux boot record/boot manager is probably easier. (Linux detects Windows and configures the boot manager automatically. With Windows you need to know exactly what you're doing).

peterroots · Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 9:11 am Post subject:

If your problem is that windows won't detect the linux partition for booting, always make sure you install linux after windows as linux will properly set up your boot manager.
if you mean that windows can't see files on the linux partition when you running windows consider mounting the windows partition in Linux and linking Documents in Linux to your my documents folder on the windows partition. that way files saved in Documents actually end up on the windows partition - Note that, as Robert said, you won't get linux file permissions saved properly.
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Kubuntu 11.10 LibreOffice3.4.4

Valinor · Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 9:07 am Post subject: On the nature of partitions

Something that hasn't been pointed out is that removing the linux partition won't give your windows OS access to the space on the hard drive that it occupied.

It occurs to me (and pardon me for my presumption) that you might be under the impression that a partition on a drive is something like a partition in a house: if you remove a partition in a house, then two adjoining parts of the house become open to one another. In a house, the partition is the wall that separates two apartments, but on a drive, the rooms themselves are the partitions. If you remove the partition on a drive, then, the room ceases to exist (in a format that is usable).

If you really want to remove the linux partition, you won't have linux on your drive anymore. And if you want your windows partition to be able to access the space that the linux partition used to occupy, you'll have to create a new partition on that space and format it in such a way that windows can access it (maybe by putting windows on the new partition, I dunno).

peterroots gives the most practical solution, I think.