Top 6 Solutions: Windows and Linux Boot Problems

Sometimes problems with the Master Boot Record (MBR) or Dual Boot Partition cause Windows Linux boot problems.

These circumstances must be corrected in order for everything to work again. Luckily, there is an automatic way to do this in the Windows 10 Recovery Environment.

If this does not work, you can manually perform the fixes on your computer. Find out how by reading on.

Can a Dual Boot Partition Cause Windows and Linux Boot Problems

Dual booting can affect computer and disk performance. As a result, Windows will load faster on Linux, programs will stop loading soon, and swap and paging files won’t work more efficiently.

You need to remove the dual boot partition on your computer immediately.

Need to remove dual boot partition on Windows 10/11 on Linux

Many people have successfully installed different operating systems (OS) on the same hard drive. However, some of them use only one of the systems. If so, you may need to disable dual boot on Windows 10 or 11 without affecting the other OS.

Preparing to Safely Remove Dual Boot in Windows 10/11 on Linux

It’s a good idea to make a backup of the OS you want to keep before trying to remove it from dual boot, just in case something goes wrong.

Removing the Linux partition after installing Linux and Windows 10 or 11 may affect the bootloader. As a result, you should also prepare a Windows 10 recovery USB drive.

Once uninstalled, you can use troubleshooting to replace the Linux bootloader with the Windows bootloader by starting the computer from the recovery disk.

Ways to Remove a Dual Boot Partition in Linux

1. Remove Dual Boot Partition With Free Software
2. Remove dual boot partition via MSConfig

1. Remove the dual boot partition using free software.

The partition containing the OS you wish to remove immediately will be removed using this technique.

Use the AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard software if you are dual booting Windows and Ubuntu and want to uninstall Ubuntu.

Since Ubuntu OS is installed on an Ext3 or Ext4 partition in Windows and Disk Management cannot recognize such cells, you might be disappointed if you decide to use Windows 10/11 Disk Management to eliminate dual boot on your computer.

• Install the freeware AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard.
• You may notice that the Ubuntu partition is formatted with Ext3 or Ext4 in its main interface. Select “Delete Partition”by right-clicking on the Ubuntu partition.
• Choose the appropriate removal technique in the next dialog box based on your needs.
• To complete the pending operation, click Apply and Continue.

Wait until the Ubuntu partition is completely removed. Once deleted, you can decide whether to use the remaining unallocated space to grow the current partition or create a new independent partition.

2. Remove dual boot partition via MSConfig

You can select the operating system (OS) to restart your computer by default using the msconfig utility, or you can remove one of the two operating systems. Do the following:

• The System Configuration window will open when you press the Windows Logo + R buttons on your keyboard to open the Run window, type “msconfig”then press the Enter key.
• Check if the OS you want to save is listed as Current OS or Default OS by selecting the “Download”option in the window.
• Select your OS in the window, and if it’s not already selected, click the Set Default button in the next window.
• Click on the other one and select “Delete”to remove it. After that click “Apply”and “OK”.
• Restart your computer, then close the window to see if the changes have taken effect.

Last step after removing the dual boot partition

• Use the installation or repair CD to start your computer. After skipping the first language selection page, select “Repair Machine”on the main setup screen.
• Click the Troubleshoot button in the Choose an Option/Downloads menu.
• Select “Command Prompt”from the “Advanced Options”menu.
• Type the following command at the command prompt: bootrec.exe /fixmbr.
• At this point, you can restart your computer. It usually downloads on a PC. Linux should now be gone completely.

Other Ways to Fix Windows 10 Not Booting on Linux

If your reason is different than dual boot partition when Windows won’t boot into Linux, you should try the solutions mentioned below.

1. Get the disk including Boot-Repair
2. Restore GRUB
3. Change default bootloader
4. Use the GRUB configuration tool
5. Using Boot Recovery
6. Fix Windows 10 bootloader in terminal

1. Get the disc including Boot-Repair

Creating a live USB Boot-Repair-Disk (the disk that starts Boot-Repair automatically) and booting from it is the easiest way to use Boot-Repair.

It is recommended to install the ISO to a working USB (for example, via UnetBootin, LiliUSB or Universal USB Installer). If your boot is in EFI mode, don’t copy it to DVD.

2. Rebuild GRUB

The Windows MBR file can sometimes be problematic for the GRUB menu on your drives.

The first step would be to find out if Linux can recognize Windows 10 on the system. Use the following command to accomplish this.

sudo os-prober

The above program will search your drives in the menu for other installed operating systems. If Windows is found, the output will look like this.

The GRUB configuration file can be rebuilt if the above procedure successfully detects the Windows 10 operating system. To do this, use the following command.

sudo update-grub

The above command searches all partitions on your local drive to check for installed operating systems.

If Windows 10 is found, you should see a result similar to the one below. The Windows entry will also be created automatically using the command in the configuration file.

3. Change the default bootloader

We can switch the bootloader back to Windows NT if you are sure that the Windows startup file is not corrupted and you have not accidentally deleted the contents of the C drive.

• Start with Windows USB and select “Next”on the start screen to complete this. After selecting Repair your computer, select Troubleshoot.
• Select “Command Prompt”on the “Advanced Settings”screen.
• Run the following command from the command line to change the bootloader.

bcdedit /set {bootmgr} path \WINDOWS\system32\winload.efi

The above command will switch Windows NT from GRUB as bootloader. When you restart your computer, Windows should boot immediately because the bootloader has been removed.

If you are migrating from Ubuntu 19.10, you should revert to Ubuntu 19.04 stable as GRUB 2.04 is rife with issues.

4. Use the GRUB configuration tool

The GRUB config file doesn’t have to be updated manually, it’s simple and straightforward. We will be using a free program called Grub Customizer.

• To download and install the utility, run the following commands.

sudo add-apt-repository PPA: danielrichter2007/grub-customizer && sudo apt-get update

sudo apt install grub-configurer

• The next thing we need to find out is the location of the Windows 10 bootloader. Run the following command on a terminal to find it.

Lsblk

• Find the partition with the mount point “/boot/efi”. Windows Boot Manager is installed on this partition. Requires the device name of a particular partition. I have sda1. Therefore, the location of the boot file in my instance is “/dev/sda1”.
• Alternatively, you can install gnome-disk-utility, a graphical application that shows disks and partitions. You can find the EFI system partition in the menu. The section description should look something like this.
• Then go to the GRUB configuration tool and make an entry by clicking the page icon at the top.
• Select “Chainloader”as the type and “/dev/sda1″as the partition in the entry editor popup window. You can also give the entry a suitable name. After that press Enter.
• The entry you made will now appear in the Grub setup menu. To synchronize the changes with the existing GRUB configuration file, you must click “Save”.
• After rebooting, Windows 10 should now be able to start. If you’re having problems, it’s likely that your boot files or the Windows Master Boot Record are corrupted.

5. Using Boot-Repair

• Install Boot-Repair in Ubuntu
• Either from an existing Ubuntu experience or from a live Ubuntu session (boot your machine with a live Ubuntu USB stick, then select “Try Ubuntu”) (if you can access it)
• Internet connection.
• Press Enter after each line when typing the following commands in a new terminal window:

sudo add-apt-repository PPA:yannubuntu/boot-repair && sudo apt update

sudo apt install -y boot-repair && boot-repair

• The first step is to click on the “Generate download information summary”button. Said it would bring up the Boot-Info diagnostic. If you would like to download the report online to share it more readily, you will be prompted with a pop-up window.
• Review the diagnosis information.

6. Fix the Windows 10 bootloader in the terminal.

• Use a bootable USB drive to reboot.
• Launch Terminal.
• Type after each of the following commands on the command line:
• sudo apt-get install syslinux
• sudo dd if=/usr/lib/syslinux/mbr.bin of=/dev/sda
• sudo apt-get install MBR
• sudo install-mbr -in -p D -t 0 /dev/sda
• Don’t forget to replace your Windows 10 system drive with sda.
• After that, we reboot, and Windows 10 should start without problems.

The second approach uses Syslinux execution through the Terminal. You must follow a few steps to install Syslinux and use it to fix the Windows 10 bootloader.

We recommend that you stick with the first approach if you are still familiar with how they work.

The rest of the steps are simple; you have to change the input sda to your system drive letter for Windows 10.