Fixing your dual boot problem in Vista or XP

So you have a computer with XP or Vista installed and you wanted to give linux a try. So you install a distribution, whichever you like. Most likely you end up with a new bootloader say GRUB or Lilo.

One common mistake amateurs do is that they think that by, later on, removing the linux partition they will get rid of the new bootloader. Well...wrong!

So, if you simply want you computer to boot up directly into Windows do the following:

If you have Windows XP:

- Boot from the Windows XP CD, and in the Recovery Console type "fdisk /mbr". Alternately you can just hit the repair button.

If you have Windows Vista:

- Boot from the Windows Vista DVD, click Repair you computer, then select Windows Vista and click Command Prompt. Then type: " bootrec.exe /fixmbr" hit enter and type "bootrec.exe /fixboot" and enter again. Wait a second, exit command prompt and restart computer.

Of course there are other methods:

-you can do this from within Linux

-you can get Super Grub Disk

LE: In addition, if you bootup in Vista and get this message: BOOTMGR is missing; press ctrl+alt+del to restart here is the fix: Again, enter the Vista installation dvd, click next, then click Repair my computer. Then you choose your operating system -> and here is another tip, if NO operating system click next anyway and then hit Repair Startup and voila..next time it boots into Windows

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