Maintaining your Linux OS
Overview
Basic
management
Passwords
Checking
storage space
Checking
processes
Managing
users
Shutting down
and restarting your computer
Automating
tasks
Linux file management
File compression and
archiving tools
File managers
File
splitters
Linux networking
Getting
started
MAC and IP
addresses
Domain names
Adding a Linux
host to an existing network
Building a
private network
Configuring the network
interface
Security
Uninstalling Linux
Summary
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Uninstalling Linux
There are a number of ways of removing a Linux installation and
the method which you choose will depend on the type of installation
that you carried out in the first place. Essentially, you need to
delete the partitions on which Linux is installed and then remove
the lilo from the master boot record.
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Method 1 - Run fdisk from a Linux rescue disk and
delete the Linux partitions. This will remove the partition table
entries and effectively 'wipe' the Linux partition. You can then
reformat these areas of disk from the MS-DOS boot floppy by typing
fdisk /mbr.
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Method 2 - Run fdisk and delete the Linux
partitions, as above. Then instead of using fdisk
/mbr, use the command lilo -U, which should
restore the boot file your system previously used before Linux was
installed. This will only work if a backup copy was stored at
install time.
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Method 3 - If you are not worried about retaining any of the
existing partitions on your machine and want a clean way of
reformatting the hard drive for a completely new operating system,
then you can use the MaxBlast tool. This can be downloaded from
www.maxtor.com and reports are that it is both very
easy to use and effective.
There is plenty of advice on the Internet if you are unsure
about this procedure.
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