Need help getting back to Windows! Trying to remove Linux Mint

NavyLCDR · 27 Dec 2020

Matthew Wai said:

I am now using Linux Mint. The command mintstick -m iso will start USB Image Writer as shown below.

Attachment 312339

Does that create a FAT32 formatted USB flash drive capable of booting in UEFI mode?

Probe · 27 Dec 2020

Let me ask you this. My girlfriend is getting tired of me hogging her computer trying to fix this problem. She wants her computer back and doesn't mind Mint she said.

So, I am about to give up and go the ol if you cant beat'em, join'em route.

When I run Mint, before it starts, it shows "failed to unpack" this and that, and missing files displayed for a few seconds. It goes so fast I cant see what are the readouts. Could this Mint I have be corrupted? Could it be causing these problems? When I downloaded this Mint, I had a weak wifi signal, was staying at some friends. I'm back home now and have a good strong signal.

Since she doesn't mind Mint, (said she actually likes it). should I re-download Mint and try a reinstall?

I'm a Windows fan and was pushing putting Win10 back on her laptop. But, I think I will just be happy with Windows on MY computer.

Berton · 27 Dec 2020

Just a note, I download the Linux LiveDVD .iso file on a Windows computer then burn the image to the disc, boot to it on whatever computer desired and run the Try Linux, can use a number of programs included albeit it a bit slower from the DVD than on the installed version. Having the .iso file available allows using the USB Image Writer to create the bootable USB drive, I use 8GB or maybe 16GB. Looking at an 8GB USB with Ubuntu 18 shows it formatted as FAT [could be FAT16 or FAT32] and has the necessary EFI x86 and x64 support [all that will display in File Exporer].

Need help getting back to Windows! Trying to remove Linux Mint-image.png

RickC · 27 Dec 2020

Another option - as you can get into the BIOS - is to just choose 'Legacy' instead of 'UEFI'.

Matthew Wai · 27 Dec 2020

NavyLCDR said:

Does that create a FAT32 formatted USB flash drive capable of booting in UEFI mode?

I admit that I have never used USB Image Writer to create a bootable Windows device. If I recall correctly, the following bootable Linux device was created by USB Image Writer on Mint 19.1 last year after Windows 10 was erased. Then, I used the device to install Mint 19, an older version, in UEFI mode.

Need help getting back to Windows! Trying to remove Linux Mint-live-linux-mint.jpg

My post #60 was written when my PC had booted from the above device in UEFI mode.
The "Unallocated" should be in a format not supported by MiniTool Partition Wizard.

Matthew Wai · 27 Dec 2020

Probe said:

Since she doesn't mind Mint, (said she actually likes it). should I re-download Mint and try a reinstall?

Download it from Manitoba Unix User Group because the speed is higher. If you are interested, select "Something else" during the reinstallation. Then, you can play with the partitions.

Need help getting back to Windows! Trying to remove Linux Mint-1-create-efi-system-partition.jpg

Probe said:

I installed Linux Mint on a spare machine and not liking all the having to do "terminal" stuff.

Don't worry. Even an idiot like me can do the stuff blindfold.

Probe · 27 Dec 2020

RickC said:

Another option - as you can get into the BIOS - is to just choose 'Legacy' instead of 'UEFI'.

I never was able to choose that, it was always greyed out.