Help, switching from Ubuntu to win7

Hi pparks

I did think about that but unfortunately USB is not an option in the "Boot from" menu.

Hi gregrocker

Yes, I even tried removing all HD's and put a spare 40gb HD that I have into there, but still the same problem, although you can specify to "Boot from DVD" in the bios setup, DVD is not listed in the "One Time Boot" option.

It reminds me of the old windows 3.1 and Dos when you had to have a CD/DVD driver as the first installed software otherwise you could do nothing without it.

Did you wipe the HD? Yes or No? Wipe the HD with Clean command then try booting installer.

Did you remove Floppy Drive which can interfere with booting DVD? Please reply to steps given so we don't have to repeat them if you want help here. The skipped step is often the one which fixes things.

Next extract the ISO using ImgBurn then write to stick using Universal USB Installer with Win7 in dropdown menu which is the easiest method. USB should show up after you format and plug in the stick for Win7 install

If this fails, test your HD using maker's HD Diagnostic extended CD scan, then test RAM - Test with Memtest86+ CD test.

Hi Again

Ok, I disconnected the FDD and rebooted with only the 2TB drive connected. The system immediately recognised the DVD and booted from there, so it appears, as suggested, that the FDD was preventing the boot from recognising the DVD.

I am installing win xp sp1 as I do not have the win7 installer programme which I believe I would need to put win7 onto a new HDD. I know that I can install win7 onto a winxp drive as I did it last week on my laptop.

Just one more question if I may. Once I have win7 installed and I reconnect the Ubuntu HD, how do I set the boot screen to give me the option of starting either of the two operating systems?

Since you have two HD's set Win7 to boot first in BIOS setup, after DVD drive.

THen when you plug back in Ubuntu boot it using one-time BIOS Boot Menu key to avoid the use of GRUB bootloader which can corrupt Win7.

This is a lot cleaner method of Dual Booting.

If this doesn't work as you like, install EasyBCD to Win7 to add Linux from its tab

If you want to dual boot, you can use GRUB 2.0 start up ubuntu and if you have any windows OS(if it is installed) make sure to open up a terminal(in ubuntu) and sudo update-grub and reboot, you should now have a list of different OS'es.You can also format your HDD in ubuntu with GParted to set it up for a windows installation, delete/format the HDD and be sure to set the format to NTFS. If Ubuntu is on the HDD that you want to wipe, run a LiveCD/USB and be sure to enable USB/CD/DVD startup in the BIOS menu and follow the above step.P.S

Thanks everyone, that was all very helpfull and much appreciated.
Will now mark this topic as "Solved"