What are these blank partitions?

[TenFour]

I set these partitions up so long ago I don't remember which is which.

C has Windows 7 on it. D is just backup files. E has Windows 8 on it.

F I think is just backup files from looking at it, but I know I had Ubuntu on here somewhere. So what are these partitions that have no drive letter? Does Ubuntu appear as a blank partition name?

Also, I want to erase Windows 8, but the option to erase this partition is grayed out.

[koralis]

Originally Posted by TenFour

F I think is just backup files from looking at it, but I know I had Ubuntu on here somewhere. So what are these partitions that have no drive letter? Does Ubuntu appear as a blank partition name?

It would... it's formatted with a non-windows filesystem, so Windows can't mount it (without additional programs, etc.)

The smallest partition is probably the bootloader chunk that Windows seems to insist on setting up since Windows 7.

[TenFour]

Thanks. So how do I go about removing Windows 8?

[hordaktheman]

It's hard to tell without knowing your system but it looks quite messed up. Your C: and F: are non-active logical drives and if E: is your Win8 partition then there's a chance that deleting it would erase your bootloader. Previous versions of Windows could only boot from an active primary partition (which I think is still true of Win7) and would suggest that it's placed on one of those other partitions. A linux LiveCD should be able to tell you that.

If your Win8 install took over the bootloader then I'm not entirely sure what you can do short of erasing the entire partition and replacing it with a linux bootloader. If you boot from a LiveCD and erase+resize your Win8 partition (as well as your Ubuntu partitions if you wish) then you should be able to reinstall GRUB to that first active partition and use it to load Win7. Your Win7 install media might have similar tools though I wouldn't bank on it.

Originally Posted by koralis

The smallest partition is probably the bootloader chunk that Windows seems to insist on setting up since Windows 7.

913mb is awfully big to be the bootloader and should have a 'System Reserved' name in the upper window and be labeled an NTFS partition. It's more likely to be the swap partition for Ubuntu.

[ASCI Blue]

there is a windows command to fix a boot loader and I dare to say it's something odd like /fix boot from a command prompt but you'll have to boot from disc.

[hobs0n]

I found this: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/32523...ader-problems/

Hopefully it helps you