Removing Red Hat Enterprise Linux
To uninstall Red Hat Enterprise Linux from your x86-based system, you must
remove the Red Hat Enterprise Linux boot loader information from your master
boot record (MBR).
Note
It is always a good idea to backup any data that you have on your system(s). Mistakes
do happen and can result in the loss all of your data.
In DOS and Windows, use the Windows fdisk utility to create a new MBR with
the undocumented flag /mbr. This ONLY rewrites the MBR to boot the primary
DOS partition. The command should look like the following:
with the default DOS (Windows) fdisk, you will experience the Partitions exist
but they do not exist problem. The best way to remove non-DOS partitions is
with a tool that understands partitions other than DOS.
To begin, insert the Red Hat Enterprise Linux CD #1 and boot your system.
Once you have booted off the CD, a boot prompt appears. At the boot prompt,
type: Linux rescue. This starts the rescue mode program. You are prompted for
your keyboard and language requirements. Enter these values as you would
during the installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Next, a screen appears telling you that the program attempts to find a Red Hat
Enterprise Linux install to rescue. Select Skip on this screen. After selecting
Skip, you are given a command prompt where you can access the partitions you
would like to remove.
First, type the command list-harddrives. This command lists all hard drives on
your system that are recognizable by the installation program, as well as their
sizes in megabytes.
Warning
Be careful to remove only the necessary Red Hat Enterprise Linux partitions. Removing
other partitions could result in data loss or a corrupted system environment.
To remove partitions, use the partitioning utility parted. Start parted, where
/dev/had is the device on which to remove the partition:
number of the partition to remove:
ext3, and so on). Knowing the type of the partition helps you in determining
whether to remove the partition. Remove the partition with the command rm. For
example, to remove the partition with minor number 3:
The changes start taking place as soon as you press [Enter], so review the command
before committing to it.
After removing the partition, use the print command to confirm that it is removed
from the partition table. Once you have removed the Linux partitions and made
all of the changes you need to make, type quit to quit parted.
After quitting parted, type exit at the boot prompt to exit rescue mode and reboot
your system, instead of continuing with the installation. The system should
reboot automatically. If it does not, you can reboot your computer using Control-
Alt-Delete.
remove the Red Hat Enterprise Linux boot loader information from your master
boot record (MBR).
Note
It is always a good idea to backup any data that you have on your system(s). Mistakes
do happen and can result in the loss all of your data.
In DOS and Windows, use the Windows fdisk utility to create a new MBR with
the undocumented flag /mbr. This ONLY rewrites the MBR to boot the primary
DOS partition. The command should look like the following:
- fdisk /mbr
with the default DOS (Windows) fdisk, you will experience the Partitions exist
but they do not exist problem. The best way to remove non-DOS partitions is
with a tool that understands partitions other than DOS.
To begin, insert the Red Hat Enterprise Linux CD #1 and boot your system.
Once you have booted off the CD, a boot prompt appears. At the boot prompt,
type: Linux rescue. This starts the rescue mode program. You are prompted for
your keyboard and language requirements. Enter these values as you would
during the installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Next, a screen appears telling you that the program attempts to find a Red Hat
Enterprise Linux install to rescue. Select Skip on this screen. After selecting
Skip, you are given a command prompt where you can access the partitions you
would like to remove.
First, type the command list-harddrives. This command lists all hard drives on
your system that are recognizable by the installation program, as well as their
sizes in megabytes.
Warning
Be careful to remove only the necessary Red Hat Enterprise Linux partitions. Removing
other partitions could result in data loss or a corrupted system environment.
To remove partitions, use the partitioning utility parted. Start parted, where
/dev/had is the device on which to remove the partition:
- parted /dev/hda
number of the partition to remove:
ext3, and so on). Knowing the type of the partition helps you in determining
whether to remove the partition. Remove the partition with the command rm. For
example, to remove the partition with minor number 3:
- rm 3
The changes start taking place as soon as you press [Enter], so review the command
before committing to it.
After removing the partition, use the print command to confirm that it is removed
from the partition table. Once you have removed the Linux partitions and made
all of the changes you need to make, type quit to quit parted.
After quitting parted, type exit at the boot prompt to exit rescue mode and reboot
your system, instead of continuing with the installation. The system should
reboot automatically. If it does not, you can reboot your computer using Control-
Alt-Delete.
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