how to safely repair the bootloader

[tempo1234]

Hello. I need an advice on getting rid of Windows on my laptop and repairing the bootloader.

Disclaimer: I’m a noob, had Windows XP back in times and for 15+ years all I used Apple iPads and iPhones (getting rid of those as well now).

The thing is, I was gifted a laptop and it was without an OS, but the giver decided to install Win11 there. I double booted a Parrot OS there (home edition with some tools from Security). I had to reinstall GRUB via a live USB already, etc. The problem is that I can’t access Linux only from BIOS files. It’s not visible in Boot Menu. Live USBs are visible, Windows is, but to access GRUB and Parrot I must go through BIOS file folder.
My goal is to get rid of Windows completely as I’m not using it and I don’t want it to be on my laptop at all, but I’m afraid to brick my laptop. I’m planning to backup the whole system on an external drive and then to use boot-repair tool via Ubuntu. I wasn’t able to use it from Parrot (tried guide for Debian) and I didn’t find this tool anywhere to download manually.

So, what’s your opinion, is this a right way or maybe I’m overdoing it and it can be repaired easier? I’m just afraid that if I’ll just erase Windows, it’ll leave me without any access to my Parrot or BIOS even. Security boot is disabled of course, but I didn’t disable CSM yet as from what I read so far opinions are 50/50 if it’s needed to run Linux properly.

Hardware in question is a gaming laptop from not a global company, let’s say it’s almost a custom one. It has NVMe SSD, Intel Core i5-12600H processor, NVIDIA, UEFI with CSM mode enabled. Other info I can give if needed, will have to check. So far it runs Parrot OS perfectly, no issues except for sticky Windows that I got as a “gift”.

P.S. Sorry for so many words, I’m just a little panicking as I don’t wanna brick the laptop, and I’m honestly really tired of struggling with this Microsoft thing.

 

[Brickwizard]

you have made the classic mistake of not researching how to install Linux enough... many will not tell you, before you start to install most Linux distributions you must
1]disable windows secure boot
2]disable windows quick start/fast boot [also usually in the bios]
3]do a full power re-boot [NOT a re-start from the windows' menu]

Parrot home is a good beginners' distribution, it only has a couple of tools pre-installed, but the majority of the rest are in the software manager

on the minimal information you have given the machine appears to be either 18 months old [in which case be aware there may be some driver issues due to its newness, orit has been upgraded a little from a slightly older base.

I regret to tell you the Parrot sec forums have been down for well over a week, but you may be able to contact them if necessary on social media

How Do I Install Linux (A General Guide) • Linux Tips

Today, I will try to answer one of the most common questions asked by the newcomer to Linux; “How do I install Linux”

linux-tips.us

 

[tempo1234]

you have made the classic mistake of not researching how to install Linux enough... many will not tell you, before you start to install most Linux distributions you must
1]disable windows secure boot
2]disable windows quick start/fast boot [also usually in the bios]
3]do a full power re-boot [NOT a re-start from the windows' menu]

Parrot home is a good beginners' distribution, it only has a couple of tools pre-installed, but the majority of the rest are in the software manager

on the minimal information you have given the machine appears to be either 18 months old [in which case be aware there may be some driver issues due to its newness, orit has been upgraded a little from a slightly older base.

I regret to tell you the Parrot sec forums have been down for well over a week, but you may be able to contact them if necessary on social media

How Do I Install Linux (A General Guide) • Linux Tips

Today, I will try to answer one of the most common questions asked by the newcomer to Linux; “How do I install Linux”

linux-tips.us

Hello and thank you for your it answer. AFAIK Parrot is just Debian with its own repositories added and with some customisation already made, I had no issues with upgrading it and reinstalling GRUB via chroot even.
I made all of those steps actually, secure boot and fastboot disabled before double boot was made. I’m doubting if CSM (the legacy mode alternative name, as I understood) must be enabled as from what I read on different forums opinions differ.

Also from my research it’s clear that I must repair the bootloader so UEFI/BIOS will see GRUB and other OS in the boot menu, not in the files only. Because I’m afraid that if I’ll just erase the Windows (ie just overwrite it or something) it’ll end with no access to BIOS or other systems at all. From what I saw on the internet Windows deletes GRUB with updates sometimes (it actually happened to me already) and does even more unholy things. But unfortunately I can’t install boot-repair tool on Parrot with the guide it has for Debian. And the .deb file I found was from a suspicious web so I’m not sure if I must use it. That’s why I thought of going with live Ubuntu as the tool was made for Ubuntu or with even overwriting the whole disk with Ubuntu for this purpose (and then returning to Parrot). I haven’t found any over solutions, only this tool was suggested in multiple threads for such cases.

Drivers I updated successfully, everything works fine except for the damage Windows done to the whole thing I guess. No issues with WiFi/bluetooth, no glitches, everything’s working smooth and fast. For a few months I was using Windows 11 it never provided such a perfect experience like Parrot does. But I’m pretty sure now that every Linux distro is like this comparing to Windows.

Edit: and another thing why I consider the bootloader is broken by Windows. I can access it even after any restart from Parrot, but to access it from Windows I must do that “shift” before restart move to go to advanced settings and manually forcing Windows to open BIOS. I can’t access BIOS after shutting down from Windows, only when it’s shut down from Linux. This seems weird and like a Windows-related problem to me. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

 

[theLegionWithin]

my path would be to backup whatever data I needed to external storage, reset the bios, boot into a live environment, wipe all drives, and install the distro of your choice.

there's probably a more graceful method though, I'm sure.

 

[Brickwizard]

Please correct me if I’m wrong.

Windows quite often breaks Linux grub some updates can even switch fast boot back on, if you do not want or need windows I would save any files/folders that you need to keep to an external drive, and re-install using the whole disc for Parrot usually the least problematic way, he other way would be by using a rescue

8.6. Recovering a Broken System

 

[wizardfromoz]

@tempo1234 welcome from DownUnder to linux.org (Manners, Gents, did you leave them in your Christmas stocking beside the lump of coal? Lol)

If the above options are not viable to you, sing out and I will provide an alternative method, I'll only need to know whether you wish to keep Windows or ditch it.

Bear in mind that I am in Queensland Australia, if you are US-based likely 13 to 17 hours ahead of you.

Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz

 

[tempo1234]

Windows quite often breaks Linux grub some updates can even switch fast boot back on, if you do not want or need windows I would save any files/folders that you need to keep to an external drive, and re-install using the whole disc for Parrot usually the least problematic way, he other way would be by using a rescue

8.6. Recovering a Broken System

Yeah, that’s what I planned. But I was sure I’ll need to run boot-repair tool first just in case. I never knew Windows can restore its fastboot with updates, horrible. Tbh the only useful files I have there are Balena Etcher and a few ISOs so I don’t actually care if they’ll be erased as I have the same on my android phone.

 

[tempo1234]

@tempo1234 welcome from DownUnder to linux.org (Manners, Gents, did you leave them in your Christmas stocking beside the lump of coal? Lol)

If the above options are not viable to you, sing out and I will provide an alternative method, I'll only need to know whether you wish to keep Windows or ditch it.

Bear in mind that I am in Queensland Australia, if you are US-based likely 13 to 17 hours ahead of you.

Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz

Hello and thank you for the welcoming!

I’m in Europe and my schedule is pretty random so not a problem. I’d like to hear from you tbh. My desire is to get rid of Windows and all MS stuff, I didn’t ask for it and I don’t need any of those, I’m very comfortable with Debian based distro but I’m also ok with switching to any other for a few days if it’s needed to repair my laptop. I planned to switch to Arch or its derivatives anyways so no issues. I have Ubuntu 24.1 and Arch ISOs already downloaded just in case and boot-repair disk ISO too, found out there’s a live USB variant of it so I guess I’ll just clean up the whole disk, then run this tool and then will just install my chosen distro.

Thanks in advance. Linux is such a welcoming community tbh, never saw anything like this before

 

[Brickwizard]

I’m in Europe

which part?

If parrot runs OK then so should Mint LMDE6, MX Linux, And Debian stable with driver pack, Sorry I cannot advise you on Arch , Fedora or SUSE, although I have run them for a short while on test I always maintain Debian based distros for my daily drive.

 

[tempo1234]

@tempo1234 welcome from DownUnder to linux.org (Manners, Gents, did you leave them in your Christmas stocking beside the lump of coal? Lol)

If the above options are not viable to you, sing out and I will provide an alternative method, I'll only need to know whether you wish to keep Windows or ditch it.

Bear in mind that I am in Queensland Australia, if you are US-based likely 13 to 17 hours ahead of you.

Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz

You asked to copy it here after my mistake with dms so here’s everything

Wanted to ask if there are options to just change partitions of my systems and to overwrite Win11 with all its files with my existing Parrot OS without reinstalling everything. From what I’ve seen on Reddit and other forums it seems CSM (Legacy BIOS mode) is messing the things up too so I plan to disable it just in case before doing this. I’d like to just ditch Win11 completely and give the whole disk to Parrot. But I’m not sure if I’ll be able to perform it correctly as Windows appears to have lots of traps and I’m not experienced with MS systems. I flashed live boot-repair to a spare USB drive already, made all the backups and I have a live USB with Parrot but I’m hoping that maybe there exists a way to solve this problem without reinstalling everything. Not sure if gparted will help with ditching and overwriting every single file from MS system, after what I’ve seen Windows just scares me

So far found this article but I’m unsure because I can access GRUB only through file menu, not boot menu in UEFI. Hence I’m afraid I’ll need to fix more than described here.

https://ostechnix.com/remove-windows-from-windows-linux-dual-boot/

Also I can’t access UEFI before Windows boots - only from it directly via advanced troubleshooting and forced restart into firmware. From Parrot I can access after rebooting to firmware via Terminal command. That’s why I’m afraid I won’t be able to access UEFI and Parrot if I’ll follow the instructions in the link above.

Another thing that seems important is that in boot menu I see bootable USBs when plugged. So I guess no problems with UEFI, only Windows is the problem…

I’ll be very glad to hear from you, thank you greatly in advance.

 

[wizardfromoz]

This feeble-minded Wizard has started a folder on you and your Thread, which I should have done last year when I said

...and I will provide an alternative method, I'll only need to know whether you wish to keep Windows or ditch it.

So I will work on the fly, but I may not have a more complete blow-by-blow until my tomorrow, after I have swung into my Parrot and run a few checks.

That being said, I am going to outline where I am (now) headed, you can read it and see what you think.

WIZARD'S IMMEDIATE BEST OPTION - FOOD FOR THOUGHT

I would think that the best goal to head for, at the moment, is to have a Grub Menu with Parrot at the top of it, and the default is it boots into it, and Windows appearing as an entry which will likely read as something like

Windows Boot Manager

If we get that set up, you can mine Windows 11 for any data you wish to save and then we can show you how to nuke it - blow it away.

In order to do that, we want to be able to first boot into a part of Parrot from startup and do the voodoo which will generate the ability to start working towards that goal.

It will involve getting a Grub Menu with Parrot listed on it, and in particular, using a line saying something like

Advanced Options (Parrot)

If the Grub Menu does not appear at startup, you should be able to force one to show by tapping the Escape key (on a UEFI computer... it is the Right Shift key for MBR/Legacy systems).

I'll grab a beer and a smoke and dive into Parrot and check some stuff.

You need to be sure you are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed before engaging in these exercises, eg after a good night's sleep.

Back soon.

Wizard

 

[tempo1234]

This feeble-minded Wizard has started a folder on you and your Thread, which I should have done last year when I said



So I will work on the fly, but I may not have a more complete blow-by-blow until my tomorrow, after I have swung into my Parrot and run a few checks.

That being said, I am going to outline where I am (now) headed, you can read it and see what you think.

WIZARD'S IMMEDIATE BEST OPTION - FOOD FOR THOUGHT

I would think that the best goal to head for, at the moment, is to have a Grub N=menu with Parrot at the top of it, and the default is it boots into it, and Windows appearing as an entry which will likely read as something like

Windows Boot Manager

If we get that set up, you can mine Windows 11 for any data you wish to save and then we can show you how to nuke it - blow it away.

In order to do that, we want to be able to first boot into a part of Parrot from startup and do the voodoo which will generate the ability to start working towards that goal.

It will involve getting a Grub Menu with Parrot listed on it, and in particular, using a line saying something like

Advanced Options (Parrot)

If the Grub Menu does not appear at startup, you should be able to force one to show by tapping the Escape key (on a UEFI computer... it is the Right Shift key for MBR/Legacy systems).

I'll grab a beer and a smoke and dive into Parrot and check some stuff.

You need to be sure you are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed before engaging in these exercises, eg after a good night's sleep.

Back soon.

Wizard

Had a coffee and tried my best. I can’t access GRUB by any of those (both ESC and right Shift). Only going through command into firmware if Parrot or advanced troubleshooting if Windows. I checked all the settings in UEFI and found boot EFI, disabled Windows there and got the message about no bootable options that got me into UEFI menu and there I chose Parrot from files. I made photos of what I have in UEFI at all. The last one is where in Parrot lies grubx64.efi and it starts GRUB and that’s how I have to access Parrot every time. So I can’t change the order of booting systems as the only option is Windows or a live USB if plugged. GRUB is reinstalled manually with chroot (though I got a message that I must do a manual setup when did it if it matters).

 

[wizardfromoz]

Thanks for the screenshots ... My Goodness, you do have some curly ones (problems) to face, don't you?!

OK, a modification on where I was headed, which I have since tested, it works for me and may well work for you.

METHOD, AND STEPS

From a working desktop session in Parrot

1. Open Terminal (from the menu, or else Ctrl-Alt-t ), and type in and press Enter for each of the following commands. Wait until each command completes before moving on to the next one.
2. sudo root passwd (type in a password different to the one you normally use, write it down if need be. You will be required to repeat this)
3. Testing the password - type in su - (that is su space dash). If successful, your prompt will change to reflect that you now have a Root password)
4. grub-install /dev/sda
5. update-grub
6. (type in) reboot

If successful, you will boot into Parrot.

Let us know how it goes, please.

Wizard

 

[tempo1234]

Thanks for the screenshots ... My Goodness, you do have some curly ones (problems) to face, don't you?!

OK, a modification on where I was headed, which I have since tested, it works for me and may well work for you.

METHOD, AND STEPS

From a working desktop session in Parrot

1. Open Terminal (from the menu, or else Ctrl-Alt-t ), and type in and press Enter for each of the following commands. Wait until each command completes before moving on to the next one.
2. sudo root passwd (type in a password different to the one you normally use, write it down if need be. You will be required to repeat this)
3. Testing the password - type in su - (that is su space dash). If successful, your prompt will change to reflect that you now have a Root password)
4. grub-install /dev/sda
5. update-grub
6. (type in) reboot

If successful, you will boot into Parrot.

Let us know how it goes, please.

Wizard

It worked! Thank you kindly! So now I can just remove Windows with gparted like described in the article I linked above, correct? I now have Parrot in the boot option menu so I guess it’s safe to get rid of MS completely.

The only issue I had with password, the command appeared to be passwd root, not root passwd

 

[wizardfromoz]

The only issue I had with password, the command appeared to be passwd root, not root passwd

Whoops, my bad , glad you worked it out.

So now I can just remove Windows with gparted like described in the article I linked above, correct?

I'll revisit that Post on my tomorrow, got to get ready for my evening meal.

There will likely be just a little extra cleanup involved to remove traces of Windows, but it is pretty straightforward.

If you wish, you could post us a screenshot of your configuration from GParted, and I can check from there.

Cheers and well done.

Chris

 

[tempo1234]

Whoops, my bad , glad you worked it out.



I'll revisit that Post on my tomorrow, got to get ready for my evening meal.

There will likely be just a little extra cleanup involved to remove traces of Windows, but it is pretty straightforward.

If you wish, you could post us a screenshot of your configuration from GParted, and I can check from there.

Cheers and well done.

Chris

Yeah, never thought Windows is such a scary parasite to get rid of. That’s why I’m afraid of keeping some of its system files accidentally.

Sure thing! GParted pic attached.

 

[wizardfromoz]

Thanks for the screenshot and regrets on the delay on getting back here.

I have found the link you referred to in #10, and it did not have the link attribute it should have, so I have taken the liberty of modifying that for you and it now appears as a link.

I have read the article and it appears fine and straightforward, right down to the part about removing the Windows component from the bootloader, which I usually do using Root privileges in my File Manager, but is fine from the Terminal as they describe.

The only additional step I would advise, if you wish to learn it now, is to make yourself acquainted with Timeshift, installing it on your Parrot and taking a snapshot, so that you can roll back your system if something goes awry.

Other than that, you just need to substitute your NVME numbers for the /dev/sdxy ones in the article and away you go, deleting 3 of the partitions and a part of the bootloader partition.

Cheers

Wizard

 

[tempo1234]

Thanks for the screenshot and regrets on the delay on getting back here.

I have found the link you referred to in #10, and it did not have the link attribute it should have, so I have taken the liberty of modifying that for you and it now appears as a link.

I have read the article and it appears fine and straightforward, right down to the part about removing the Windows component from the bootloader, which I usually do using Root privileges in my File Manager, but is fine from the Terminal as they describe.

The only additional step I would advise, if you wish to learn it now, is to make yourself acquainted with Timeshift, installing it on your Parrot and taking a snapshot, so that you can roll back your system if something goes awry.

Other than that, you just need to substitute your NVME numbers for the /dev/sdxy ones in the article and away you go, deleting 3 of the partitions and a part of the bootloader partition.

Cheers

Wizard

Thank you for your answer. Unfortunately I can’t post links as a new user so I had to modify it that way for the post

I already use Timeshift, will try to ditch everything Windows today with that guide then.

Very grateful for your help, thanks again!

 

[KGIII]

Unfortunately I can’t post links

You should be able to do so at this point and going forward. It is post-count dependent.