I downloaded linux mint on a usb drive, eventually switched to nobara or nobaru anyway i broke my usb drive and im not buying another and my laptop doesnt have a disc drive and i desperately want to switch back to windows because linux has none of my main apps i use and i have no idea on what to do how to switch back and stuff
Assuming your hardware meets the requirements for a Windows 11 and came with a license, Microsoft wants to make it easy to install Windows 11, so you should look for help from Microsoft and Windows user forums.
Iām assuming that you no longer have any windows partitions on your laptops drives.
The simplest approach without using removable media is:
- Download the Windows ISO.
- Create a small NTFS partition.
- Unpack the Windows installation files there.
- Configure the bootloader to start Windows Setup from that partition.
I suspect you might struggle with this - your easiest option would be to drop a few of your local currency on a small USB thumb-drive.
thought of this too but couldnt " Bot WC said: Thank you for contacting Microsoft Support. Iām Nitesh. Please stay active on this chat and respond within 2-3 minutes to avoid disconnection. How may I assist you today?
Bot WC said:
Thank you for contacting Microsoft Support. Iām Nitesh. Please stay active on this chat and respond within 2-3 minutes to avoid disconnection.
How may I assist you today?
Nitesh - 12:50 PM
You said: hiiiiiiii!!! so basically i installed linux mint then eventually nobara and now i cant reinstall windows because my usb is broken
You said:
hiiiiiiii!!! so basically i installed linux mint then eventually nobara and now i cant reinstall windows because my usb is broken
You said: and
You said:
and
You said: i tried to run the installator assistant on wine
You said:
i tried to run the installator assistant on wine
You said: didnt work
You said:
didnt work
You said: and i tried to boot it off grub
You said:
and i tried to boot it off grub
You said: and i went to a fedora discussion for help
You said:
and i went to a fedora discussion for help
You said: and someone told me
You said:
and someone told me
You said: Assuming your hardware meets the requirements for a Windows 11 and came with a license, Microsoft wants to make it easy to install Windows 11, so you should look for help from Microsoft and Windows user forums.
You said:
Assuming your hardware meets the requirements for a Windows 11 and came with a license, Microsoft wants to make it easy to install Windows 11, so you should look for help from Microsoft and Windows user forums.
12:51 PM - Sent
Bot WC said: I sincerely apologize for any distress this has obviously caused you. I will do my utmost to assist you with the matter at hand.
Bot WC said:
I sincerely apologize for any distress this has obviously caused you. I will do my utmost to assist you with the matter at hand.
Nitesh - 12:53 PM
You said: oki doki loki
You said:
oki doki loki
12:53 PM - Sent
Bot WC said: Please allow me 2 minutes, Iām discussing this case with our supervisor so that I can come up with better solution.
Bot WC said:
Please allow me 2 minutes, Iām discussing this case with our supervisor so that I can come up with better solution.
Nitesh - 12:56 PM
You said: take your time!!
You said:
take your time!!
12:56 PM - Sent
Bot WC said: Thanks for waiting. I would like to inform you that Windows installation assistant only works in Windows system.
Bot WC said:
Thanks for waiting.
I would like to inform you that Windows installation assistant only works in Windows system.
Nitesh - 1:03 PM
You said:
uhuh?
You said: so theres no way i can reinstall windows
You said:
so theres no way i can reinstall windows
1:05 PM - Sent
Bot WC said: Unfortunately, the Windows Installation Assistant is designed to run on Windows and does not work under Linux through Wine in most scenarios. Since youāre currently running Linux and your USB drive is unavailable, the options are somewhat limited:
Bot WC said:
Unfortunately, the Windows Installation Assistant is designed to run on Windows and does not work under Linux through Wine in most scenarios.
Since youāre currently running Linux and your USB drive is unavailable, the options are somewhat limited:
Nitesh - 1:06 PM
You said: what are they though?
You said:
what are they though?
1:06 PM - Sent
Bot WC said: Use another USB drive (Recommended) Borrow or obtain a working USB drive (at least 8 GB). we need another working Windows device so that we can create a Installation Media.
Bot WC said:
Use another USB drive (Recommended)
Borrow or obtain a working USB drive (at least 8 GB).
we need another working Windows device so that we can create a Installation Media.
Nitesh - 1:07 PM
You said: is that my only way
You said:
is that my only way
1:07 PM - Sent
Bot WC said: Unfortunately, this is the only option. If you have both USB and another Windows device then I can help you create bootable installation media, if you donāt have any of them right now, I can share steps on your email Or I would suggest you to contact either device seller or local tech support, They may also help you in this situation
Bot WC said:
Unfortunately, this is the only option.
If you have both USB and another Windows device then I can help you create bootable installation media,
if you donāt have any of them right now, I can share steps on your email"
tried this too but didnt know how to do it right i got 4 errors sometimes 3 the ones i can remember is no such device found{the partition thing} missing file which was nfts.mod sometimes it couldnt detect the iso
Borrow a USB stick from a friend - itāll be far the easiest option for you.
Iād recommend getting another (youāll probably do more than 2 OS reinstalls eventually 
)
Some random fair in town had a car/house insurance booth with info and a jar full of Sandisk USB drives; I showed some interest and the guy gave me a handful of em 
(I gave some to others free but kept 1 as a convenient diagonstics Linux LiveUSB)
A big-store near me sells drives for $2, and I have SD cards + adapters.
Iāve heard of Android tools that present ISOs over USB as a regular device for PC booting, but iirc might need root or particular kernel config for a USB mode switch.
Another idea is network installing/PXE(?)
A potential idea is to resize space on the internal drive, dump a Windows ISOās files onto it, boot it, then from Windows install environment diskpart delete the other partitions, and install.
i tried to use grub multiple fails and now im trying efi boot
i have no friends man
for example 530 sudo nano /etc/grub.d/40_custom
531 sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg
532 sudo reboot
533 sudo nano /etc/grub.d/40_custom
534 sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg
535 ls
536 ls (hd0,gpt6)/
537 insmod fat
538 insmod chain
539 set root=(hd0,gpt6)
540 chainloader /bootmgfw.efi
541 boot
542 sudo nano /etc/grub.d/40_custom
543 sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg
544 sudo dnf install efibootmgr # just in case itās not installed
545 sudo efibootmgr
546 sudo efibootmgr -c -d /dev/nvme0n1 -p 6 -L āWindows 11 Installerā -l ā\bootmgfw.efiā
547 sudo efibootmgr
548 sudo efibootmgr -n 0002
549 sudo reboot
550 sudo efibootmgr -b 0002 -B
551 sudo efibootmgr -v
552 # Create the new boot entry
553 sudo efibootmgr -c -d /dev/nvme0n1 -p 6 -L āWin11Setupā -l ā\bootmgfw.efiā
554 sudo efibootmgr -v
555 sudo efibootmgr -n 0002
556 sudo reboot
557 sudo efibootmgr -v
558 lsblk -f
559 history
My fear here is that the potential for you leaving yourself without a working linux installation, no windows installation at all, no USB drive and a laptop which is now effectively a door-stopā¦ is quite high
One wrong move and youāre hooped.
Iād really just order a small cheap USB drive from somewhere, or borrow one; that at least gives you the ability to easily install windows, or any other OS you fancy with minimal risk.
Is Windows on the drive still?
Iād go to BIOS/UEFI set-up and boot bootmgfw.efi directly (most UEFI allow selecting a .efi file to boot).
Thereās a good chance most of that isnāt needed (GRUB afaik would detect Windows on os-prober and put it on the menu vs needing manual chain/commands); and efibootmgr can be done in all one-step no reboots (albeit unnecessary with selecting the file from UEFI boot menu)
lemme go try that
update in my bios i cannot edit my uefi boot mode so i decided toturn on secure boot so it boots into"security violation" w a blue screen so thhen i can enrlll keys etc but i couldnt find a way to see my windows stuff unless i move it to the fedora boot folder maybe? btw windows was gone when i downloaded mint
If you are in a large city there are often computer users groups that will help people in your situation. Some groups are focused on either Windows or Linux, others on both. Ask at local computer shops, libraries, or technical schools.
Did you actively decide to blow away the Windows installation when you installed Mint or was that an error?
If there is no copy of windows anywhere on the disk, youāre not getting it back without either a USB drive to put the ISO on or an NTFS partition to unpack the downloaded windows ISO onto.
I LOWKEY cant remember
speaking of configuring the bootloader i almost had it i just get some unable to read file system errors now
It shouldnāt be too difficult to figure out if you have a possible Windows install, assuming you have a functioning OS at all, running lsblk in the terminal will show you every partition on every drive in the system and itās size. Mine, for example shows me this:
Adam@fedora:~$ lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
sda 8:0 0 953.9G 0 disk
āāsda1 8:1 0 953.9G 0 part /home
sdb 8:16 0 3.6T 0 disk
āāsdb1 8:17 0 3.6T 0 part /mnt/Linux Data
sdc 8:32 0 931.5G 0 disk
āāsdc1 8:33 0 100M 0 part
āāsdc2 8:34 0 16M 0 part
āāsdc3 8:35 0 124.3G 0 part
āāsdc4 8:36 0 554M 0 part
āāsdc5 8:37 0 806.5G 0 part
sdd 8:48 0 1.8T 0 disk
āāsdd1 8:49 0 16M 0 part
āāsdd2 8:50 0 1.8T 0 part
sde 8:64 0 1.8T 0 disk
āāsde1 8:65 0 1.8T 0 part /run/media/Adam/Backup
zram0 251:0 0 8G 0 disk [SWAP]
nvme0n1 259:0 0 232.9G 0 disk
āānvme0n1p1 259:1 0 1.9G 0 part /boot/efi
āānvme0n1p2 259:2 0 9.5G 0 part [SWAP]
āānvme0n1p3 259:3 0 221.4G 0 part /
nvme1n1 259:4 0 1.8T 0 disk
āānvme1n1p1 259:5 0 1.8T 0 part /mnt/Linux SSD
Everything with a mountpoint is Linux related and though itās not obvious at first glance because I have so many drives and am very particular, every partition on sdc is Windows related. If you have a partition of 20GB or more that doesnāt have a mountpoint then there are good odds thatās a Windows install.