{"id":68686,"date":"2025-07-04T15:02:04","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T14:02:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/68686\/linux-and-windows-in-parallel-remove-windows\/"},"modified":"2025-07-05T13:30:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-05T12:30:04","slug":"linux-and-windows-in-parallel-remove-windows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/68686\/linux-and-windows-in-parallel-remove-windows\/","title":{"rendered":"Linux and Windows in parallel: Remove Windows"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Switch to Linux, remove the Windows installed in parallel.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>In most cases, Linux is installed alongside Windows for the time being. But what if we want to switch to Linux for good? How can Windows be removed?<\/p>\n<p>First of all, before we start, a backup is mandatory! We are editing the partitions of the hard drive or SSD here, something can always go wrong.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of content<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/68686\/linux-and-windows-in-parallel-remove-windows\/#Video\" >Video<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/68686\/linux-and-windows-in-parallel-remove-windows\/#RescueZilla_and_Gparted\" >RescueZilla and Gparted<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/68686\/linux-and-windows-in-parallel-remove-windows\/#Create_a_bootable_USB_stick\" >Create a bootable USB stick<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/68686\/linux-and-windows-in-parallel-remove-windows\/#Booting_from_USB\" >Booting from USB<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/68686\/linux-and-windows-in-parallel-remove-windows\/#Delete_Windows_partitions\" >Delete Windows partitions<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/68686\/linux-and-windows-in-parallel-remove-windows\/#Move_and_enlarge_Linux_partition\" >Move and enlarge Linux partition<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/68686\/linux-and-windows-in-parallel-remove-windows\/#Apply_the_changes\" >Apply the changes<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/68686\/linux-and-windows-in-parallel-remove-windows\/#Restart_the_computer\" >Restart the computer<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Video\"><\/span>Video<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PuBM9F20pI4?si=Kn8O2eLMloQ31UKW\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"RescueZilla_and_Gparted\"><\/span>RescueZilla and Gparted<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We use &#8220;Gparted&#8221; to repartition the hard drive, this is included with RescueZilla, which we download as an <a href=\"https:\/\/rescuezilla.com\/download\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ISO file<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Create_a_bootable_USB_stick\"><\/span>Create a bootable USB stick<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>As we want to turn our backs on Windows, we use a Linux programme to create the USB stick. My choice falls on &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/etcher.balena.io\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Etcher<\/a>&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Here we select ISO file, USB drive and create the USB stick. We start the process and then have a bootable USB stick.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_1.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"1007\" height=\"572\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-68654\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_1.webp 1007w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_1-300x170.webp 300w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_1-768x436.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1007px) 100vw, 1007px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Booting_from_USB\"><\/span>Booting from USB<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Restart computer, connect USB stick and open boot menu. After starting RecueZilla, the programme is terminated. On the desktop we find the programme &#8220;Gparted&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>We start this. In most cases, the layout of the hard drive should look something like this. Windows on the left, Linux on the right.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_2.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"903\" height=\"645\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-68656\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_2.webp 903w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_2-300x214.webp 300w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_2-768x549.webp 768w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_2-350x250.webp 350w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_2-420x300.webp 420w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 903px) 100vw, 903px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Delete_Windows_partitions\"><\/span>Delete Windows partitions<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Now we remove the Windows partition.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_3.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"662\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-68658\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_3.webp 662w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_3-300x136.webp 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 662px) 100vw, 662px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>There is usually a small recovery partition for Windows, which we can also remove.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_4.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"482\" height=\"279\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-68660\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_4.webp 482w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_4-300x174.webp 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 482px) 100vw, 482px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Move_and_enlarge_Linux_partition\"><\/span>Move and enlarge Linux partition<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Now we move and enlarge the Linux partition.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_5.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"695\" height=\"333\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-68662\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_5.webp 695w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_5-300x144.webp 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 695px) 100vw, 695px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We move the partition and enlarge it so that the free space is utilised.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_6.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"556\" height=\"301\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-68664\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_6.webp 556w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_6-300x162.webp 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 556px) 100vw, 556px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A warning appears, which we confirm.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_7.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"714\" height=\"311\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-68666\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_7.webp 714w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_7-300x131.webp 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 714px) 100vw, 714px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Apply_the_changes\"><\/span>Apply the changes<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The changes will not be applied until we confirm them.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_8.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"818\" height=\"365\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-68668\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_8.webp 818w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_8-300x134.webp 300w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_8-768x343.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 818px) 100vw, 818px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Another warning appears, reminding us to back up.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_9.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"209\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-68670\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_9.webp 678w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_9-300x92.webp 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Gparted now starts and sets up the partitions again.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_10.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"728\" height=\"523\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-68672\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_10.webp 728w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_10-300x216.webp 300w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_10-350x250.webp 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Restart_the_computer\"><\/span>Restart the computer<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Once everything is done, we restart the computer and start Linux.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_11.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"169\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-68674\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_11.webp 600w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_11-300x85.webp 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Linux should now start and the Linux system will have more memory available. Windows is removed.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_12.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"744\" height=\"317\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-68676\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_12.webp 744w, https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/linux_12-300x128.webp 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 744px) 100vw, 744px\" \/><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Switch to Linux, remove the Windows installed in parallel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1555],"tags":[3230,2443,2795,1559,2068],"class_list":["post-68686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-software-en","tag-instructions-en","tag-linux-en-2","tag-manual","tag-tutorial-en","tag-windows-en-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ekiwi-blog.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}