I installed Ubuntu, but how do I switch back to Windows 7?
I was messing around with some stuff and installed ubuntu in a Virtual Box.
I failed at what I was doing so I closed everything and went on with my business in Windows 7. When I turned off my computer then turned it back on later, I’m now in ubuntu.
I would like to go back to Windows because that’s where all of my stuff is. What should I do?
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Umm, if you really installed it in Virtualbox then it can not launch when you start the computer because you would have to run Virtualbox in Windows first to launch Ubuntu.
So there are 3 possibilities.
1. You somehow only suspended/hibernated the machine and resumed into a full screen mode within Virtualbox. In that case, make sure you really shut down ubuntu. If 1. is true, the virtualbox window should close.
2. You installed Ubuntu not inside Virtualbox but on your machine, and created a dual boot environment. Restart your machine and watch the boot process. During boot, you should be prompted to select which OS you want to start. Select Windows when the choice is presented.
3. You installed Ubuntu on your physical machine and replaced your windows entirely. You are pretty much fucked. If you are lucky, windows folders might still be present in the file system. Copy the files you want to back up to a different partition/drive and then reinstall windows.
1. is the least likely of the 3, 2. is the most likely.
I concur. If it’s in Virtual Box, Windows it’s already running, so you should be back to normal if you just exit. More likely, you made it a dual-boot machine, with Ubuntu as the default. Watch the boot process closely. And if you actually repartitioned your drive, Windows is gone.
My money is also on #2.
Crap. Ok I’ll restart and check out the boot process.
Whew! That was close. Thanks a lot guys. That’s what I get for being too curious and exploring, lol. So I guess I can just move freely between two OS now, though.
Personally, I prefer a dual-boot environment. It allows both systems to run at full speed without the problems of them having to translate commands to a middle-man like a virtual machine generally requires. Dual-booting gives the best of both worlds.
Besides, exploring isn’t exciting unless you occasionally scare the crap out of yourself. Skydiving would be boring without the possibility of making a messy crater ;)
@jerv Yeah, I had a lot of fun and learned a lot.
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