Installing Ubuntu

In this section :-

Planning for installing Ubuntu

BEFORE DOING ANYTHING with the HD it is important to have everything you want to keep backed up.

If you have an old PC that you would like to try Ubuntu on (in addition to a separate Windows PC) and no longer want anything installed on it (or wanted data safely copied off)  the situation is simple.  You can let Ubuntu grab the whole hard drive and and set everything up automatically - you can always tweak things later if you want.  Go straight to Install

Installing Ubuntu within Windows - Wubi Guide

This is by far the easiest way to try Ubuntu and requires no technical knowledge - anyone who can install software in Windows can use Wubi to install Ubuntu just like any Windows program.   It provides a dual-boot setup similar to installing Ubuntu separately allowing the user to choose Windows or Ubuntu at startup.

Wubi (Windows Ubuntu Installer) is now officially supported in Ubuntu (see link above for full information).  This allows Ubuntu to be installed into a file rather than using a separate partition (or HD), saving the user from messing about with partitions.  The Wubi program can be downloaded and used to download Ubuntu installation files and install Ubuntu.  Alternatively, the Ubuntu CD can be used - Wubi.exe is now (as of version 8.04) included on the distribution CD (and ISO).  

Note :-  With this installation method it is NOT necessary to burn a CD (or DVD) - just download and run Wubi and let it download the Ubuntu installation files itself.  This is all explained on the Wubi web page.

Installing Ubuntu alongside Windows

Ubuntu can happily reside on the same computer as Windows and automatically provide the option to run either Windows or Ubuntu at startup.  This has been made much easier with recent versions of Ubuntu.
 
Options for installing Ubuntu on a Windows PC fall into various categories depending on the computer and user preferences.
Hence :- These boil down to 2 basic ways to install Ubuntu automatically or you can do it manually :-
  1. Guided automatic partitioning - let the Ubuntu installation process handle partitioning.  
    1. Install Ubuntu alongside Windows on the same drive/partition - resizing the Windows allocation to make space.
    2. Using a whole spare hard drive - just tell the installer which drive you want to use and let it automatically set it up.  (Also when using a computer entirely for Ubuntu.)
  2. Manual partitioning - useful if you have an unused or unwanted partition or would like more control over the partitioning process or have already changed the partitions on your computer.  See Hard Drives and Partitions page for more info.
If you opt for 1.a above and want to grab some space from Windows, the Windows drive/partition must first be defragmented within Windows to make sure all the free space is at the end.  This seems to need doing several times even when there are no fragmented files, to move files down to the beginning of the partition.  The swap file needs disabling and also hibernate to avoid unmoveable files.  These features may be turned back on later (after defrag and resizing).  This is covered in the Windows documentation and details will depend on the Windows version.

See Hard Drives and Partitions and Manual Partitioning pages for more info and manual partitioning for Ubuntu.

Running the Install process

Two versions of the ISO image are available
  • Live CD
  • Alternate
The Live CD may be run without installing and therefore your HD is safe.  Once running the Live CD you can opt to install onto HD.  

The Alternate ISO doesn't have the ability to run from memory but provides a text based installer (in addition to the other functions of CD and memory testing etc.).  This is very similar in use to the Live CD install but uses far fewer system resources.  ie. it will work on older PCs.  The instruction below for the Live CD pretty much apply to the Alternate version but you run the installation directly from the boot menu.

Boot from Live CD - for more info on this see Running the Live CD
Double-click on the Install icon
The installer will run and show various pages for  user input (there will be slight differences in this sequence with 8.10 and with other "Prepare disk space" options)
Welcome - choose language - click Forward (or press Return)
Where are you? - Choose your location from the map or from the drop-down list of cities - Forward
Keyboard layout - Choose your keyboard layout - Forward
Prepare disk space - 3 or 4 options (or sometimes more - depending on your hard drives)
  • Guided - resize <partition> and use freed space - This will take your largest partition (or only partition) resize it (without data loss) and make space for Ubuntu.  You can adjust how much with the slider (or leave the default).
  • Guided use entire disk - This option will destroy ALL data on your drive and automatically set up partitions for Ubuntu.
  • Guided - use the largest continuous free space - Probably the safest and easiest option if you have free space  (at least 5GB)
  • Manual - Use this if you know how you want to set up your partitions and which to use for Ubuntu etc.  See  Manual Partitioning page for more details.
We will choose the first option - the commonest case for those installing alongside Windows.
Click Forward
A popup appears titled "Write previous changes to disk and continue?"  With a warning.  If happy here, click Continue
Popup Please wait
Migrate Documents and Settings - shown if there are other operating systems eg. Windows.  If you'd like your docs etc. copied into Ubuntu, tick the box and fill in the details.  If there are several user accounts, each will be shown.
 - Forward
Who are you? - enter your name, login name (will be taken from name but can be changed), password (twice) and check computer name and alter if required.  8.10 has an extra option "Log in automatically" - Forward
Ready to install - check all the details (go Back if not right) - When satisfied click Install
    A progress bar now shows the progress of installing - this takes quite a long time
Installation complete - Continue using the live CD or Restart now
If you choose Restart now (default) Ubuntu will shut down, prompt you to take the CD out and close tray - Enter to continue
System will reboot showing boot menu.  You should now be able to boot into your new installation of Ubuntu (or Windows if applicable).
Enter your User name and Password and you should be up and running.  After a while, if you have an internet connection available, you will get a message pop up saying Software updates available - click on the icon to proceed
Update Manager - Click Install Updates - enter password and the Downloading package files window will appear - let it download while you go off and have a cup of coffee or something
When completed restart the system if asked to (not all updates require a restart)
The computer will reboot as before showing the boot menu.

Congratulations!  Ubuntu is now installed on your Hard Disk.

Updated 1 November 2008