How do I install Ubuntu?
For anybody coming to this question with Windows 8 pre-installed none of the answers here are relevant. See this question instead Installing Ubuntu on a Pre-Installed Windows 8 (64-bit) System (UEFI Supported)
For anybody trying to install Ubuntu on a Chromebook should look at this question Is it possible to install Ubuntu on a Chromebook?
3 Answers 3
- First, you will need to download the current version of Ubuntu at Download Ubuntu Desktop. Select your architecture (32-bit vs 64-bit), and click the big orange button. If your computer has at least 2GB of RAM, select the 64-bit version of Ubuntu. If you are unsure of the flavor you need, select 32-bit as it will run even if you have a 64-bit processor. You may also download any distro release, such as Kubuntu or Xubuntu or Other Flavours.
- Next, you will be downloading a large .iso file, about 800MB-1.6GB. It can take up to a few hours, depending on your connection speed. Let the file download. Then, you will be burning it onto a DVD or LiveUSB. The Ubuntu 14.04 .iso file is too large to fit on a CD, so you will need to either burn it to a DVD or else make an Ubuntu live USB using a flash drive that has at least 2GB. (links are for Windows, if you are switching from another operating system check the «Easy ways to switch to Ubuntu» section on the download page.)
- If you are using Windows 7 or higher, you may double-click this file (assuming you don’t have another program associated with it). Otherwise, install ImgBurn (sadly, not open source). You may also may be able to right-click and select ‘Burn to Disk’.:
More instructions can be found here or here if you need them - You now should have burned your disk. If you open the disk using your file manager, there should be a bunch of files like wubi.exe , autorun.inf , pics , and pool , among others. If you have just one file on the disk with the same name as your ISO, make sure you are using a disk burning utility. Do not just drag and drop the ISO file. It will not work.
- Now, put the disc back in your optical drive, and reboot your computer. On a PC, you should have a key like Delete , F2 , F10 or another key that will get you to your boot sequence menu. You can enter your BIOS menu by pressing one of these keys as soon as the motherboard splash screen appears when the computer is booting. Otherwise consult the manual for your computer or BIOS and look for something similar to boot from external media or choose a startup disk ( ⌥ or Alt on Macs) to find the key that is needed. Follow the screen prompts to boot from the optical drive your new disc is in.
- Assuming you are not booting UEFI, press Shift once you get a purple screen with a picture at the bottom. Select your language with the arrow keys and Enter . Now, you should be confronted with a menu. You may try Ubuntu without installing, or you may install it. If you want to try it, choose «Try Ubuntu without installing«, try it, double-click the Install Ubuntu icon on the desktop, and continue with this guide. Note that this test version is slower because it is running from a CD/DVD/USB, not your hard disk. Some versions of Ubuntu will give a graphical menu for this step.
- Now, you will be confronted with a checklist. You may safely disregard the second option ‘Install this third-party software’, though Adobe Flash Player and some proprietary video codecs may not work, unless you enter the commands at the end of this guide.
- Now it is time to partition your hard disk. If you want to avoid losing data or dual boot, this step is crucial. If you want to just clear out whatever is already on your hard disk, and use all of the space for Ubuntu, select that option, and skip to step 10. If you want to dual boot and trust the Ubuntu installer (not recommended), select the option to install side-by-side, and skip to step 10. If you want to manually set up dual boot, select the choice for advanced partitioning and proceed to the next step.
- Find your current Windows partition. It should be the first or second under sda , and its type should be NTFS. Click it once, and click Edit to invoke the partition settings dialog. Reduce the size by at least 40,000 MB, or more if you have extra free space on your old installation. If you have a separate Documents partition, you may resize that instead. Then click in the free space you have created and click Add, setting the type to Swap area, and giving about 1.5-2 times your RAM (Note that the input box takes sizes in MB, not GB.) You will now have swap space. Click in the remaining free space and add an ext4 partition with the default size (maximum possible recommended), and the mount point as /. You may also want to do a /home partition, which is where all your user files in Ubuntu will go. If you make a mistake anytime during this, click Revert. For more detailed instructions (and with screenshots) on this step, read How to use manual partitioning during installation?
- We are now ready to install! Click ‘Install Now’, and allow the partitioning tool in the Ubuntu installer to write changes. Now you should be prompted to select a time zone. The Ubuntu installer wisely tries to guess your time zone, assuming you have a functioning internet connection.
- You will now be confronted with a choice of languages again. Select your language, and on the next step, select your keymap (keyboard layout). If you are unsure, click on the button to detect your keyboard layout.
- On the next screen, you may set your username, display name, and password. Pick a strong password. A strong password can contain lowercase alphabetic, uppercase alphabetic, numeric and other printable characters. Although your username must be all lowercase, your display name is what is displayed in the login menu and may contain capital letters and spaces in it.
- If you dual boot with Windows, you will be faced with an option to migrate documents. Pick the users and folders you want to migrate.
- Now you may sit back with no trepidation, until faced with the prompt stating the installation is complete.
- If you installed on a UEFI system you may want to run the following commands before booting into your new installation:
sudo su; efi="/target/boot/efi/EFI"; \ if [[ -e "$/boot" ]]; then \ echo "Backup:"; \ mv -v "$/boot/" "$/boot-bak-$(lsb_release -cs)"; \ fi; \ echo "Copy:"; \ cp -va "$/ubuntu" "$/boot"; \ arch="$(ls -1 /ubuntu/shim*.efi)"; \ arch="$"; \ arch="$"; \ cp -v "$/boot/shim$.efi" "$/boot/boot$.efi"; sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras @Adithta chakilam Its better to install windows and ubuntu on separate partitions so that if you want to remove any OS there will not be any problem. To install in separate partitions see this website techspot.com/community/topics/…
@Aborted here is how to create ubuntu live usb pendrivelinux.com/using-unetbootin-to-create-a-live-usb-linux after creating live usb you can follow the same steps from step-6 in above answer
How to Install Ubuntu Linux in the Simplest Possible Way
The method I am going to show in this tutorial is the fourth one. You wipe out the entire system and let Ubuntu be your only operating system. In my experience, this is the easiest way to install Ubuntu without any hassle.
How is this the simplest way of installing Ubuntu?
You don’t have to worry about creating partitions on your own. It automatically creates an ESP partition for UEFI.
It uses the rest of the disk space in creating a single root partition. The root partition (normally) has a 2 GB of swapfile. You don’t need to create a separate swap partition and if they need to be, you can increase the size of the swapfile.
The root partition also has the boot directory for grub related files. It also contains the home directory that is used for storing user related files like documents, pictures, music, videos, downloads etc.
It is a no-brainer. You let Ubuntu do the work for you instead of wondering about creating ESP, root, Swap and Home partitions.
Of course, this is the best way if you do not want any other operating system besides Ubuntu on your machine.
The procedure shown here works for Ubuntu and all other distributions based on it, such as Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu Budgie, Linux Mint, Linux Lite etc. The screenshot might look a bit different, but the steps are basically the same.
Suggested Read 📖
Install Ubuntu by replacing Windows and other operating systems
What do you need to install Ubuntu:
- A USB of at least 8 GB in size, preferred.
- Internet connection (for downloading Ubuntu and live-USB making tool, not required for installing Ubuntu)
- Optionally, you may need an external USB disk for making a backup of your important data (if any) present on the current system
If you are going to install the default Ubuntu GNOME, the system requirements are:
- A system with a 2 GHz dual-core processor or better
- 4 GB of RAM or more
- At least 25 GB of hard disk space
This method removes all the other operating systems along with the data present on the disk.
You may save your personal files, documents, pictures etc on an external USB disk or cloud storage if you want to use it later.
The entire idea is that you put USB (or removable media) on the top of the boot order. Save the changes and exit.
Step 4: Install Ubuntu
Now you should boot into the live Ubuntu environment. You’ll have the grub screen that gives you the option to either try Ubuntu without installing or install it right away.
Once you select it, you will be prompted to proceed with “Try Ubuntu” or install it.
Alternatively, you can click the installation icon on the desktop to initiate the installation if you dismiss the above window.
It will ask you to choose some basic configurations like language and keyboard layout. Select the most appropriate ones for your system.
You should go for the normal installation here because it will install some software like a music player, video players and a few games.
If you are connected to the internet, you’ll get the option to download updates while installing Ubuntu. You may uncheck it because it may increase the installation time if you have a slow internet. You can update Ubuntu later as well without any issues.
The most important screen comes at this time. If there are other operating systems installed, you may get the option to install Ubuntu along with them in dual boot.
But since your goal is to only have Ubuntu Linux on your entire system, you should go for the Erase disk and install Ubuntu option.
When you hit the “Install Now” button, you’ll see a warning that you are about to delete the data. You already know it, don’t you?
Things are straightforward from here. You’ll be asked to choose a timezone.
And then you’ll be asked to create a username, computer’s name (also known as hostname) and set a password.
Once you do that, you just have to wait and watch for like 5–10 minutes. You’ll see a slideshow of Ubuntu features in this time.
Once the process finishes, you will be asked to restart the system.
When you restart the system, you might encounter a shutdown screen that asks you to remove the installation media and press enter.
Remove the USB disk and press enter. Your system will reboot and this time, you’ll boot into Ubuntu.
That’s it. See, how easy it is to install Ubuntu. You can use this method to replace Windows with Ubuntu.
What next?
Now that you have successfully installed it, I strongly suggest reading this guide on things to do after installing Ubuntu to make your Ubuntu experience smoother.
I also recommend going through this list of Ubuntu tutorials and learning to do various common things with Ubuntu.
I hope you find this tutorial helpful in installing Ubuntu. If you have questions or suggestions, please feel free to ask it in the comment section.