Ubuntu

Installing Ubuntu on a Windows machine

Asked by ChrisCS

My Windows XP SP2 machine has its hard disc partitioned into C: D: and E:. I have just downloaded the .iso version of Ubuntu 8.04 and burned it onto a CD. I would now like to install Ubuntu and have a dual boot machine. The way the machine is organised at the moment is that Windows (and all the things that Microsoft say must be on C: ) are on C: Programs and data are on D: and the swap file is on E: It was arranged like this, so I was told, so that in the event of Windows becoming corrupt and needing to be re-installed I could re-format C: without losing a lot of programs and data. In practice it hasn't quite worked out like that. The partitions were created using Acronis DiskDirector

My C: disc has 21.9 GB free space and the D: partition has 45 GB free space. Is it "safe" just to install Ubuntu and let the installation do what it wants with regard to resizing partitions?. Being relatively new to Ubuntu I have not yet got a thorough grasp of the language and I don't know whether Ubuntu will recognise virtual discs. Presumably Ubuntu will be installed on the C: partition?

Sorry if this seems a very "dim" question!

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ygarti (y-garti) said : 		#1

hi chriscs
welcome to the Ubuntu community
you don't need to be afraid because ubuntu is specially design for that kind of installtion
all you need to do is leave a free partion in you HD and chose in the installation to chose from the free partion (the partion need to be eraesd and not ntfs because Linux using a different file system) the Ubuntu installation will create you 2 new partion one for your data and one for your swap files
good luck and don't worry installing Ubuntu is much more easier then installing windows :)

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ChrisCS (chriscro) said : 		#2

Hi ygarti
Thank you for your message. A couple of things are still not clear to me; will Ubuntu create its own partition with its own file system on my virtual C: drive and leave Windows intact or would it be better to expand the space on my virtual E: drive, which only contains the windows swap file and some software that could be deleted, and install Ubuntu there? If it will install itself on C: then is there enough free space (21.9 GB) on the drive for Ubuntu?.

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Bhavani Shankar (bhavi) said : 		#3

Hello Chris:

Yes more than enough I suggest that one should have minimum of 8 GB space to install and run ubuntu and the swap size must be double the size of your physical RAM to ensure smooth running of applications in ubuntu..

For a detailed info on dual booting ubuntu please refer:

http://psychocats.net/ubuntu/installing

and

on partition planning:

http://psychocats.net/ubuntu/partitioning

Hope it helps

Bhavani Shankar.

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ChrisCS (chriscro) said : 		#4

Thanks for your message Bhavani,

I am still having a problem. I tried doing an install from the live CD and it got about halfway with copying the system files and then said it was having a problem copying to the hard disc and that it may be due to a damaged CD. I had a look at the CD and found that it had some marks on it which may have prevented it from being read properly. I downloaded the iso file again and burnt a fresh CD using the slowest burning speed and the program InfraRecorder and started the installation again. The installation got to the same point and stopped with the same error message. The CD has no marks on it and as far as I can tell is perfectly OK.

What I had done previously was to expand my E: drive (which is an NTFS drive) to 20 GB, delete all the software and do the installation on that. I was assuming that Ubuntu would then re-format and partition the E: drive to the right specification and that all would be OK..

Is it possible to install Ubuntu directly from the web site? I have no more blank CDs and it is Sunday tomorrow so I won't be able to get any more until Monday and in any case the CD that I have just created may be OK and the problem is elsewhere..

Chris

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ChrisCS (chriscro) said : 		#5

Hi again Bhavani.

Just to let you know that there was a problem with the CD drive which I have now cleared up and the installation has gone ahead without further problems.

Thank you and ygarti for your help

Chris