Installing Ubuntu

 

     Installing Ubuntu on your computer is a lot easier then many people believe it is. Hopefully this article will be helpful to people who are thinking of trying Ubuntu, but are unsure of the installation process.

     The first thing we need to do is get us an install CD. That can be done a couple of different ways. We can either have a install CD shipped to us or we can download the install from the Ubuntu site and burn it to a cd. If you have a good Internet connection, downloading is the fastest way. If you decide you would rather have the CD shipped to you there is a place on the Ubuntu site that you can request a CD shipped to you though this may take some time.

     To download, visit the Ubuntu download site located here. Pick the download that best matches your computer. Once you have started the download you will notice that it is a ISO image. This will be important once you go to burn it onto a disk. Once the download is finished it is time to make a install CD from the image or ISO file that we can boot to. Open up your favorite burning software and select "burn image" or "burn disk image". It is very important that you burn a disk image and not a data disk. A data disk will not boot. Once our install disk is ready it is time to boot to it to start our install. Place the disk in the CD tray and restart the computer. Most computers are set to boot to disk first, but in case yours is not you can select the boot sequence from either the bios or some computers have a boot sequence option that will be displayed during start up. Once the computer has booted to our install CD a Ubuntu splash screen will appear along with a some options at the bottom. We will want to choose the install/run live CD option. Do not worry this will not start the install right away. Instead you will have a chance to run Ubuntu from the install CD. This will give you a chance to see if all your hardware is compatible and also an opportunity to try Ubuntu before you install it. You can run Ubuntu this way for as long as you want, but it does run off your memory so it will be slower and also you will not be able to download many,or if any, programs.

      Once you have run the live CD for a bit and are comfortable that you want to install Ubuntu on your Computer you will have to ask your self if you want just Ubuntu on your hard drive or if you want to dual boot. What this means is you can keep your existing operating system, but also install Ubuntu. This way when you turn on your computer you can decide if you want to run Ubuntu or your existing operating system like windows XP or Vista. If you decide to erase your drive and use just Ubuntu the install procedure is quite straight forward. If you decide you would like to also keep your existing operating system the install will have a couple more steps, but still quite straight forward.

• Remember back up all data before you start the install

     To start the install process double click on the install folder. This will start the install process and you will be asked a few questions. These questions are very straight forward and will only take a minute or so. You will be asked your name, the name you want to give to your computer, your time zone, which type of keyboard you use, and also a password that will be used to sign in to your computer at start up and also when you want to install a program. The next step is where you will have to decide if you want to dual boot your computer or just erase the whole disk and install Ubuntu as your primary OS.

     Dual booting means that you can keep the OS that you are using, but also install Ubuntu on a separate partition. This way when you start your computer you can choose whether you want to use Ubuntu or your original OS. If you decide to erase your hard drive and use only Ubuntu, just check this option and Ubuntu will start the install. If you do decide you want to use both OS's you will have to create a separate partition to put Ubuntu on. This is easier than it sounds as the installer will ask you how big you want to make the partition and will give you a slider to set the partition size. Once this is set you will go to the next step and will ask you if you are sure. If everything looks good your next step is to install Ubuntu. Since you are creating a partition this process will take longer than just formatting your disk and installing strictly Ubuntu. If you are going to install a dual boot system, and you are using windows, it is a great idea to defrag windows before starting this process. After the install process is over you will have to restart your computer to finish the install process. If you did a clean install the Ubuntu splash screen will appear after re-boot and you will have to enter your user name and password. These will be the ones you entered during install. If you decided to go with a dual boot a menu will appear, this is called a grub loader, and from here you can choose which OS you want to run. If you do not select right away it will default to Ubuntu. It is a good idea to choose Ubuntu right way so it can finish the install. Just enter your name and password and you are now using Ubuntu. For more details on installation listen to episode 3 and episode 4 of the MSC Giz Cast.

     Also watch the install Video or download and watch Video Episode #3 of the MSC Giz Cast