How To Install Ubuntu On Windows 7

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This tutorial will guide you on how you can perform the installation of Ubuntu 19.04, Ubuntu 18.10, or Ubuntu 18.04 in dual-boot with a Microsoft Operating System on machines that come pre-installed with Windows 10. This guide assumes that your machine comes pre-installed with Windows 10 OS or an. Windows 7 is out. Ubuntu 9.10 is coming next week. Do you know what this means? It's time for a dual boot tutorial. We have learned how to install Windows 7. We have learned how to install Ubuntu. Anyhow, today, we will learn how to install Windows 7 AND Ubuntu, side by side on the same hard disk.

In other words, choose Install Ubuntu alongside Windows when asked, since you surely have some documents, music, photos &c. In your Windows install that you'd like to save. Once you have successfully installed Ubuntu, you can copy over anything you want to save from your Windows partition into your ext4 partition. Installing Ubuntu from within Windows. The Windows-based Ubuntu Installer (Wubi) allows you to install and uninstall Ubuntu from within Microsoft Windows. It lets a Microsoft Windows user try Ubuntu without risking any data loss due to disk formatting or partitioning. Wubi requires Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7. Get access to the unrivalled power of the Ubuntu terminal, including tools such as SSH, apt and vim, directly on your Windows 10 computer. Get access to the unrivalled power of the Ubuntu terminal, including tools such as SSH, apt and vim, directly on your Windows 10 computer. How To Install Ubuntu On Windows 7 mwm-aal-display Hello everyone, on this page you will learn how to install Ubuntu on Windows with Wubi. Before we begin, let’s first learn a little bit on what is Wubi and how it works with your Windows 7 operating system. We will install Ubuntu on a computer that already has Windows 7 installed. We will have to accommodate space for our Ubuntu installation. To this end, we will use the GParted partitioning tool to resize (shrink) the Windows installation and create new partitions for Ubuntu.

Windows users looking to use Linux for the first time will find it beneficial to try it out in a virtual machine. There is plenty of great virtual machine software available on the market.

The pros for installing Linux in a virtual machine include:

  • The ability to try a version of Linux without affecting the Windows host machine
  • The virtual Linux operating system will perform the same way as it would when installed to the physical hard drive
  • Software installed into the virtual machine remains intact and can be used even after a reboot.
  • The virtual machines can be backed up and restored easily so if you mess up it isn't so much of an issue

For this guide, we have chosen Ubuntu as it is one of the most popular and easy to use Linux distributions.

Install Oracle Virtual Box

In order to follow this guide, you will need to download Ubuntu (either 32-bit or 64-bit depending on your machine) and Virtualbox.

If you are using Windows 10 you would be better off following this guide to running Ubuntu within Windows 10.

Install VirtualBox

Navigate to the downloads folder on your computer and double-click the VirtualBox installer.

  1. The first screen is a welcome screen. Click Next to move on.
  2. You will be asked which components you wish to install. We recommend leaving the default options selected.
  3. Click Next to go to the Custom Setup screen.
  4. Choose which folder you want VirtualBox to appear in using the Windows menu structure.
  5. Click Next.
  6. At this point, you can choose whether to create a desktop shortcut or not.
  7. Click Next and you are taken to the Network Warning screen.
  8. You are now ready to install Oracle VirtualBox. Click Install to start the installation.
  9. During the installation, you may be asked for permission to install the application and your antivirus and firewall software may request permission to install VirtualBox. Be sure to allow those permissions.

Start VirtualBox

Leave the Start Oracle VM VirtualBox after Installation option checked to run Oracle Virtualbox when the installation is complete.

If you left all the default options checked during installation you will also be able to run VirtualBox by clicking the desktop icon.

Oracle VirtualBox works on all versions of Microsoft Windows from Windows XP upwards including Windows 8.

Create a Virtual Machine

Oracle VirtualBox has a lot of options and it is worth exploring all of these and reading the help guide but for the sake of this tutorial click the New icon on the toolbar.

The first thing you need to do is define the type of virtual machine you wish to create.

  1. Enter a descriptive name into the Name box.
  2. Select Linux as the Type.
  3. Choose Ubuntu as the Version.
  4. Click Next to continue.

Make sure you choose the correct version. You must choose 32-bit if your host computer is a 32-bit machine. If you are using a 64-bit machine you can choose either 32-bit or 64-bit but obviously, 64-bit is recommended.

Allocate Memory to the Virtual Machine

The next screen asks you to set how much memory you wish to give over to the virtual machine.

You should not go below the minimum specified and you should also make sure you leave enough memory for the host operating system (Windows) to keep running.

512 megabytes will run sluggishly and if you have enough memory we recommend increasing the bar to 2048 megabytes.

Create a Virtual Hard Drive

The next three steps are all about allocating disk space to the virtual machine.

If you want to run Ubuntu as a live image then you do not need to create a hard drive at all but for installing Ubuntu you will need to.

  1. Select Create a virtual hard drive now.
  2. Click Create.
  3. You will be asked to select the type of hard drive to create. The default VDI file type is the one native to VirtualBox, so select VDI.
  4. Click Next.

When deciding on the way the hard drive is created you can choose to opt for a fixed size hard drive or a dynamically sized hard drive.

At this point, no partitioning occurs on your actual hard drive. All that happens is that a file is created on your computer which acts as the hard drive.

A fixed size disk creates the hard drive to be the maximum size you define straight away whereas a dynamically sized disk adds space to the file as it is required up to the maximum size that you specify.

A fixed size disk performs better because as you install software within the virtual machine it doesn't have to increase the file size on the fly. If you have enough disk space then we recommend this option.

  1. Select your desired hard drive type.
  2. Click Next.
  3. After specifying the hard drive type and the way the disk is allocated you are asked to specify how much disk space you are going to give over to the Ubuntu Virtual Machine. Do not go below the minimum set and create enough disk space to make it worthwhile. We recommend at least 15 gigabytes.
  4. Choose where you wish to save the virtual machine.
  5. Specify the disk size.
  6. Click Create.

Start the Virtual Machine

The Virtual Machine has now been created and you can start it by pressing the Start button on the toolbar.

The first boot requires you to select a startup disk.

  1. Click the folder icon.
  2. Navigate to the downloads folder and select Ubuntu ISO.
  3. Click Start.

Install Ubuntu Within VirtualBox

Ubuntu will now boot into a live version of the operating system and a welcome message appears.

You will be asked to select your language and you will be able to choose whether to Try Ubuntu or Install Ubuntu.

If you decide to try Ubuntu first you can always run the installer by double-clicking on the Install icon on the Ubuntu desktop.

Choose Your Installation Language

Now we are into the nitty-gritty of installing Ubuntu.

The first step is to choose the installation language.

  1. Choose a language.
  2. Click Continue.
  3. A screen appears showing how prepared you are for installing Ubuntu. If you are using a laptop make sure your computer is either plugged in or has enough battery life. We recommend you connect to a power source especially if you plan on installing updates as you go.
  4. There are two checkboxes at the bottom of the screen. Choose whether to install updates as you go.
  5. Then choose whether to install 3rd party software. If you have a fast enough internet connection it is worth updating as you go but if you don't we would recommend installing Ubuntu and updating later. We would also recommend not installing the 3rd party software at this stage. This can be done post installation.
  6. Click Continue.

Partitioning a Virtual Hard Drive

The Installation Typescreen asks you how you wish to partition the hard drive.

When installing on a real hard drive this step causes people anguish. Do not panic though as this will only touch your virtual hard drive and will not affect Windows in any way whatsoever.

  1. Select Erase disk and install Ubuntu.
  2. Click Install Now.
  3. The installation begins and the files are copied to the virtual hard drive.

Choose Your Locations

Whilst this is going on you will be asked to choose your location. This sets the timezone for Ubuntu and makes sure the all-important clock shows the right value.

  1. Click the map to choose your location.
  2. Click Continue.

Choose Your Keyboard Layout

A final couple of steps require you to choose your keyboard layout and create a user.

  1. Choose the language for your keyboard.
  2. Choose the type of keyboard.
  3. Click Continue.

Create a User

  • Enter your name.
  • Choose a name for your virtual machine.
  • Enter a username.
  • Add a password and repeat the password.
  • Choose whether you want to log in automatically or require a login.
  • Choose whether to encrypt the home folder.
  • Click Continue.

Completing the Installation

The final stage is to wait for the files to finish copying and the installation to complete.

When the process is complete you will be asked to reboot. This, of course, refers to the virtual machine and not your host Windows machine.

You can reboot in a number of ways such as clicking the icon in the top right corner of Ubuntu and choosing to restart or by using the reset option from the VirtualBox menu.

Install Guest Additions

Install Guest Additions

You will notice that if you choose to view Ubuntu in full-screen mode that it doesn't necessarily scale correctly.

To get the best experience possible you will need to install Guest Additions.

  1. Just select Devices.
  2. Then choose Install Guest Additions from the menu while running the virtual machine.
  3. A terminal window will open and commands will run. When it has completed you will need to restart the virtual machine again.

This guide will show you how to dual-boot Windows 7 and Ubuntu Linux by incorporating screenshots alongside clear and concise steps.

The steps for booting Ubuntu alongside Windows 7 are as follows:

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  1. Take a backup of your system.
  2. Create space on your hard drive by Shrinking Windows.
  3. Create a bootable Linux USB drive / Create a bootable Linux DVD.
  4. Boot into a live version of Ubuntu.
  5. Run the installer.
  6. Choose your language.
  7. Make sure you are plugged in, connected to the internet and have enough disk space.
  8. Choose your installation type.
  9. Partition your hard drive.
  10. Choose your timezone.
  11. Choose your keyboard layout.
  12. Create a default user.

Take a Backup

This is probably the least interesting but most important step in the whole process.

The piece of software I recommend using for backing up your system is Macrium Reflect. There is a free version available for making a system image.

Bookmark this page and then follow this link for a tutorial showing how to create a system image using Macrium Reflect.

Create Space on Your Hard Drive

You need to make some space on your hard drive for the Linux partitions. To do this you have to shrink your Windows partition via the disk management tool.

To start the disk management tool click Start and type diskmgmt.msc into the Search box and then press Return.

Here's how to open the disk management tool if you need more help.

Shrink the Windows Partition

Windows is likely to be on the C: drive and can be identified by its size and the fact it has an NTFS partition. It will also be the active and boot partition.

Right-click on the C: drive (or the drive that contains Windows) and choose Shrink Partition.

The wizard will automatically set the amount that you can shrink the disk by without harming Windows.

Before accepting the defaults consider how much space Windows might need in the future. If you plan to install further games or applications it might be worth shrinking the drive by less than the default value.

You should allow at least 20 gigabytes for Ubuntu.

Choose how much space you want to set aside for Ubuntu including creating space for documents, music, videos, applications and games and then click Shrink.

How the Disk Looks After Shrinking Windows

The above screenshot shows how your disk will look after you have shrunk Windows.

There will be unallocated space set to the size that you shrunk Windows by.

Create a Bootable USB or DVD

A decision you have to make is whether to download the 32-bit or 64-bit version. Quite simply if you have a 64-bit computer choose the 64-bit version otherwise download the 32-bit version.

  1. Right-click on the downloaded ISO file and choose Burn Disc Image.
  2. Insert a blank DVD into the drive and click Burn.

If your computer doesn't have a DVD drive you will need to create a bootable USB drive.

The easiest way to create a bootable USB drive for non UEFI drives is to download the Universal USB Installer.

  1. Run the Universal USB Installer by double-clicking on the icon. Ignore any security message and accept the license agreement.
  2. From the dropdown list at the top choose Ubuntu.
  3. Now click Browse and find the downloaded Ubuntu ISO.
  4. Click the dropdown menu at the bottom to select your flash drive. If the list is blank place a check in the Now Showing All Drives checkbox.
  5. Choose your USB drive from the dropdown list and check the format drive box.
  6. If you have any data on the USB drive that you want to keep copy it somewhere safe first.
  7. Click Create to create the bootable Ubuntu USB drive.

Boot Into Live Ubuntu Session

Read this step fully before rebooting your computer so that you can get back to the guide after booting into the live version of Ubuntu.

  1. Reboot your computer and leave either the DVD in the drive or the USB connected.
  2. A menu should appear giving you the option to Try Ubuntu.
  3. After Ubuntu has booted into the live session click the network icon in the top right corner.
  4. Choose your wireless network. Enter a security key if one is required.
  5. Open FireFox by clicking the icon in the launcher on the left side and navigate back to this guide to follow the remaining steps.
  6. To start the installation, click the Install Ubuntu icon on the desktop.

You can now move onto Choose Your Language (below).

If the menu doesn't appear, follow Troubleshooting steps (below).

Troubleshooting

If the menu doesn't appear and the computer boots straight into Windows you need to change the boot order on your computer so that the DVD drive or USB drive is booted before the hard drive.

Tochange the boot order restart the computer and look for the key that you need to press to load the BIOS setup screen. Generally, the key will be a function key such as F2, F8, F10 or F12 and sometimes it is the escape key. If in doubt either search on Google for your make and model.

After you have entered the BIOS setup screen look for the tab that shows the boot order and switch the order so that the method you are using to boot Ubuntu appears above the hard drive. (Again if in doubt look for instructions for amending the BIOS for your particular machine on Google.)

Save the settings and reboot. The Try Ubuntu option should now appear. Go back to Boot Into Live Ubuntu Session and repeat that step.

If you ever need to start from scratch, by the way, you can use this guide to uninstall Ubuntu software packages.

Choose Your Language

Choose your language and then click Continue.

Connect to the Internet

You will be asked whether you want to connect to the internet. If you followed Shrink the Windows Partition correctly then you should already be connected.

At this point, you might want to choose to disconnect from the internet and select the option I don't want to connect to a wi-fi network right now.

This all depends on your internet connection speed.

If you have a great internet connection stay connected and click Continue.

If you have a poor internet connection then you might choose to disconnect otherwise the installer will attempt to download updates as you go along and this will lengthen the installation process.

If you decide not to be connected to the internet then you will need another way to read this guide — a tablet, or another computer perhaps.

Preparing to Install Ubuntu

Before you continue with the installation you will receive a checklist to show how well prepared you are for installing Ubuntu as follows:

  • Do you have at least 7.1 gigabytes of hard drive space?
  • Are you connected to a power supply?
  • Are you connected to the internet?

You can get away without being connected to the internet as discussed earlier.

There is a checkbox at the bottom of the screen which lets you install third party software for playing MP3s and watching Flash videos. It is entirely optional as to whether you choose to check this box. You can install the necessary plugins after the installation is complete by installing the Ubuntu Restricted Extras package and this is my preferred option.

Choose Your Installation Type

The Installation Type screen is where you get to choose whether to install Ubuntu on its own or whether to dual boot with Windows.

  • Install Ubuntu Alongside Windows 7.
  • Erase Disk And Install Ubuntu.
  • Something Else.

It is perfectly acceptable to choose the Install Ubuntu Alongside Windows 7 option and click Continue.

If you choose to do this move on to Write Changes to Disks.

On the next screen, I will show you how to create multiple partitions to separate your Ubuntu partition from your home partition.

There are two checkboxes on the installation type screen. The first one allows you to encrypt your home folder.

There is a common myth that a username and password is all you need to secure your data. Anybody who has access to your physical machine can get at all the data on the hard drive (whether you use Windows or Linux).

The only real protection is to encrypt your hard drive.

Create Partitions Manually

This step has been added for completeness and isn't entirely necessary. I find it nice to have separate root, home, and swap partitions as it makes it easier for replacing the version of Linux and when upgrading your system

How To Install Ubuntu On Windows 7 Using Virtualbox

  1. Choose the free space and click on the plus symbol.
  2. Choose the logical partition type andset the amount of space that you wish to give to Ubuntu. The size you give to the partition will depend on how much space you have to start with. I chose 50 gigabytes which is a bit of overkill but leaves enough room for growth.
  3. TheUse As dropdown lets you set the file system used. There are lots of different file systems available for Linux but in this instance stick with ext4. Future guides will highlight the available Linux file systems and the benefits of using each one.
  4. Choose / as the mount point and click OK.
  5. When you are back at the partitioning screen, find the remaining free space and click on the plus symbol again to create a new partition. The home partition is used to store documents, music, videos, photos and other files. It is also used to store user specific settings. Generally, you should give the rest of the space to the home partition minus a small amount for a swap partition.

Swap partitions are a contentious subject and everybody has their own opinion as to how much space they should take up.

Make your home partition use the rest of the space minus the amount of memory that your computer has.

For example, if you have 300000 megabytes (i.e 300 gigabytes) and you have 8 gigabytes of memory enter 292000 into the box. (300 - 8 is 292. 292 gigabytes is 292000 megabytes)

  1. Choose a logical partition as the type.
  2. Choose the beginning of this space as the location. As before EXT4 can be selected as the file system.
  3. Now select /home as the mount point.
  4. Click OK.

The final partition to create is the swap partition.

Some people say you don't need a swap partition at all, others say that it should be the same size as memory and some people say it should be 1.5 times the amount of memory.

The swap partition is used to store idle processes when memory is running low. Generally speaking, if there is a lot of swap activity going on then you are thrashing your machine and if this is happening regularly you should maybe think about increasing the amount of memory in your computer.

The swap partition was important in the past when computers used to frequently run out of memory but nowadays unless you are doing some serious number crunching or video editing it is unlikely that you will run out of memory.

Personally, I always create a swap partition because hard drive space isn't that costly and should I ever decide to make a huge video that uses up all my available memory then I will be glad that I created that swap space rather than letting the computer crash unceremoniously.

  1. Leave the size as the rest of the disk and change the use as box to Swap Area.
  2. Click OK to continue.
  3. The final step is to choose where to install the bootloader. There is a dropdown list on the installation type screen which lets you choose where to install the bootloader. It is important that you set this to the hard drive where you are installing Ubuntu. Generally speaking, leave the default option of /dev/sda.
    Note: Do not choose /dev/sda1 or any other number (i.e. /dev/sda5). It has to be /dev/sda or /dev/sdb etc depending where Ubuntu is being installed.
  4. Click Install Now.

Write the Changes to Disks

A warning message will appear stating that partitions are about to be created.

This is the point of no return. If you haven't made a backup as stated in step 1 consider choosing the Go Back option and canceling the installation. Clicking Continue should only install Ubuntu to the space created in step 2but ifany mistakes have been made there is no way to change it after this point.

Click Continue when you are ready to install Ubuntu.

Choose Your Timezone

Choose your timezone by clicking where you live on the map provided and click Continue.

Choose Keyboard Layout

Choose your keyboard layout by selecting the language in the left pane and then the physical layout in the right pane.

You can test the keyboard layout by entering text into the box provided.

The detect keyboard layout button attempts to match your keyboard automatically.

After you have chosen your keyboard layout click Continue.

Add A User

A default user needs to be set up.

Ubuntu doesn't have a root password. Instead, users have to be added to a group to enable them to use 'sudo' to run administrative commands.

The user created on this screen will automatically be added to the 'sudoers' group and will be able to perform any task on the computer.

  1. Enter the name of the user and a name for the computer so that it can be recognized on a home network.
  2. Now create a username and enter it.
  3. Repeat a password to be associated with the user.
  4. The computer can be set up to log in automatically to Ubuntu or to require the user to login with the username and password combination.
  5. Finally, you get a chance to encrypt the home folder of the user to protect the files that are stored there.
  6. Click Continue.

Complete The Installation

The files will now be copied to your computer and Ubuntu will be installed.

How To Install Ubuntu On Windows 7 Dual Boot

You will be asked whether you want to restart your computer or continue testing.

Restart your computer and remove either the DVD or USB drive (depending on which one you used).

When your computer reboots a menu should appear with options for Windows and Ubuntu.

Try Windows first and make sure that everything still works.

How To Install Ubuntu On Virtualbox Windows 7

Reboot again but this time choose Ubuntu from the menu. Make sure that Ubuntu boots up. You should now have a fully working dual booting system with Windows 7 and Ubuntu Linux.

How To Install Ubuntu On Windows 7 Using Virtualbox

The journey does not stop here, though. For example, you can read how to install the Java Runtime and Development Kit on Ubuntu.