If you wish to work on both Windows 10 and Linux with the same hard drive, then you’ve reached the right place. Here, we have listed a step-by-step guide to install Ubuntu alongside Windows so that you can switch to either one according to your needs.
Note: Before making any changes to your OS, it is recommended to always take a backup of your data to avoid any data loss. Also If the hardware of your system uses UEFI, then don’t forget to modify EFI settings and disable Secure Boot feature.
While installing Windows or formatting a hard disk, make sure you assign free space on your hard disk, recommended space is 20 GB so that it could be used for Ubuntu installation.
Installing Ubuntu Along With Windows
Step: 1 Make Space For Ubuntu
You can also make some space afterward as well. Follow these steps to do so:
Go to Start Menu and type Disk Management in search
You will get an option Create and Format Hard Disk Partitions.
Disk Management window will open, you will get the list of partitions on the drive.
Right-click on C Drive and choose Shrink Volume.
You will get a dialog box, Shrink C.
Enter a value beside the Enter the amount of space to shrink in MB.
Once the task is completed, a new unallocated space is created on the hard drive.
Step: 2 Install Ubuntu
You need to get Ubuntu Desktop 16.04 ISO image and burn the image to USB device and make it bootable.
- Insert the USB in suitable port and restart your computer.
- Now press Function Key (F12, F2 or F10 whatever works on your machine, depending on the company of the device) to enter the BIOS setup.
- Now, you will see a screen that asks with some options, choose Install Ubuntu and hit Enter key to proceed.
Image Source: techmint.com
Once the process is completed, you will get Ubuntu System running in live mode.
Locate Installer Utility (second icon from the top) on the launcher.
You would be asked to choose a language, choose your preferred language in which installation instructions would be displayed and click on Continue.
On the next screen, don’t check mark on any of the boxes that next appears on the screen and click on Continue to proceed.
Next window would ask you to select the installation type. Click on check mark beside Install Ubuntu alongside Windows Boot Manager if you don’t want the hassle to choose the partition.
Image Source: Lifewire.com
Note: Erase disk and install Ubuntu option should not be checkmarked to avoid disk wiping.
If you want to customize partitions, check mark beside Something else in which you can create or resize partitions but it is recommended to go with Install Ubuntu alongside Windows Boot Manager.
Once you click on Install Ubuntu alongside Windows Boot Manager, click Install Now.
You will get a window to choose your location. You can do that by clicking on the Map or you can type in your location and once done, click Continue.
Next, you will get an option to select the Keyboard Layout.
Choose the language and the keyboard layout for your keyboard from the left and right panel of the window respectively.
Note: If you don’t know, what option to use click “Detect keyboard layout” button and you can test it yourself which keys are correct by trying out in the demo box.
Before start using Ubuntu, let’s perform the last and final step to create a user. To create a user, enter any name that you want to give to your machine. Then, choose a username and password with which you want to login to your computer.
As installation is completed, click on Restart Now.
The computer will reboot and you would be presented with the option to choose the OS to load.
If you want Ubuntu to come up, just press Enter and wait.
Image source: Askubuntu.com
- Ubuntu will load and login screen would appear. Enter the login credentials.
This way, you can use Ubuntu and Windows both on the same system. This not only saves money and time, but also makes work more flexible with both operating systems in one place.
