NucleusKore
TheSaint
PDF version of this guide
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a copy of the tutorial published on my website on
*i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-sa/2.5/in/88x31.png
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 India License
[size=+2]Foreword and Introduction:[/size]
On the 21st of August, 2008, I released my first tutorial on dual booting Windows XP and Ubuntu/OpenSUSE Linux. The tutorial was well received, too well I must say, judging from the number of hits, and the feedback I received. Although Windows Vista was the prevalent OS at the time, I refrained from writing a tutorial on dual booting with Vista as I personally felt that it was another Windows ME. A lot of water has flown under the bridge since then, and we now have a shiny new Windows OS in the form of Windows 7 (RC 7100 at the time of writing this tutorial), which I must say, looks and feels far better than it's predecessor. A month back Canonical also released their new version of their flagship OS, Ubuntu 9.04. This tutorial is intended to guide newcomers on partitioning and installing Windows 7 RC 7100 and Ubuntu 9.04 on their new or existing PCs.
One of the important differences between this tutorial and my earlier one with Windows XP is the compulsory use of a third party bootloader in dualbooting with Windows 7/Linux, due to issues using GRUB on the MBR. If this is too technical for you to understand don't bother, just follow my tutorial step by step and you'll be fine. As before, I have used a lot of screenshots, and I would strongly recommend that you either have a hard copy of this in hand before you start, or have it open on another system.
[size=+2]Assesing your hard disk, partitions[/size]
While installing Windows 7 to a new/clean hard disk, you might have noticed that the installer automatically creates a system partition BEFORE the C: drive as shown below.
*img404.imageshack.us/img404/7669/snapshot10.th.png*img2.imageshack.us/img2/7282/snapshot11b.th.png
The system reserved partitin should not be disturbed, lest your Windows become unbootable. You cannot see this partition when you open My Computer in Windows 7.
To install linux on your PC you should first make some free space available on your hard disk for the install. Click on Start->Control Panel->System and Security->and Under Administrative tools click on "Create and format hard disk partitions"
*img197.imageshack.us/img197/4643/snapshot13.th.png*img3.imageshack.us/img3/3739/snapshot14.th.png*img383.imageshack.us/img383/6391/snapshot15.th.png
I present two hypothetical scenarios that you might have. The actual partition sizes will vary with the capacity of the hard disk. I have taken a 160 GB hard disk in my example.
If your partitioning scenario resembles the first (I'll refer to it as scenario 1 from now on), then you have a lot of free space on your hard disk to do as you please. You may allot more space to Windows 7 by right clicking on the unallocated space and creating new partitions, or you may use the entire unallocated space for Ubuntu. However it is more likely that your hard disk partition set up resembles scenario 2
In that case you have to right click on one or more of the partitions at the end to free up space to install Ubuntu. First back up the data on the partition you want to delete, and then right click on the partition and delete it as shown below.
*img208.imageshack.us/img208/6302/snapshot95.th.png *img41.imageshack.us/img41/5457/snapshot96.th.png *img36.imageshack.us/img36/7923/snapshot97.th.png
Note the colour code that Windows Disk Management System uses for various partitions, dark blue for primary partitions, deep green for the extended partition (see the rim around E: and F, light blue for logical partitions, and light green for free space. Know this, that there can only be four primary partitions in a hard disk. If you would like to have more than four partitions, you have to use logical partitions as has happened in scenario 2. Windows and linux use different ways of naming partitions. While you would just refer to partitions as C:, D:, E:, etc in Windows, A; and B: being reserved for floppy drives, in Linux we refer to them as /dev/sda1, /dev/sda2, etc. for the first, second, and subsequent hard disk partitions. As you can see, in scenario 2, the first partition is a System Reserved partition, and windows has not assigned it any drive letter (alphabet like A, B, C, or anything else). However, linux will not make such a distinction, the first partition is always /dev/sda1, and so in the case of Windows Vista or Windows 7 being your first/primary OS, the C: drive will actually correspond to /dev/sda2, as the first partition, /dev/sda1 is a System reserved partition. Now, I told you that we can have only four primary partitions in a hard disk. So for linux, these would be /dev/sda1, /dev/sda2, /dev/sda3, and /dev/sda4. The first logical partition would number from /dev/sda5, /dev/sda6, etc. This is why linux ALWAYS assigns /dev/sda5 to the first logical partition, irrespective of the number of partitions preceding that.
The idea is to free at least 20 GB for our linux install. This might seem like a lot and other's might disagree, but if you are looking for a full experience I'd recommend it. We will later need this space for creating three partitions.
Swap - Space=1.5 to 2 times your RAM
Root (designated as /) - stores your OS and system files, programs, etc. - Minimum space approx 8GB
Home (designated as /home) - like the Documents and Settings folder of Windows XP or the Users folder of Windows 7. Stores your preferences, bookmarks, wallpaper, My Documents and Desktop. - Space - remaining space
The / is like the base directory in linux, into which all other directories (folders) are incorporated or "mounted". I took a very long time to understand the concept of "mounting". Don't worry about it for now, you will understand when the time is right.
Resizing Partitions is something I do not recommend with any tool unless you have uninterrupted power supply in your part of the country/world or a power back up solution that lasts for a few hours.
[size=+2]Hardware check[/size]
With the advances in Linux and the new kernels this step may not be necessary, but will help you in troubleshooting later if required.
Click on Start->Control Panel->System and Security->System->Device Manager
Make a note of the model numbers of your monitor, graphics card (display adapter), and any other devices.
If possible, note the horizontal and vertical sync values of your monitor. These can be found in the manual of the monitor and may be required should you have display problems.
Alternatively you can use a third party software like SiSoft Sandra Lite to probe your hardware and make a list by hand.
[size=+2]Installing Ubuntu Linux[/size]
You are now going to install Ubuntu Linux to the empty space on your hard disk that you prepared in the earlier step. Linux by itself is not a single monolithic entity unlike some popular operating systems. It is very much a collaborative effort. It consists of a core (also called a kernel) on which the entire system is built on an runs. Linux is modular. As you become more experienced, you will realise that you can add and remove modules depending on your requirement and create a highly customised system. No hidden agandas, no long cryptic EULAs (the thingy which you blindly scroll down and click "I agree" without batting an eyelid) - just freedom.
[size=+2]So let's get started !![/size]
Ubuntu CDs are available for free from SHIPIT
You can also download it from Ubuntu website or ask a LUG (Linux User Group) near you.
To boot from the cd or dvd your bios should have it as the first boot device. Alternatively some bios allow you to select the boot device. The key used for this varies with different manufacturers. To see if your bios has a boot device select menu please refer the manual of your motherboard or take help from a more experienced friend.
I suggest you try the following - insert the cd or dvd and start your pc. If your pc boots too fast simply restart windows with the cd or dvd in the drive and see what happens. Very often the optical drive would have been set as the first boot device and the system boots from the cd automatically. If it still goes to windows and refuses to boot from your cd or dvd then you will have to adjust your bios settings or search for a boot menu as I described earlier.
If your pc boot successfully from your ubuntu cd you will see this screen
*img197.imageshack.us/img197/8640/snapshot17.th.png
It is prompting you to select the language. Use your arrow keys to select the system language and press ENTER. You will then get this screen
*img205.imageshack.us/img205/7373/snapshot18.th.png
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a copy of the tutorial published on my website on
*i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-sa/2.5/in/88x31.png
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 India License
[size=+2]Foreword and Introduction:[/size]
On the 21st of August, 2008, I released my first tutorial on dual booting Windows XP and Ubuntu/OpenSUSE Linux. The tutorial was well received, too well I must say, judging from the number of hits, and the feedback I received. Although Windows Vista was the prevalent OS at the time, I refrained from writing a tutorial on dual booting with Vista as I personally felt that it was another Windows ME. A lot of water has flown under the bridge since then, and we now have a shiny new Windows OS in the form of Windows 7 (RC 7100 at the time of writing this tutorial), which I must say, looks and feels far better than it's predecessor. A month back Canonical also released their new version of their flagship OS, Ubuntu 9.04. This tutorial is intended to guide newcomers on partitioning and installing Windows 7 RC 7100 and Ubuntu 9.04 on their new or existing PCs.
One of the important differences between this tutorial and my earlier one with Windows XP is the compulsory use of a third party bootloader in dualbooting with Windows 7/Linux, due to issues using GRUB on the MBR. If this is too technical for you to understand don't bother, just follow my tutorial step by step and you'll be fine. As before, I have used a lot of screenshots, and I would strongly recommend that you either have a hard copy of this in hand before you start, or have it open on another system.
[size=+2]Assesing your hard disk, partitions[/size]
While installing Windows 7 to a new/clean hard disk, you might have noticed that the installer automatically creates a system partition BEFORE the C: drive as shown below.
*img404.imageshack.us/img404/7669/snapshot10.th.png*img2.imageshack.us/img2/7282/snapshot11b.th.png
The system reserved partitin should not be disturbed, lest your Windows become unbootable. You cannot see this partition when you open My Computer in Windows 7.
To install linux on your PC you should first make some free space available on your hard disk for the install. Click on Start->Control Panel->System and Security->and Under Administrative tools click on "Create and format hard disk partitions"
*img197.imageshack.us/img197/4643/snapshot13.th.png*img3.imageshack.us/img3/3739/snapshot14.th.png*img383.imageshack.us/img383/6391/snapshot15.th.png
I present two hypothetical scenarios that you might have. The actual partition sizes will vary with the capacity of the hard disk. I have taken a 160 GB hard disk in my example.
- You only have one C partition of 20 GB and the remaining part of your hard disk is "unallocated" as shown below
*img3.imageshack.us/img3/9804/snapshot16.th.png - Your full hard disk is occupied by windows partitions as shown below
*img197.imageshack.us/img197/1789/snapshot94.th.png
If your partitioning scenario resembles the first (I'll refer to it as scenario 1 from now on), then you have a lot of free space on your hard disk to do as you please. You may allot more space to Windows 7 by right clicking on the unallocated space and creating new partitions, or you may use the entire unallocated space for Ubuntu. However it is more likely that your hard disk partition set up resembles scenario 2
In that case you have to right click on one or more of the partitions at the end to free up space to install Ubuntu. First back up the data on the partition you want to delete, and then right click on the partition and delete it as shown below.*img208.imageshack.us/img208/6302/snapshot95.th.png *img41.imageshack.us/img41/5457/snapshot96.th.png *img36.imageshack.us/img36/7923/snapshot97.th.png
Note the colour code that Windows Disk Management System uses for various partitions, dark blue for primary partitions, deep green for the extended partition (see the rim around E: and F
, light blue for logical partitions, and light green for free space. Know this, that there can only be four primary partitions in a hard disk. If you would like to have more than four partitions, you have to use logical partitions as has happened in scenario 2. Windows and linux use different ways of naming partitions. While you would just refer to partitions as C:, D:, E:, etc in Windows, A; and B: being reserved for floppy drives, in Linux we refer to them as /dev/sda1, /dev/sda2, etc. for the first, second, and subsequent hard disk partitions. As you can see, in scenario 2, the first partition is a System Reserved partition, and windows has not assigned it any drive letter (alphabet like A, B, C, or anything else). However, linux will not make such a distinction, the first partition is always /dev/sda1, and so in the case of Windows Vista or Windows 7 being your first/primary OS, the C: drive will actually correspond to /dev/sda2, as the first partition, /dev/sda1 is a System reserved partition. Now, I told you that we can have only four primary partitions in a hard disk. So for linux, these would be /dev/sda1, /dev/sda2, /dev/sda3, and /dev/sda4. The first logical partition would number from /dev/sda5, /dev/sda6, etc. This is why linux ALWAYS assigns /dev/sda5 to the first logical partition, irrespective of the number of partitions preceding that.The idea is to free at least 20 GB for our linux install. This might seem like a lot and other's might disagree, but if you are looking for a full experience I'd recommend it. We will later need this space for creating three partitions.
Swap - Space=1.5 to 2 times your RAM
Root (designated as /) - stores your OS and system files, programs, etc. - Minimum space approx 8GB
Home (designated as /home) - like the Documents and Settings folder of Windows XP or the Users folder of Windows 7. Stores your preferences, bookmarks, wallpaper, My Documents and Desktop. - Space - remaining space
The / is like the base directory in linux, into which all other directories (folders) are incorporated or "mounted". I took a very long time to understand the concept of "mounting". Don't worry about it for now, you will understand when the time is right.
Resizing Partitions is something I do not recommend with any tool unless you have uninterrupted power supply in your part of the country/world or a power back up solution that lasts for a few hours.
[size=+2]Hardware check[/size]
With the advances in Linux and the new kernels this step may not be necessary, but will help you in troubleshooting later if required.
Click on Start->Control Panel->System and Security->System->Device Manager
Make a note of the model numbers of your monitor, graphics card (display adapter), and any other devices.
If possible, note the horizontal and vertical sync values of your monitor. These can be found in the manual of the monitor and may be required should you have display problems.
Alternatively you can use a third party software like SiSoft Sandra Lite to probe your hardware and make a list by hand.
[size=+2]Installing Ubuntu Linux[/size]
You are now going to install Ubuntu Linux to the empty space on your hard disk that you prepared in the earlier step. Linux by itself is not a single monolithic entity unlike some popular operating systems. It is very much a collaborative effort. It consists of a core (also called a kernel) on which the entire system is built on an runs. Linux is modular. As you become more experienced, you will realise that you can add and remove modules depending on your requirement and create a highly customised system. No hidden agandas, no long cryptic EULAs (the thingy which you blindly scroll down and click "I agree" without batting an eyelid) - just freedom.
[size=+2]So let's get started !![/size]
Ubuntu CDs are available for free from SHIPIT
You can also download it from Ubuntu website or ask a LUG (Linux User Group) near you.
To boot from the cd or dvd your bios should have it as the first boot device. Alternatively some bios allow you to select the boot device. The key used for this varies with different manufacturers. To see if your bios has a boot device select menu please refer the manual of your motherboard or take help from a more experienced friend.
I suggest you try the following - insert the cd or dvd and start your pc. If your pc boots too fast simply restart windows with the cd or dvd in the drive and see what happens. Very often the optical drive would have been set as the first boot device and the system boots from the cd automatically. If it still goes to windows and refuses to boot from your cd or dvd then you will have to adjust your bios settings or search for a boot menu as I described earlier.
If your pc boot successfully from your ubuntu cd you will see this screen
*img197.imageshack.us/img197/8640/snapshot17.th.png
It is prompting you to select the language. Use your arrow keys to select the system language and press ENTER. You will then get this screen
*img205.imageshack.us/img205/7373/snapshot18.th.png
Last edited:
