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I have a new question, how to install Ubuntu 11.04?

I want step by step instruction because I am afraid to ruin my main OS - Windows. I want to install on another partition and I want to know how to format the partition with the live cd of Ubuntu...

I have explained this problem more here . Please help me or redirect me to some other fixed problem.

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    The community is really good about walkthroughs: have you Googled it? This seems to focus on the dual-booting aspects.
    – new123456
    May 19, 2011 at 2:30
  • I'd like to point out that it's ALWAYS a good idea to have a full backup of your hard disk, whether you're installing an OS or not. Remember, you don't have an effective backup procedure unless you also have an effective restoration procedure, making it much less risky to repartition your hard drive.
    – user55325
    May 19, 2011 at 2:53
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    There's a SE forum for ubuntu now, askubuntu.com
    – eduardocereto
    May 19, 2011 at 4:00
  • @new123456 I google for walkthrough, step by step walkthroughs, written posts about installation...I find something, but not as same like my problem.
    – kvizii
    May 19, 2011 at 11:32
  • @ZlateWay It'll help us more if you can tell us how your issue is different from standard dual booting - multiple partitions? encryption? Your description in the other problem is a little brief.
    – new123456
    May 19, 2011 at 20:14

3 Answers 3

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I have done this before several times with Ubuntu and Debian without problem on different computers. Up front I should say that resizing partitions creates a risk of data loss (mostly in the case of system failure). First I will cover the simpler case of dual-booting. The procedure I have used:

  1. Install Windows (from your question, this is already handled).
  2. Boot into live OS.
  3. sudo apt-get install gparted if it is not already installed.
  4. sudo gparted to run it. Resize a partition.
  5. Use gparted to make a partition with the empty space. Don't put a filesystem on it.
  6. Run Ubuntu setup, use empty partition that you created when asked. If you follow the default options for the bootloader, then it will install GRUB with both Ubuntu and Windows available. Every recent version of Ubuntu and Debian I've used will autodetect Windows 7 and add it.

About extented partitions:

I have run into a similar issue on the main desktop I use now. When I installed, it created a separate partition for swap space. And Windows uses a separate partition for its boot manager ("System Reserved"). That means all four primary partitions were used. I also wanted a data partition. The solution I used (and actually am still using):

I left the Linux install, swap space, and Windows "System Reserved" partition as primary. I know the System Reserved needs to be primary, but I left the others just to avoid needless copying. I know the large Windows partition can be a logical one on the extended partition, no problem.

If you have a fourth primary partition, you will need to delete it before you create an extended one. In my case, I used the dd command piped into gzip to copy an image of my Windows partition onto an external drive, then I deleted the partition, created an extended partition, then created partitions inside of the extended one for Windows and the storage partition.

IIRC, when you boot Windows the bootloader will not immediately find the Windows partition (since you moved it), but if you use the automatic boot recovery, it should find it. If you don't change the partition of System Reserved or the Linux boot partition, everything should be fine.

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There is a step-by-step walkthrough on the Ubuntu download page.

If you want more information about how to use the manual partitioning tool during the installation, there are several howtos on the internet, like this one.

If you want to manually (re)partition your hard drive, you should learn how to use GParted. It's also useful to have some knowledge of Grub, UUIDs, etc.

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Simple way: Boot from CD. Click to install. Let installer manage partitions on its own, just move the slider to the size you want. Continue installation.

Though I might suggest Mint over Ubuntu, in my tests it's been slightly quicker.

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