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Is it possible to install ubuntu on my windows 8 laptop? dual boot is fine if it is doable

This is my laptop environment.

enter image description here

UPDATE:

I ended with installing vmware player

It works great for me. I have tried twice virtualbox and it didn't work for me (always ended with abortion error)

Thanks all for your help!

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I can see no reason why not.

This article gives you a great introduction to dual booting Ubuntu.

If you simply want to run it under a Virtual Machine (e.g. still be booted into Windows and have Ubuntu running under it at the same time) I'd look into Virtual Box. here is a good tutorial on doing just that.

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  • I have tried virtual box twice. But it didn't work for me at all :)
    – icn
    Commented Aug 28, 2013 at 16:22
  • At what point in the process did it "not work"?
    – user201262
    Commented Aug 28, 2013 at 16:48
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    Do you mean it didn't fit your needs or you weren't able to get it to function. You can post a question here about it. I'm sure someone would be happy to help with the specific errors. Or the VirtualBox forums - those guys are pretty friendly.
    – Andrew White
    Commented Aug 29, 2013 at 8:09
  • @AndrewWhite THanks, for my windows setting. I need a 32-bit ubuntu ot 64-bit ubuntu if I go with dual boot way?
    – icn
    Commented Aug 29, 2013 at 21:05
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    It appears from your first post your processor supports 64 bit. Either should be fine, but 64 bit is preferably when supported. Here is an excellent write-up on this forum regarding the advantages of 64bit
    – Andrew White
    Commented Aug 30, 2013 at 1:45
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Yes it is possible, there are different ways:

  1. You can install ubuntu inside windows 8. Using the wubi.exe(just run it). If the dialog doesn't show the option of install inside windows you can open command line and type: wubi.exe --force

  2. You can install it alongside by booting from the ubuntu cd or usb stick and in the process select install alongside windows and select different partition to install.

  3. You can you vmware or virtualbox to install the ubuntu virtually and swich between the two with one click. (I suggest it only if you have good amount of ram).

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Just a preamble: if this were not a Windows 8 laptop, then things could be just much easier, simply by downloading the installation ISO of you preferred distribution and going ahead with the setup process.

You would not even need to worry about deleting windows, as most installation CDs/DVDs/USB images already feature NTFS commands that are able to resize (actually, shrink) your Windows partition to leave empty space for a Linux installation.

That being said, this is a Windows 8 laptop. I don't know if you are aware, but there problems with "secure boot" or "restricted booting" that Microsoft requires from manufacturers to have the "runs Windows 8" seal and the problems of having.

Even if you don't know, you may find this very fresh article (as of September of 2013)) from one of the top Linux Kernel Develpers (Greg Kroah-Hartmann) to be of use.

In fact, another top Kernel Developer (Matthew Garrett) has been spending a lot of his time understanding the both the quirks and the undocumented parts of the EFI (simply put, the successor to BIOS). Do yourself a favor and read Matthew's posts. His articles are very accessible, while highly informative.

Since no one else brought these issues of "secure boot", I hope that this small response of mine will serve as a good collection of links for broadening the attention of people to this problem.

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Yes, you can install Ubuntu beside Windows 8 easily. Make some free space in you hard disk then install Ubuntu.

Ubuntu will define Windows 8 and make a boot menu.

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I ended with installing vmware player (free for non commercial user)

It works great for me. I have tried twice virtualbox and it didn't work for me (always ended with abortion error)

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