5.1 Beginning the Ubuntu Installation

To start the installation, insert the Ubuntu USB drive and reboot your computer system. If the system loads Windows again you will need to change the boot order in your system settings. Details on how to do this will be system specific and were covered briefly in the previous chapter.

Once Ubuntu has loaded you will be presented with the screen shown in Figure 5-1.

Figure 5-1

Begin the installation by clicking on the Install Ubuntu button and wait for the initial screen of the installer to appear as shown in Figure 5-2:

Figure 5-2

Either select your keyboard layout or, if you are unsure, click on the Detect Keyboard Layout button to work through some steps to identify your keyboard before clicking on Continue. On the next screen, choose whether to perform the Normal or Minimal installation:

Figure 5-3

Select the Normal option if you have plenty of disk space and want to explore the main applications and utilities included with Ubuntu without having to manually install them later, otherwise use the Minimal option.

The option is also available to update the software packages that comprise the Ubuntu distribution during the installation. If this option is selected and the system is connected to the internet, the installer will download any updates issued since the Ubuntu installation image was released and applies them to the system during installation. If you choose not to perform this update during the installation process these updates may still be applied at any time after the installation completes.

A second option provides the choice of whether to install 3rd party non-open source software to support specific hardware devices and the playback of proprietary media files on the system. Unless you prefer to avoid using non-open source software, use of this option is recommended.

Having made appropriate selections, click the Continue button to proceed to the disk allocation screen. At this point, the installer will have detected the presence of an existing Windows operating system on the target disk drive and will provide a number of options in terms of how the disk should be used to accommodate the Ubuntu installation:

Figure 5-4

Given that it is our intention to configure a dual boot system, the option to Install Ubuntu alongside Windows is the desired choice. With this option selected, click the Continue button to proceed. The subsequent screen allows the amount of disk space allocated to each operating system (in this case Windows and Ubuntu) to be configured:

Figure 5-5

At this point it is necessary to decide how much of your Windows partition you wish to donate to the Ubuntu installation. Move the slider (positioned between the Windows and Ubuntu partitions in the diagram) until the Ubuntu partition allocation is a size you are comfortable with. At least 25GB of space should be made available for a full Ubuntu Desktop installation.

When you have selected the size of the Ubuntu partition, click the Install Now button to proceed with the installation. When the warning dialog appears read it carefully and click Continue if you are sure you wish to proceed.

Figure 5-6

While the installation is in progress, the installer will ask for information about your geographical location in order to configure time zone settings:

Figure 5-7

Next, the installer will ask you to provide a user name and password for the first account on the system:

Figure 5-8

The option is also provided to dictate whether the password must be specified each time the user wishes to log into the system. By default, each time Ubuntu starts a login screen will be presented seeking username and password credentials. If you are the sole user of the system and would like to bypass this screen and be logged in automatically each time the system boots, be sure to set the Log in automatically checkbox before proceeding.

Once all the questions have been answered, the installer will simply proceed with the installation. Depending on the speed of your system, and whether or not you opted to download updates during the installation, this process can take some time. For a more detailed view of the steps being performed by the installer, click on the status title located above the progress bar:

Figure 5-9

When the installation is complete, a dialog will appear to inform you the system is ready to be restarted:

Figure 5-10

When you are ready to reboot, press the Restart Now button. The installer may prompt you to remove the installation media and the system will take a few moments to shut down. At this point remove the USB flash drive and press the Enter key to proceed.