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How to Dual-boot Linux and Windows (on a PC With Windows 7 Already Installed)
By stephftw (/member/stephftw/)
in Circuits (/circuits/) > Linux (/circuits/linux/projects/) 2,063,828 94 44

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The purpose of this Instructable is to set up your computer to dual-boot Windows 7 and Ubuntu
Linux. Dual-booting is a technique which allows a single physical computer to run two or more
operating systems (OSes). This is useful for experimenting with new OSes without putting all
your eggs in one basket.

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Step 1: Getting Prepared

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Prerequisites:

1. A PC running Windows 7, with at least 30 GB of free hard-drive space.

2. A CD/DVD burner and blank CD/ DVD or a USB drive with a capacity of 1GB or more

3. An external Harddrive big enough to backup your Windows installation

4. Administrative access to the PC

5. Internet Connectivity

Most PCs sold in the last three years should meet the criteria for number 1. To confirm what
version of Windows you are running, go to My Computer and click on “System properties.” The
listed version should be Windows 7.

From that same screen, you should see how much free space you have left, which is underneath
the blue bar for each disk. In the example image, there is "8.49 GB free of 55.7GB".

NOTE:The 8.49GB shown in the example is not enough space for most people. While you can install
Ubuntu to a partition this size, you will typically want more space store documents and applications.
20GB is probably the minimum size you would want.

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Step 2: Select a Linux Distro

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Linux comes in many flavors. Some distributions are aimed at full configurability for advanced
users (Arch Linux, Gentoo), others at fulfulling simple hardware requirements (Puppy Linux,
DSL), while others aim at being as easy to use and accessible as posible (Mint, Ubuntu). These
different flavors, or distributions, are commonly called “distros” by the Linux community. There
are hundreds if not thousands of distros available, if you're curious go to
http://distrowatch.com/ (http://distrowatch.com/) and compare. However, int this instructions
set, we will use Ubuntu Linux. Ubuntu is one of the most widely used Linux distros and has a
very helpful community and good user interface for new users.

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Step 3: Prepare Installation Media

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Go to the ubuntu website, http://www.ubuntu.com/ (http://www.ubuntu.com/) and select

download. As of this writing, the current version of Ubuntu is 12.04. Depending on your internet
connection, the ISO download may take a while. The 32-bit version should be sufficient unless
you are running specific applications that require a 64-bit variant of the OS.

ISO files are disk images which have been stored for easy distribution and replication.

After the ISO has downloaded, navigate to the folder it was downloaded to. Right-click and
choose “Burn disk image.” This will launch a tool to burn the image to a CD or DVD. Once the
disk is burned, remove it from the disk drive and label it for your future reference.

Alternatively, if you want to use a USB drive, you'll need the program "UNetbootin" which is
available here: http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/ (http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/)

WARNING: Be sure to backup your USB data before running UNetbootin, as it will reformat the drive
and destroy any data previously on the USB drive.

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Step 4: Backup Windows

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This is perhaps the most important step. If anything goes wrong with the next few steps, this will
allow you to restore your computer to its current state. You will need an external hard drive or
enough disk media to hold your files. If you have already backed up your system, you can either
update your backup or proceed to the next step.

If you have never backed up your computer, now is the perfect time to start.You can find a
decent external hard drive for around $60. Try http://www.newegg.com (http://newegg.com) or
http://www.tigerdirect.com (http://www.tigerdirect.com), or your local compouter store.
Alternatively, you can use an online subscription-based backup service such as Mozy.com or
Carbionite.com to aviod purchasing and setting up hardware.

To use the Windows backup, open the start menu, type “backup” and select “backup and
restore.” This opens the backup and restore center. Choose “set up backup” and follow the
wizard to create your first windows backup.

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Step 5: Partition the Hard Drive

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 The safest and simplest way to partition your drive is to use the Windows 7 “Disk Management”
program, to shrink your existing windows partition. To access this program, click the Windows
icon in the bottom left and in the text box which says “Search programs and files”, type in “Disk
Management” (without quotes) in this box, and press enter.

In the new window that pops up, you’ll be able to see all of your partitions. In windows, these
are typically labeled with letters, such as “C:” or “D:”. Check your partitions - there are two
common setups. Either you will have one very large drive (“C:”) or you will have a smaller drive
for your operating system (“C:”) plus a larger one for data or programs (“C:”).

On your larger partition, ensure that at least 30GB of free space available. Next, right click on this
drive and select “Shrink Volume.” It will take a little while for windows to analyze available free
space, so be patient. Next, it asks how many MB you would like to shrink your volume. For a
typical Linux OS install 30GB should be plenty if you’re not planning on using it to store large
files such as movies. So, to shrink by 30GB, convert this to MB (multiply 30 x 1000) and enter this
value (30000) into the appropriate field. Next, click “Shrink”.

You should now see a black bar which says "Unallocated" underneath (see picture 2). If you see
this, you are ready to go, and can close the Disk Management window.

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 Step 6: Boot From Removable Media

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Note, this step will vary slightly depending you your computer’s make and model.

If your computer’s documentation makes reference to an option to change the boot order, use
that method to set the computer to boot from the disk drive or USB drive, depending on what
media you used in step three. Reboot and boot into the Linux media, and proceed to step seven.

If you cannot find such a reference, you will need to alter the boot order via BIOS. BIOS stands for
Basic Input Output System. It is a low-level environment the computer goes to before it loads
the operating system. From here, many variables relating to the system’s hardware can be
modified, so it is important not to make accidental changes as they may have dramatic effects
on the computer as a whole.

Reboot the computer. As it powers up, watch for a screen which says “Settings” or something
similar. You will need to press one of the function keys, usually F5 or F12. This will get you into
the system’s BIOS and allow you to change the boot priorities.If you miss BIOS, the system will
 continue booting as usual. If you end up in Windows, shut down and try this step again.

Using the keyboard, navigate in BIOS to “boot options” and select the primary boot device to be
the CD drive or USB media, depending on what you burned the ISO to in the previous step.

Save your changes, insert the media into the drive, and reboot.

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Step 7: Install OS

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Next, select "Try Ubuntu without Installing".

From here you can explore and get used to Ubuntu, as well as confirm that your network
connections are working. If for some reason they do not work (you cannot access the internet),
please consult official Ubuntu documentation, as these settings may vary based on your system.

Official Documentation about troubleshooting networking:

https://help.ubuntu.com/12.04/ubuntu-help/net-problem.html
(https://help.ubuntu.com/12.04/ubuntu-help/net-wireless.html)

Otherwise, If you're ready to proceed, simply double-click the "Install Ubuntu" icon on the
desktop to enter the install wizard. Choose your installation language, then on the next screen
check the box that says "Install this third-party software". This software is necessary to use MP3s.

From that point, follow the defaults in the install wizard. Be sure that when it asks you where you
want to install Ubuntu, you select the option to install side-by-side with your other OS, using the
free space available. Continue installing until you receive a message that your installation is
complete. It may take a while to get to this point so please be patient. When it's down,
shutdown your computer and remove the installation media. When you boot back up, you
should have a choice between Ubuntu Linux or Windows!
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Step 8: Change Boot Device (again)

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If you changed the device boot order in the step six, you will need to repeat that process here.
Set your BIOS boot order such that once again the hard drive is the primary boot device.

Note that if you skip this step, your system will try to load an operating system from removable
media before looking for Windows. If there is not a disk in the drive, it should proceed to boot
into Windows.

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Step 9: Reboot and Configure

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Upon bootup, you will now see a choice between Windows and Ubuntu Linux. Go ahead and
select Linux, and get yourself familiarized with this great OS. There is a ton of documentation
available to help you get used to the difference between Windows and Linux.

One simple source you might want to look at right away is at:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SwitchingToUbuntu/FromWindows
(https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SwitchingToUbuntu/FromWindows)

Between its graphical user interface (GUI), command-line interface (CLI), hundreds of free open
source applications, and a hugely active and supportive community, Linux has a lot to offer a
would-be Windows convert.

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Step 10: Perfecting Your Ubuntu Install (Optional)

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Lastly, if you decide to make Linux your primary operating system for daily use, you can set your
system to boot into Ubuntu rather than Windows by default. Alternatively, to stay with the
familiar Windows OS, the community offers a how-to for that as well. For any error or topic not
covered in this guide, an answer can most likely be found in the forums.

Congratulations, you now have a PC dualbooting Windows 7 and Ubuntu Linux.

To change default boot OS to Windows:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/GrubHowto/ChangeDefaultOS
(https://help.ubuntu.com/community/GrubHowto/ChangeDefaultOS)

Help with hardware configurations:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community#Hardware
(https://help.ubuntu.com/community#Hardware)

Ubuntu Community Forums (If you need additional help, this is the place to ask!)

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/ (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/)

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44 Comments

/1 (/member/Krp10/) Krp10 (/member/Krp10/) 1 year ago

on Step 10
Reply / Upvote
Hi Just installing Linux mint, as dual boot. I got to the part where one chooses the unused part of the
drive. But it comes up as "unusable".

I'm stuck.

Help!

(/member/billing.indiaaccess/) billing.indiaaccess (/member/billing.indiaaccess/) 1 year ago

Reply / Upvote
Very helpful tips,

I will use the same to solve issues of my company Indiaaccess Servers and Hostasp Servers

Thanks for your info

 (/member/navyfalcon/) navyfalcon (/member/navyfalcon/) Question

2 years ago
on Introduction

Answer / Upvote
I followed the instructions but was unable to find "shrink volume" (in disk management by clicking the
larger partition, both display or text.

Can it be located somewhere else ?

Thank You

falcon
1
answer
F

ИгорьЛ11
(/member/%25D0%2598%25D0%25B3%25D0%25BE%25D1%2580%25D1%258C%25D0%259B11/) (/member/%25D0%2598%25D0%
Question
2 years ago
Answer / Upvote
Hey guys, help! please! I've already done this and it works. But now I need urgently to reinstall
Windows and I want Ubuntu to stay. How to do that?

/1 (/member/1568637/) 1568637 (/member/1568637/) Question

3 years ago
Answer / Upvote
I partitioned my Recovery Drive
I thought it would work fine as I only had 360mb of space on my C drive
I downloaded elementary OS as opposed to Ubuntu
It went through everything fine except for installation
It wouldn't accept my partition, as it wasnt "rooted"
I need help! What do i do?

(/member/danielsrj9/) danielsrj9 (/member/danielsrj9/) 3 years ago

Reply / Upvote
This instructable worked for me mostly. I had to do a few google searches for an issue I had with using
GRUB as the boot loader. Other than that, this instructable was very helpful!

(/member/spariscoff/) spariscoff (/member/spariscoff/) 3 years ago

Reply / Upvote
I followed the instructions and it works, I am somewhat computer savvy, the system that I placed Linux
os on I built from scratch and had win 7 pro installed now both os's are operating well

(/member/JelleS2/) JelleS2 (/member/JelleS2/) 3 years ago

Reply / Upvote
So it didnt work for me, i could only boot into windows 7.
Then i found out i had to update GRUB.
To do this, boot in ubuntu, open the terminal (ctrl-alt-T)
then type: sudo update-grub
type in your user password
and then you have windows in your bootloader :)

(/member/Spunky+Pear/) Spunky Pear (/member/Spunky+Pear/) 4 years ago

Reply / Upvote
does it have to be windows 7 because i did this on vista.

(/member/BrookeqwmB/) BrookeqwmB (/member/BrookeqwmB/) 5 years ago

Reply / Upvote
Activate windows products click here:
https://www.facebook.com/Windows-Product-Keys-1671... (https://www.facebook.com/Windows-
Product-Keys-1671018403136675/?skip_nax_wizard=true)
 https://www.facebook.com/Windows-Product-Keys-1671... (https://www.facebook.com/Windows-
Product-Keys-1671018403136675/?skip_nax_wizard=true)
2
replies
F

(/member/tinman20/) tinman20 (/member/tinman20/) 4 years ago

Reply / Upvote
could you boot mac os as well?
1
reply
F

(/member/RohanM39/) RohanM39 (/member/RohanM39/) 4 years ago

Reply / Upvote
can i use ubuntu via USB directly? Or is it mandatory to install Ubuntu on my pc??
1
reply
F

(/member/Ephraimthegreat/) Ephraimthegreat (/member/Ephraimthegreat/) 6 years ago

on Step 9

Reply / Upvote
Upon bootup, you will now see a choice between Windows and Ubuntu Linux.
I dont see this!

1
reply
F

(/member/ValentinT11/) ValentinT11 (/member/ValentinT11/) 4 years ago

Reply / Upvote
Only 10 steps? I am sure, you can make 100 easily!

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