How to install Ubuntu : The Ubuntu Installation Guide

Ravva Vamsi

Step by Step How to Install Ubuntu 9.10 in Your System

A perfect Explanation Given Now:-

Ubuntu is one of the most popular operating systems we have today. Actually most of the people when they got fed up with windows, try to go for Ubuntu hoping that it will change their lives. But most of the people mess up when trying to install it on their systems. Actually its easier than we think… lets see how its done….

First of all what do we need?

You must have at least 256 MB of RAM to run the alternate install CD (384MB of RAM is required to use the live CD based installer).
Install requires at least 4 GB of disk space.
You will also need to have an Ubuntu CD image which you can get from the Ubuntu Download page.
After you download it burn it to a CD.

OK then Lets start the installation…

1)As the first step we need to set-up your BIOS settings. This is a bit hard to explain but easy to do. Its hard to explain because different people have different versions of BIOS in their systems. So I’ll explain it briefly :

Login to your BIOS. To do this you have to press DEL or F1 or F2, this may differ according to your own version. When booting up it will show you what key to press, so keep your eyes open!
Once you login, go to the section which will allow you to change the boot settings, and set CD-ROM or Removable Media as the first boot device.
After that press F10 to save and exit.

2) Next put your Ubuntu CD into the system and boot it. Then you’ll see a screen as follows :

Select your language

Install Ubuntu

First select your language.
And in the next screen, select “Install Ubuntu”

3) Now you’ll see the welcome screen. Select the language you want to use for the installation process and click “Forward”

Welcome Screen

4) Next you have to select your time zone. Select your region from the left drop down list and select your zone from the right drop down list. Or you can simply select your country from the map.

Select your time zone

5) After that you have to select your keyboard layout. For most of us its suggested by Ubuntu, but if thats not your layout…. you can select it from the list.

Select your key board layout

6) Next thing is the most important task so follow the instructions carefully! In the next page it will ask you what to do with the partitions :

Prepare disk space

In here I have no partitions previously defined, so if thats the case you can continue with the layout that is suggested by ubuntu. But you also can do it manually. For people who already have other operating systems or other partitions, Im recommending to do it manually!
So in here I have selected “Specify Partitions Manually”. After that click “Forward”

7) Now, if you don’t have any partitions, if the hard disk is brand new, then click on “New Partition Table”. Then they’ll warn you about the risks…. now click “Continue”.

New Partition Table

8) Next we need to create the partitions. Select the free space and click on “Add” :

Add partition

New Partition

Now first you have to select what type of partition you want.
Then give the amount of space you need to give for it.
Next, the location for the new partition. leave it in its default settings.
After that you have to specify the format of the partition.
Finally you have to give the mount point.

If you don’t have any partitions, If your hard disk is new :

Create one primary partition with about : 30% of the free space, Partition format Ext4, Mount point “/”. (if you want you can make a primary partition with the mount point “/boot” (with about 1 GB) first, if you do that do not make the root partition (partition with the mount point “/”) primary, make it logical.)
Create one logical partition with about 5 GB space (this partition should be double the amount of your memory. If you have 1 GB of memory, make this partition 2 GB. But its not compulsory to do like that) , Partition format Swap.
Create one logical partition with the rest of the free space, Partition format Ext4, Mount point “/home”.

If you have an operating system installed :

First make some free space (if you don’t have any). Select an existing partition and click on “Change” and then reduce the size of that partition.
After that create one logical partition with about : 30% of the free space, Partition format Ext4, Mount point “/”.
Create one logical partition with about 5 GB space (this partition should be double the amount of your memory. If you have 1 GB of memory, make this partition 2 GB. But its not compulsory to do like that) , Partition format Swap.
Create one logical partition with the rest of the free space, Partition format Ext4, Mount point “/home”.

Note : Its not compulsory to crate two partitions with mount points “/” and “/home”. You can make only the root (“/”) partition.

9) After you finish setting up the partitions click “Forward”

Finish partitioning

10) Next you have to give your details :

Set up your details

Give your Name, User name, A strong password, and the login method.
If you don’t want Ubuntu to prompt you for user-name and password each time you login, click on “Log in automatically”
But if you want it to ask, select “Require my password to login”
If you want to encrypt the home folder select “Require my password to login and decrypt my home folder”.
After you set everything up, click on forward.

11) Now Ubnutu will show you the settings which you have specified throughout the process. Go through it (If you want). And click on “Install”. After that Ubuntu will start installing…

Ready to install

Installing

12) During the installation it will start to download the language packs. Now this may take some time, so if you think you are wasting your time, you can skip it.

Installing language packs

13) When the installation is over, you’ll be asked to restart the machine. Click on “Restart Now”. Finally the system will eject the CD. Take the CD out and press enter.