guide to installing ubuntu on a dual boot system, triple boot xp,win7,ubuntu 11.04 32bit Options

[terry1966]

This default install guide came about while helping a member to install Ubuntu 11.04 32bit onto his PC, he already had a dual boot system with a partition setup similar to the one used here.

1st partition is 30gb where the XP operating system is installed
2nd partition is 30gb where the Win7 operating system is installed
3rd partition is 90gb where the data for both operating systems is stored

The partitions look like this when in XP,


and like this when in Win7


Notice the partitions show up as hard drives (after installing XP, I gave them labels, win7, xp, data), even tho. there is only 1 hard drive in the PC, more about this later.

It's the 3rd data partition we're going to shrink to create a 30Gb partition to install Ubuntu on.

Before you start the install you want to.
1:- MAKE SURE YOU HAVE EVERYTHING BACKED UP!!!
Last thing we want is for you to lose any data,
I suggest using drive imaging software or at the least have all your data backed up along with the means available to re-install your Windows operating systems and all the programs you use.
2:- clean and defrag the partition where your going to install Ubuntu.

Step 1

Download and burn the latest Ubuntu live CD from here. http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/download

You should already have done this really, and been using it as a live CD long enough to decide you like Ubuntu enough to permanently install it on your hard drive.

Step 2

Put the CD into your PC and reboot it.
On reboot it should load and give you this screen.

If it doesn't boot to this screen you will either need to go into your BIOS and set the CD/DVD drive to be first boot device or tap a certain key (this key depends on your PC but is usually something like F12) on the post screen, which will then open a menu list so you can choose what device to boot from first, chose the CD/DVD drive.

Still doesn't boot to this screen? Check the burn/CD is good maybe try a different CD and burn again or start a help topic so one of the techs can help you.

Now you're at this screen.

You need to first select what language you want to use on the left, the default is English, then you want to click on the Install Ubuntu button to start the install process.

Step 3

Now you're at this screen.

I suggest you place ticks in both the download updates while installing and Install this third-party software boxes, I never for speed of install reasons only.

Some people won't tick the Install this third-party software box because they only want to use open source software,
as for the updates box, they are going to be needed at sometime anyway so why not during the install?
Boxes ticked or not, your choice, now click the Forward button.

Step 4

Now you're at this screen.

The Install Ubuntu alongside Windows 7 is set as the default choice (shown by the dot next to it) so no need to do anything here except click on the Forward button.

Step 5

This tells you where it's going to install and is probably the most important part so i will go into a little bit of detail about Linux drives/partitions so you'll understanding what your actually seeing.
Now you're at this screen.

What you're being shown is a single partition being divided into 2 halves.
You'll notice one half is /dev/sda6 (ntfs) and is 49.2GB and the other half is /dev/sda7 (ext4) and is 48.9Gb in size.
So what exactly does this mean?
Well unlike Windows which uses letters c,d,e, to show both the drives and the partitions, Linux uses sda, sdb, sdc etc., to show drives and then adds numbers to show the partitions on that drive. 1 to 4 are reserved for primary partitions and numbers 5 and above are for logical partitions.
So /dev/sda6 (ntfs) tells you the drive is the first hard drive (sda) and the partition being divided up is the 2nd logical partition (6, 5 being the 1st logical partition) formatted with the NTFS file system.
/dev/sda7 (ext4) Tells you the installer is going to create a new 3rd logical partition on the first drive and is going to format it with the ext4 file system for the Ubuntu install.

To show this better and to double check where Ubuntu is going to install, click on the orange advanced partitioning tool link just below the partitioning diagram.
On this screen near the top.

You can see how the drive/s and partitions are identified in Linux. Notice on this system there is only 1 hard drive and it has 3 partitions each colour coded, Green for sda1 (ntfs) 31.5GB (which is the xp partition), Orange for sda5 (ntfs) 31.5GB (Which is the win7 partition), and blue for sda6 (ntfs) 98.1GB(Which is the data partition and where we wanted the install to go).

The reason all the partitions are not primary partitions(sda1, sda2, etc) is because they were created during the XP install which only creates 1 primary partition then extends the rest of the hard drive and creates logical partitions on it.

Now you have a better understanding of Linux partitioning/drives, i hope.
So click on the Back button to get to this screen again.


Click on the Forward button to get to this screen again.


Sorry about the slight diversion but we're now where we want to be.
We only wanted a 30Gb partition for Ubuntu, so mouse over the join between the two partitions in the diagram until the pointer changes and looks like the one in the above picture.
Now right click and drag it to the right until you get to the size you want.

When it's at the correct size, click the Install Now button



This post has been edited by terry1966: Oct 7 2011, 09:00 AM

[terry1966]

Step 6

Now you'll get a warning popup that looks like this

This is your last chance to go back and alter anything before changes are made to your hard drive.
We don't need to, so just click on the Continue button.

Step 7

Now you're at this screen.

Just click on your time zone on the map or type your location in the box to select your time zone, then click on the Forward button.

Step 8

Now you're at this screen.

Select your keyboard and if needed type in the box to test it, then click on the Forward button.

Step 9

Now you're at this screen.

Just enter your name and create a strong password, use letters,numbers and characters, eg:-W2£a2tgh*^ .
I'd also change the default setting so when I started Ubuntu it would take me directly to the desktop instead of asking me to log in, do this by moving the dot from the circle next to Require my password to log in to the circle next to Log in automatically by clicking on it.
You may also want to put a tick in the Encrypt my home folder for a little bit of extra security, I don't use this feature or know anything about it, so couldn't tell you if it has any effect on the speed of use or how much extra security it offers a User.
Again these are User preferences so choose what you think is best for you, then click on the Forward[b] button.

[b]Step 10

Now you're at this screen.

This is IMPORTANT!!! If you don't put the tick in the XP Windows 7 (loader) (sda1) box before clicking the forward button when you reboot you won't have the option to boot into your Windows operating systems SO PUT THE TICK IN THE BOX NOW!!
click on the Forward button.

Step 11

Now you're at this screen.

Ok it's now installing, so have some fun and read a bit about Ubuntu just click the arrows on the side of the screen..
Here's two of the info screens.



Step 12

When it's finished installing you'll get this screen.

Just click the Restart Now button

When it's finished shutting down it'll pop open the CD/DVD drive and you'll get a screen similar to this.

Just remove the CD from the drive and then hit the Enter key on your keyboard to finish the shutdown and restart.

That's it finished.

From now on when you start your pc you'll get a screen like this.

If you do nothing it will always boot into Ubuntu.

When you want to boot into either Windows operating systems just use the down arrow key until Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sda1) is highlighted and hit the Enter on your keyboard.

It will then take you to the windows screen you saw on start up before installing Ubuntu.
You can choose which Windows OS to boot.


Anyway hope this isn't too long winded and helps at least one person.



This post has been edited by terry1966: Oct 7 2011, 08:52 AM