Cannot boot into Linux Mint or Ubuntu after installing (dual-boot Windows)

G

GodsPrototype

Guest
I noticed that with both installations I did not get the option to "install alongside Windows". I literally just formatted my WHOLE computer, because I want Linux and I cannot seem to install it. I still didn't get the option with a completely fresh and formatted computer, so I am trying the "manual" install.

I tried installing both Linux Mint and Ubuntu, both installed successfully without errors, but after the restart, it goes straight to Windows. No options, whatsoever.

This is how I installed it. I have 3 hard drives. 2 SSD's, one 120gb with Windows, another 40gb for a flight simulator (currently empty), and one normal hard drive of 1TB (for files).

I installed Linux on the 1TB hard drive in a 100gb partition that I created during the installation, including a 20gb swap space and I decided to put the boot loader or whatever the option was during the installation on the E drive (the 40gb SSD), since only a game will occupy it in the future.

I tried booting from that drive, but no luck. I currently have Linux Mint installed on this computer, but cannot for the life of me seem to get into the OS. I'm typing from a fresh Windows 7 install.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!
 


I just tried to use EasyBCD to add a Linux Mint option to the bootloader. I said it was GRUB2 (I'm not sure if it is), and pointed it to the part that said Linux. When I try and boot from the Linux option I created, it brings me to some weird GRUB thing that just lets me type in lines, like boot, reboot, kernel, root and stuff. I don't know what to do. Please help!
 
I usually solve boot issues with boot-repair, it's a linux tool that will fix your master boot record, adding to the boot loader virtually any OS you have installed.

I would boot a live linux image from a flash drive, download boot-repair and run its automatic fix.
 
I usually solve boot issues with boot-repair, it's a linux tool that will fix your master boot record, adding to the boot loader virtually any OS you have installed.

I would boot a live linux image from a flash drive, download boot-repair and run its automatic fix.

I got into Linux mint, but then couldnt et back into Windows. Had a bunch f problems along e way. Long story short, it messed up my Windows. Then couldn't even get into Linux. Typing this from my phone while reinstalling windows. Couldn't get into either boot loaders or OSs.

WARNING TO PEOPLE LOOKING AT SWITCHING TO LINUX. It might mess up your Windows partitions if you are looking to dual boot.
 
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Sorry, your last message was not very clear, did you actually try to run the boot-repair auto fix? If so and the outcome wasn't what you expected, did you try to take a look at its main features? It's a real nice GUI.

Long story short, if you installed Mint into a different partition, or even into a different hdd, your windows system is intact.

You just have to find a decent boot editor/fixer tool (but only in case you did something wrong during installation, which seems to be the case). Please don't blame Linux.

I know it is a little nagging to say so, but Linux is a kernel, not an OS. If you had technical problems with a specific distribution, another may fit your needs, there are really many available. You can't warn people that Linux will screw their computer. Maybe you might have tried a full Ubuntu install at first, the setup process is user friendly and would keep your windows boot working properly. It does ask to maintain other OSes, you probably installed it on a clean disk if it didn't. You should also consider Fedora; many people advise against it, but it sure is lighter than Ubuntu...

Another tip: if you are installing a distro in an "empty" HDD, just disable the others to avoid boot issues, preventing their MBR from being trashed. Besides, for a proper multi-boot setup, ensure you're not messing with EFI/UEFI during additional OS installations.

For the future: before formatting your computer and installing whichever OS again and again, if you already had working systems and your problem is booting only, consider the following tool, it will boot from a cd or flash drive:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/boot-repair-cd/

If it doesn't work (doubt it, one only has to pick a few options when it doesn't fix things automatically), there are more tools:

http://www.gfi.com/blog/top-5-free-rescue-discs-for-your-sys-admin-toolkit/

I truly hope it helps.


In case you're already using windows, this will help you find your favorite linux distribution:

http://www.linuxliveusb.com/

It lets you download and install many distributions into flash drives, so that you can boot from them. Live usb distros will let you install them on your hdd from within the OS, it's a much cleaner process than doing that from windows.


At last, I must stress that I had many boot problems when I installed different windows versions on the same computer in the past, and they were much harder to work around.

Please, don't tell people to avoid Linux. I had my share of problems with it (a little more specific than booting it though), but once I got the hang of it I would never reconsider windows for general use. Remember, microsoft gives you windows, Linux gives you the whole house...
 
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Sorry, your last message was not very clear, did you actually try to run the boot-repair auto fix? If so and the outcome wasn't what you expected, did you try to take a look at its main features? It's a real nice GUI.

Long story short, if you installed Mint into a different partition, your windows system is intact.

You just have to find a decent boot editor/fixer tool, but only in case you did something wrong during installation, which seems to be the case. Please don't blame Linux.

I know it is a little nagging to say so, but Linux is a kernel, not an OS. If you had technical problems with an specific distribution, another may fit your needs, there are really many available. You can't warn people that Linux will screw their computer. Maybe you might have tried a full Ubuntu install at first, the setup process is user friendly and will keep your windows boot working properly.

Before formatting your computer and installing whichever OS again and again, if you already had working systems before Mint and your problem is booting only, consider the following tool, it will boot from a cd or flash drive:



If it doesn't work (doubt it, one only has to pick a few options when it doesn't fix things automatically), there are more tools:



I truly hope it helps.


In case you're already using windows, this will help you find your favorite linux distribution: . It lets you download and "install" many distributions into flash drives, so that you can boot from them.


Please, don't tell people to avoid Linux. I had my share of problems with it (a little more specific than booting it though), but now I would never reconsider windows for general use once I got the hang of it. Remember, microsoft gives you windows, Linux gives you the whole house...

What I did was I got into Linux Mint by using the Live CD and running boot repair. I just followed the steps on the screen and I got into Linux Mint. I noticed that navigating through Linux Mint is very strange. I also had this problem in the Live CD of Ubuntu and Linux Mint. For instance, mouse clicks will be ignored often and I will have to try and close certain windows using the keyboard in order for me to get control of the mouse again.

After I got into Linux Mint, I didn't get the option to enter Windows during startup. I tried to add the option in the grub, but every option I tried gave the same kind of error, saying that I have a GUID something and that the tool I was using could not read this. So I got to a dead end. Only thing I could do was format the Linux Mint partition and the grub partition. That gave me a grub error during startup.

Then I proceeded by putting in my Windows CD to do a repair install and get my old windows bootloader back, but for some odd reason, the windows CD I had used the day before to install windows said it was not the right version for my Windows version. So I was stuck again.

I decided to format my Windows partition. Luckily, all my files were on a separate drive, so I will just have to re install everything again.

The reason I gave up on Linux is that I have literally tried every single thing to get a Linux OS to operate on my computer. And I assume my computer is not that old or of bad quality. I built it myself. i7-3770k, GTX Titan and 16gb 1600mhz ddr3 ram.
I have tried installing Ubuntu and Linux Mint, but both always give the same problem. It does not give me the option to install alongside windows, because it says that windows was not detected, so I always end up doing a manual install, which didn't get me anywhere, until you suggested me to use the boot repair. I just hit another bump along the way with that GUID thing. I've been trying to get a Linux OS on my computer for over 3 weeks, and can't get it to work. Even formatted all 3 of my harddrives for it. Now, I'm just sick and tired of Linux OS's screwing up my computer. I really wanted it, but I don't think it's worth all the hassle, and considering the mouse doesn't work inside the OS, I think I'll just give up.

Right now I'm in the process of installing all of my games back onto Windows (so I've already installed windows again)

I tried, but I guess I'm just not ready for Linux yet (or my computer isn't). Not that I'm bad with computers or anything. I got my computer to run Mac OS X a while back (which I really didn't like) which I thought was pretty cool.

Thanks for your help, but this experience really makes me wonder if FOSS is the future of computer software or not. I did think so at first, which is the reason why I wanted to make a switch, but it just doesn't work.
 
What I did was I got into Linux Mint by using the Live CD and running boot repair. I just followed the steps on the screen and I got into Linux Mint. I noticed that navigating through Linux Mint is very strange. I also had this problem in the Live CD of Ubuntu and Linux Mint. For instance, mouse clicks will be ignored often and I will have to try and close certain windows using the keyboard in order for me to get control of the mouse again.

After I got into Linux Mint, I didn't get the option to enter Windows during startup. I tried to add the option in the grub, but every option I tried gave the same kind of error, saying that I have a GUID something and that the tool I was using could not read this. So I got to a dead end. Only thing I could do was format the Linux Mint partition and the grub partition. That gave me a grub error during startup.

Then I proceeded by putting in my Windows CD to do a repair install and get my old windows bootloader back, but for some odd reason, the windows CD I had used the day before to install windows said it was not the right version for my Windows version. So I was stuck again.

I decided to format my Windows partition. Luckily, all my files were on a separate drive, so I will just have to re install everything again.

The reason I gave up on Linux is that I have literally tried every single thing to get a Linux OS to operate on my computer. And I assume my computer is not that old or of bad quality. I built it myself. i7-3770k, GTX Titan and 16gb 1600mhz ddr3 ram.

I have tried installing Ubuntu and Linux Mint, but both always give the same problem. It does not give me the option to install alongside windows, because it says that windows was not detected, so I always end up doing a manual install, which didn't get me anywhere, until you suggested me to use the boot repair. I just hit another bump along the way with that GUID thing. I've been trying to get a Linux OS on my computer for over 3 weeks, and can't get it to work. Even formatted all 3 of my harddrives for it. Now, I'm just sick and tired of Linux OS's screwing up my computer. I really wanted it, but I don't think it's worth all the hassle, and considering the mouse doesn't work inside the OS, I think I'll just give up.

Right now I'm in the process of installing all of my games back onto Windows (so I've already installed windows again)

I tried, but I guess I'm just not ready for Linux yet (or my computer isn't). Not that I'm bad with computers or anything. I got my computer to run Mac OS X a while back (which I really didn't like) which I thought was pretty cool.

Thanks for your help, but this experience really makes me wonder if FOSS is the future of computer software or not. I did think so at first, which is the reason why I wanted to make a switch, but it just doesn't work.

You rather keep windows for now, if your main goal is playing the newest AAA games smoothly.

But for general use, you should still consider a *nix system, just because... It's better.

I am what I call a casual hardcore gamer - I have a powerful gaming desktop, but I don't play online, I simply enjoy running cutting edge stuff like Crysis 3 on maximum settings for the mere digital joy of bewaring state-of-the-art 3D aesthetics (and beating the hell out of the game). It's silly to share achievements on any kind of social network, specialized ones make it even sillier, however I appreciate what Steam is doing for Linux and hope it brings us, freedom enthusiasts, all next-gen triple A titles sooner rather than later, then I will ban windows from my sweet home forever.

Maybe disabling all the disks but the one in which you want to install a Linux OS could do the job (try picking legacy boot during setup, since some windows versions seem willing to take over EFI to work). Then you can enable all the disks again and boot the OS you want with a few keystrokes during startup.

From what you say, you're experiencing mouse issues. I've never had them, even with PS2 mice. It's probably very specific, or else you're just noticing the natural delay of a live cd (reading from most flash drives or cds won't be as fast as we wish, making clicking tricky sometimes). Believe me, I know how frustrating it is to try so hard to get a Linux OS working the way you want. Once you get there, on the other hand, there's seldom any way back.

Although your experience was frustrating, you tried few distributions. If you happen to consider running a Linux OS again, Fedora could fit your needs. I'd try out Fedora 19 or even the developing 20 from the live cd. Some live cds are snappier, while some hdd installs give wings to what seemed slow and buggy. As cash tends to be the highest point for many proprietary software fans, I'd say Red Hat is a fairly well funded company, they tend to build decent distributions.

You could also try the latest developing Lubuntu for a younger kernel.

GNU/Linux evolved a lot. Actually, you could easily find a great distro that will run on your computer very well. I am sure you're ready for it. Maybe you're not ready to multi-boot quite different OSes though.

http://www.linuxliveusb.com/
 
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Bumping is impolite and annoying. Bumping after only half-an-hour is ridiculous. Replies will come when someone visits the board, reads your question and knows the answer. There is not a staff of people waiting to answer questions and not everyone that visits the board will know the answers to all the questions. Thus, it may take a day or two to get an answer. Bumping after half-an-hour will only annoy people, and annoyed people are more inclined to ignore the thread.

WARNING TO PEOPLE LOOKING AT SWITCHING TO LINUX. It might mess up your Windows partitions if you are looking to dual boot.
Dual-booting with Windows is not switching to Linux. It is using Linux and Windows.

Warning!
Multi-booting is not a beginner's procedure. It is more complex than a simple installation. Multi-booting requires a little knowledge, regardless of the operating systems in question. It is not Linux-specific.

Warning!
Before doing anything that has the potential to adversely affect the system, be prepared for problems. Systems can be damaged and files lost. Hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst. Blaming an operator's screw-up on an operating system is the wrong place to lay the blame.
 
Bumping is impolite and annoying. Bumping after only half-an-hour is ridiculous. Replies will come when someone visits the board, reads your question and knows the answer. There is not a staff of people waiting to answer questions and not everyone that visits the board will know the answers to all the questions. Thus, it may take a day or two to get an answer. Bumping after half-an-hour will only annoy people, and annoyed people are more inclined to ignore the thread.


Dual-booting with Windows is not switching to Linux. It is using Linux and Windows.

Warning!
Multi-booting is not a beginner's procedure. It is more complex than a simple installation. Multi-booting requires a little knowledge, regardless of the operating systems in question. It is not Linux-specific.

Warning!
Before doing anything that has the potential to adversely affect the system, be prepared for problems. Systems can be damaged and files lost. Hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst. Blaming an operator's screw-up on an operating system is the wrong place to lay the blame.

For me, Dual Booting was a step towards my switch to Linux, because I don't (and can't) just abandon Windows all at once.

My apologies if bumping is not acceptable on this forum. I have never actually bumped before because I never really had to wait that long for a reply (and it was not half an hour if you know how a clock works). With the forums I've been on, if your thread is off of the main page, it will never get answered. I have a feeling that if I didn't bump, I would have never received a reply from anyone.

I didn't do anything wrong during the procedure, I was following the steps precisely. It seems no one else online had this problem, so I assume it is a fault in the software.

You rather keep windows for now, if your main goal is playing the newest AAA games smoothly.

But for general use, you should still consider a *nix system, just because... It's better.

I am what I call a casual hardcore gamer - I have a powerful gaming desktop, but I don't play online, I simply enjoy running cutting edge stuff like Crysis 3 on maximum settings for the mere digital joy of bewaring state-of-the-art 3D aesthetics (and beating the hell out of the game). It's silly to share achievements on any kind of social networks, specialized ones make it even sillier, however I appreciate what Steam is doing for Linux and hope it brings us, freedom enthusiasts, all next-gen triple A titles sooner rather than later, then I will ban windows from my sweet home forever.

Maybe disabling all the disks but the one in which you want to install a Linux OS could do the job (try picking legacy boot during setup, since some windows versions seem willing to take over EFI to work). Then you can enable all the disks again and boot the OS you want with a few keystrokes during startup.

From what you say, you're experiencing mouse issues. I've never had them, even with PS2 mice. It's probably very specific, or else you're just noticing the natural delay of a live cd (reading from most flash drives or cds won't be as fast as we wish, making clicking tricky sometimes). Believe me, I know how frustrating it is to try so hard to get a Linux OS working the way you want. Once you get there, on the other hand, there's seldom any way back.

Although your experience was frustrating, you tried few distributions. If you happen to consider running a Linux OS again, Fedora could fit your needs. I'd try out Fedora 19 or even the developing 20 from the live cd. Some live cds are snappier, while some hdd installs give wings to what seemed slow and buggy. As cash tends to be the highest point for many proprietary software fans, I'd say Red Hat is a fairly well funded company, they tend to build decent distributions.

You could also try the latest developing Lubuntu for a younger kernel.

GNU/Linux evolved a lot. Actually, you could easily find a great distro that will run on your computer very well. I am sure you're ready for it. Maybe you're not ready to multi-boot quite different OSes though.

One of the main reasons I wanted to switch to Linux is because (from what I heard) games perform much better on Linux because they use OpenGL instead of DirectX. I wanted to dual boot because many of my games don't have OpenGL support, only DirectX. Only a few games, specifically X-Plane 10.

I would love to reconsider Windows, but I cannot afford to lose any data on my computer. I got really close to losing some important school documents (even though they were on a backup disc) and I cannot lose any of that.
 
I got into Linux mint, but then couldnt et back into Windows. Had a bunch f problems along e way. Long story short, it messed up my Windows. Then couldn't even get into Linux. Typing this from my phone while reinstalling windows. Couldn't get into either boot loaders or OSs..
I'd say that you 'messed up' your windows...
One of the main reasons I wanted to switch to Linux is because (from what I heard) games perform much better on Linux because they use OpenGL instead of DirectX. I wanted to dual boot because many of my games don't have OpenGL support, only DirectX. Only a few games, specifically X-Plane 10.
opengl/directx is irrelevant here - if there isn't a native Linux build for a game, then it won't run on Linux.
 
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I'd say that you 'messed up' your windows...

opengl/directx is irrelevant here - if there isn't a native Linux build for a game, then it won't run on Linux.

No, it was the Linux Mint install that f'd up my Windows partition, you weren't there to see it.

And yes, opengl and directx is relevant, because I own a few games that have a Linux build plus Windows build of the game, and they run faster on Linux. I only mentioned that because it was the reason why I wanted to switch. So you mentioning that it was irrelevant is irrelevant
 
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For me, Dual Booting was a step towards my switch to Linux, because I don't (and can't) just abandon Windows all at once.

My apologies if bumping is not acceptable on this forum. I have never actually bumped before because I never really had to wait that long for a reply (and it was not half an hour if you know how a clock works). With the forums I've been on, if your thread is off of the main page, it will never get answered. I have a feeling that if I didn't bump, I would have never received a reply from anyone.

I didn't do anything wrong during the procedure, I was following the steps precisely. It seems no one else online had this problem, so I assume it is a fault in the software.



One of the main reasons I wanted to switch to Linux is because (from what I heard) games perform much better on Linux because they use OpenGL instead of DirectX. I wanted to dual boot because many of my games don't have OpenGL support, only DirectX. Only a few games, specifically X-Plane 10.

I would love to reconsider Windows, but I cannot afford to lose any data on my computer. I got really close to losing some important school documents (even though they were on a backup disc) and I cannot lose any of that.

You're right. Like everything linux-native, games do run smoother than Windows'.

In your particular case, as I have mentioned, dual booting is not too difficult - you wanted to install a Linux OS on a hard disk that doesn't contain any other OS.

Again, there is a simple way to achieve that, by disabling all the other storage devices on bios (or physically disconnecting them) prior to installing your Linux OS on a specific HDD.

I went to my parents' a couple of months ago and did it to their old pentium 4 desktop. Lubuntu worked along with and faster than Windows 7, flawlessly. They loved it. Seriously, it was not hard at all, I didn't have to fix a thing.

Multi-booting xp and w7 was a much harder task a few years ago.

Also, I don't see why you would lose important data if you are really installing an OS on a different, clean partition.

Despite your assaults on Linux on a Linux forum, don't feel discouraged because of the way people reacted to your messages (unexpected problems happen to everyone) and remember there are many distributions other than Ubuntu and Mint. Mint itself offers diverse distributions with different window managers; one of them would likely have your mouse issues solved. You're probably seeing Linux as a single, unalterable OS like Windows, and I don't blame you, almost everyone on Earth is conditioned to perceive an OS in this fashion (people out of this world use Linux).

Just don't miss Steam OS because of this little misfortune. You will change your mind.
 
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and it was not half an hour
I thought the times were both AM. I guess my eyes are not as good as they used to be. For that I apologise, but
if you know how a clock works
snide remarks are not a good way to make a good impression on those whom you wish to receive help from. Something to keep in mind for future reference.

I didn't do anything wrong during the procedure, I was following the steps precisely. It seems no one else online had this problem, so I assume it is a fault in the software.
I have often experienced failure after following the instructions. Almost every time the reason was I thought I was following them exactly, but I actually had missed one tiny thing or slightly misunderstood one minute detail. Another common cause of failure is people following bad instructions. For example; official documentation on a distro's web site is more likely to provide quality instructions than a guide compiled by a random/no-name/user-of-a-particular-distro. Installation and configuration problems are usually the fault of the person doing them. After all, we are only human.

If it is true that you seem to be the only one having a particular problem, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, it is almost certain that you are the cause. In this case I am inclined to believe it is simply a matter of insufficient knowledge for the task at hand. I can usually set up a dual-boot configuration almost with my eyes closed, but I recently ran into difficulty. One Linux system and a BSD system proved to difficult to manually divide a single partition on my only hard-drive. It was not the fault of those systems. Their installers simply require advanced knowledge for that particular procedure. Knowledge I was lacking.

I suggest looking over those instructions again. Be slow and thorough. If necessary, trawl through other documentation and fora for information on specific parts. If you are more talented than I am, you might quickly figure out where you went wrong. Every mistake you make will be a learning experience.

I got really close to losing some important school documents (even though they were on a backup disc) and I cannot lose any of that.
o_O
How could back-up files on disc be lost if you destroy your Windows system?
 
I thought the times were both AM. I guess my eyes are not as good as they used to be. For that I apologise, but

snide remarks are not a good way to make a good impression on those whom you wish to receive help from. Something to keep in mind for future reference.


I have often experienced failure after following the instructions. Almost every time the reason was I thought I was following them exactly, but I actually had missed one tiny thing or slightly misunderstood one minute detail. Another common cause of failure is people following bad instructions. For example; official documentation on a distro's web site is more likely to provide quality instructions than a guide compiled by a random/no-name/user-of-a-particular-distro. Installation and configuration problems are usually the fault of the person doing them. After all, we are only human.

If it is true that you seem to be the only one having a particular problem, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, it is almost certain that you are the cause. In this case I am inclined to believe it is simply a matter of insufficient knowledge for the task at hand. I can usually set up a dual-boot configuration almost with my eyes closed, but I recently ran into difficulty. One Linux system and a BSD system proved to difficult to manually divide a single partition on my only hard-drive. It was not the fault of those systems. Their installers simply require advanced knowledge for that particular procedure. Knowledge I was lacking.

I suggest looking over those instructions again. Be slow and thorough. If necessary, trawl through other documentation and fora for information on specific parts. If you are more talented than I am, you might quickly figure out where you went wrong. Every mistake you make will be a learning experience.


o_O
How could back-up files on disc be lost if you destroy your Windows system?

Windows 7 booted, Linux didn't, they were both fully installed... No big deal, no extensive knowledge required.

He was looking for practical ways to solve that particular issue, and there were some, it only depended on getting slightly more familiar with the intuitive tools available, if they didn't do the job automatically.

Boot records can be rewritten, one way or another. There's software ready to help one make it. Fixing multi-boot issues between W7 and Linux distributions requires only basic knowledge when one's using a decent GUI (I believe few individuals would do otherwise).

I love learning the details as much as I love learning the most practical methods to achieve something, embracing the KISS philosophy. The best of both worlds. But most people just want a working OS out of the box - a lot of Linux distros have actually developed to that point, which's just great; Linus himself emphasizes the importance of such achievement. I can't see it as a problem when the average user doesn't want to become a kernel engineer (just a metaphor, I know you didn't say so).

Installing modern distros along with Windows 7 is hardly difficult, as you pointed out. I don't understand how come he got it wrong and why the hell he blames the software for a problem that seemed to be only his. Still, I believe we could help complete newbies feel more comfortable towards Linux.
 
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If you want help, the first step is to boot from a live disc distro and give a break down of the actual disks, partitions and their device IDs.
 
I had this same problem before, but Yesyesloud touched on the culprit: a UEFI enabled BIOS. Special care is needed to make a multiboot system with UEFI. Good luck!
 
Windows 7 booted, Linux didn't, they were both fully installed... No big deal, no extensive knowledge required.
I did not state extensive knowledge is required, but some knowledge is. Multi-booting is not a beginner's procedure. It is very easy to do after one knows how to do it and has some experience doing it, but disaster can easily ensue if tiny mistakes are made. Which is true of many things, Openbox for example. It is very easy to configure, after one learns how to do it. Before then, it seems very complex.
Fixing multi-boot issues between W7 and Linux distributions requires only basic knowledge when one's using a decent GUI
A GUI is not the issue. There are concepts that must be understood before attempting to multi-boot. Such as the MBR. Yes, basic knowledge, but beyond the ability to point-and-click. Unfortunately, the trend is to advise newbies to dual-boot, instead of trying a live disc, without informing those people that a little research before trying is a good idea. UEFI can make dual-booting with Windows a nightmare, depending on the distro and the user's experience level.
 
I suggest you to make a usb installer for linux or ubuntu using UNetboot or other programs. after doing that you can simply boot with your usb and click on install. Make sure you change your install destination to your desired hard drive.
hope I helped!

Cheers!
 
A few important points:

- Installing an OS is not a beginner's or basic level user's task

- Windows for example does not provide an easy installation which covers all bases, provides all drivers for every piece of your hardware out of the box and offers to set up multi boot with other OS'. (In fact windows used to just overwrite the MBR with a new one, wiping out any bootloader you already had installed without prompting...)

- GNU/Linux distributors are not obliged to produce easy to use installers for noobs which protect your windows install as a first priority - they try to produce an installer which is comprehensive and works - for installing their distribution. This usually includes a partitioner which allows you to specify exactly where you want to install, leaving other partitions/fixed disks untouched. This means that if you hose your windows while installing GNU/Linux - it's actually your fault.

- Despite this, many distributors have bent over backwards to accommodate windows users and the non computer savvy in general.

- On the rare chance that there is a bug in a given distro's installer, there would be many more people posting about it on mailing lists and filing bug reports - if this is not the case then - it's probably your fault.

- GNU/Linux and any *nix system in fact does not refer to fixed disk drives as "drive C" or "drive H" or whatever - most UNIX like systems use the device names such as "/dev/sda1" or /dev/sda2" for specific partitions which are then mounted to the root file system. If you fail to read up on that and accidentally format your windows partition(s) - guess who's fault that is...?

- If the installer is asking you where to install grub and you don't know what grub is and you don't know where to install it and after accepting the defaults or just guessing, you can't boot GNU/Linux, windows, another OS or at all... that's not the installers fault...

- If you installed grub to a partition instead of the MBR, another bootloader (for the existing OS) will have to be set up to chainload to grub and boot GNU/Linux - this means that you will have an unbootable GNU/Linux distro after installation until you set up, e.g. the windows bootloader to chainload to it.

- If you install grub to the MBR it will boot the kernel from there and should also give you the option to boot windows. If it doesn't then you should rerun the bootloader installer and/or os-prober and that will usually pick up windows.

- If you have a complex array of SSDs, fixed disks, removable disks, etc and find that you cannot boot after installation, it's most likely because device IDs have changed. These kinds of installs are for more advanced users and if this is a struggle start off with something simple - e.g. install on a separate dedicated fixed disk and install grub to it's MBR. This will give you the least amount of headache and leave the windows install, and presumably your precious data, untouched.
 

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