A User Friendly Guide to Installing Ubuntu Linux 6.06

Categories: Linux, Ubuntu, Tutorials

If you're reading this I'm going to guess that this is your first Linux installation. Congratulations on trying out one of the best operating systems out there, and I'm sure once you've given this brief article a read, you will realize that installing Ubuntu is as easy (or even easier) than installing Windows.

The first step of installing Ubuntu is to download a CD-ROM image and burn it onto a blank CD-R. If you haven't done that already you can go to the official Ubuntu site and download it here. Once you have downloaded it, you simply need to open up your favorite CD burning application and tell it to burn your ISO file. For example, I use Nero 6. I simply opened Nero Express, clicked on Disc Image or Saved Project which opened up this dialog window:



I then selected my Ubuntu ISO file and clicked open, and burned the CD like I would burn any other CD. One important note is that it is often better for you to burn at a slower rate to minimize the chance of errors. After the CD is done being burnt, the next step is to reboot with the CD in the drive. You'll also need to make sure that your BIOS is set to boot off the CD-ROM drive before your disk. This setting can be found in almost every BIOS made in the last 6 years. It will be in a different spot depending on who makes your BIOS. For me, it looks something like this:




Once you have that all taken care of, you should be good to boot off the CD. Just restart the computer and you should be greeted with this screen:



Just go ahead and select Start or Install Ubuntu and hit enter. If during the installation process the graphics appear garbled or warped, simply reboot the computer and at this screen select Start Ubuntu in Safe Graphics Mode. After hitting enter, Ubuntu will start loading the operating system.



The great thing about the Ubuntu installation CD is that it is a live CD as well. This means that you can Ubuntu and test it out, without ever installing anything to your computer. In fact, that's exactly what you're doing at this stage in the installation. Once Ubuntu is done loading your free to explore it, and a sample of the programs available for it.



Once you've decided to install Ubuntu on your hard drive, simply double click the install icon on the desktop. It will then ask you a series of straight forward questions, such as your language, location, and keyboard layout.



The installer will then ask you for your name, and your a user name for logging in. Definitely pick a username that you will remember, because you will need to enter this when you login. You will also need to enter a password. Try to pick a password that has both upper and lower case letter, as well as numbers and symbols, for example, Lt44y&29X would be a very secure password to use. You should make one that is long and secure, yet is something that you will remember. Ubuntu will generate a name for your computer so you can identify it over the network. You can leave this the way it is, or edit it so that it's more descriptive.



This next step is to create a partition for Linux to use. If you're going to be dual-booting both Windows and Ubuntu, you'll need to make room for your Linux partition, unless you have some unformatted space on your hard disks. Be careful to not erase a partition that contains data that you want to keep. You'll need to allocate at least 3GB of space for your Ubuntu installation, but a more realistic minimum of 10GB should be allotted so that you have room to install additional applications.

If you're using an unformatted hard drive like I am, you can simply click new and use the full amount of space available.



Once you're done with partitioning the hard drive, you'll be presented with a confirmation screen that will recap the installation procedure. If you're ready to commit to installing with these settings, click the install button.

Ubuntu will now format the disks, and install itself. The process took about 15 minutes for me.

After the installation is done, Ubuntu prompts you to reboot or to continue using the live CD. When you are ready to use your new Ubuntu installation, simply reboot and remove the CD from the drive.


Now that you've restarted, after Ubuntu reloads you'll be presented with a login, simply enter the username you've chosen and hit enter. Next you'll enter your password.

Ubuntu is now installed, ready to use and abuse. If Ubuntu didn't have any trouble setting up your internet connection, it will check for any available updates. If there are any updates, a notification will popup informing you. Simply click on the icon and it will bring up the updates that are available.


Unless you're low on disk space I recommend installing all the updates.


Well, that's pretty much all there is to it. Pretty straight forward, huh? If you encounter any problems installing Ubuntu, I recommend you check out the official Ubuntu forums.