Lifestyles with Internet and Electronics

Dual Booting your computer, just like mine, gives me more control and security to my personal files. For those interested, I am actually dual booting my pc with Microsoft Windows XP and Ubuntu 7.10 Gusty Gibbon. If you want your PC to dual boot just like mine, this blog post is for you. How is this possible? Let me explain.


Step 1: Check the Requirements

First and foremost, dual booting needs at least 2 hard drive partitions or better, two physical hard drives. If you already have this requirement then you are ready to dual boot your pc. You also need to know the architecture of your processor, whether it is 32-bit or 64-bit. Newer Intel processors like Pentium D, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, and most AMD processors are 64-bit ready. This should be noted because 64-bit OS will not run on 32-bit processors, although 64-bit processors can work with both 32 and 64-bit OS. Always remember to backup important files before making major changes in your PC.

Step 2: Get a Copy of Ubuntu



Ubuntu is a free Linux distro which you can download directly from it's website www.ubuntu.com. You can even request CD's if you want. Gutsy Gibbon is the latest release of Ubuntu and it's the one I installed. There are actually many, and I mean many, distros available. You can check this at www.distrowatch.com. You might be thinking why I choose Ubuntu. Well, to tell you honestly, I just am just trying and exploring it, and i can say it's as good as advertised.
If you download a cd image, make sure you burn it as a cd image and not as a file. Also, make sure what you download meets the system requirements (usually very minimal, but remember the 32-64-bit-thing).



Step 3: Boot the Ubuntu CD and Install Ubuntu.

Just restart your computer and then set it to boot from the cd drive. You can do this by pressing "DEL" when you see "Press DEL.." when your computer starts. Then, go to the boot sequence and prioritize the CD drive. Save then exit.

By the way, Ubuntu is a LiveCD, it makes you test the OS without even installing it. So after booting the cd, see the image above, just choose "Start or Install Ubuntu." You will be then directed to its desktop. You can explore it, open some programs, and view your files from your windows partition. If you're ready, just open the "Install" icon on the desktop to begin installing Ubuntu to your hard drive. Just follow the instructions and don't be afraid to click continue. Hehehe. Please make sure you install Ubuntu on your free partition (the other one aside from the windows partition). Ubuntu will reformat this partition so better be careful.


Step 3: Enjoy your new Ubuntu


If you have successfully install Ubuntu, you will see the Grub boot loader (above) every time you boot your PC. By default, your PC will now boot Ubuntu if you do not choose any OS within 10 seconds. If you have a fast internet connection, you can update Ubuntu and install additional software that you might need, all for free.


I hope you learned something with this entry. I know it's a little broad but I hope somehow you now have an idea on how to dual boot your PC. If you have any problems, you can always go to forums such as http://ubuntuforums.org/ or visit the official Ubuntu Website. Also try Googling any problems, there are a lot of linux users who want to help you. Enjoy!

You can also read my older post "The Other Look Of My Computer"



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